Dealing with Emotions

Romans 7:9-10
I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. (NKJV)

If you are not being led by the Holy Spirit at higher levels and you have emotional problems, when a commandment is written then sin is revived. Romans 7:11, 14-17and 23. Now this law is affecting a lot of people. They love to do things that are written “don’t”. The background of this emotional problem of why people don’t like the don’ts is that some people grew up in the ghetto where there is a lawless environment.

Rough, crude families that are aggressive, abounding in anger, strife and hurt are always on the defensive because of how they grew up. These people hardly ever research and weigh options, they just do as they please.

Growing up in oppressed and abusive environments, some with parents that were extremely strict is breeding ground for emotional problems. Some people grew up with stepmothers who would punish them severely for trivial things like opening the fridge. Therefore children like this wait until the stepmother leaves the kitchen, sneak in and are delighted to find meat inside the refrigerator, which of course they readily gobble up.

They are told not to go into the bedroom and they go anyway and find out that there are groceries inside, which they have not been given. So when these people come to church and the man of God says “don’t”, they say, “oooh!” Pastors need to be wise. If they want to maintain people in the church, they should not introduce a lot of don’ts because they will be in trouble.

As a preacher, I have learnt that there is a way in which you must present your message without don’ts. You must reveal the don’ts in a wise way. That is why you must lead by example. If you want people to pick up papers, you pick them up first and they watch you and follow; but if you force it on people, they will do the opposite. When people who have grown up in oppressed environments have rules and regulations forced upon them, or even when they are convicted by the word they say, “What’s wrong with it.”

God Bless! [email protected]