"Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."
James 5:8
This is interesting... what does "stablish your hearts" mean? I've been thinking about it this morning, and I'm not positive, but maybe it means that we need to establish some sort of foundation for ourselves and our emotions, so that we aren't swept off into the abyss every time we feel something strongly. We need to ground ourselves in the gospel and in God, not only intellectually, but emotionally.
Even when we are firm in our minds, a lot of times our emotions aren't firm. We believe it, but we don't _feel_ it. ... The question, then, is HOW we stablish our hearts. Probably one of the clues to this is right here. We need to be patient. Emotion is frequently of an immediate nature. We get dramatic, and need or want something NOW, and the emotion doesn't distinguish whether it's a good idea or not.
If we can wait it out, then the drama lessens, the emotion retracts its claws, and we can access our reason again and figure out a healthy and good way to satisfy our legitimate emotional needs. Let's take care of our hearts today. :) Establish them in some gospel-related bedrock.
James 5:8
This is interesting... what does "stablish your hearts" mean? I've been thinking about it this morning, and I'm not positive, but maybe it means that we need to establish some sort of foundation for ourselves and our emotions, so that we aren't swept off into the abyss every time we feel something strongly. We need to ground ourselves in the gospel and in God, not only intellectually, but emotionally.
Even when we are firm in our minds, a lot of times our emotions aren't firm. We believe it, but we don't _feel_ it. ... The question, then, is HOW we stablish our hearts. Probably one of the clues to this is right here. We need to be patient. Emotion is frequently of an immediate nature. We get dramatic, and need or want something NOW, and the emotion doesn't distinguish whether it's a good idea or not.
If we can wait it out, then the drama lessens, the emotion retracts its claws, and we can access our reason again and figure out a healthy and good way to satisfy our legitimate emotional needs. Let's take care of our hearts today. :) Establish them in some gospel-related bedrock.
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