Help me understand how our thoughts relate to our emotions

Ben Collyer said:

As im sure many of you know, biblical counsellors say that our emotions are directly linked to our thoughts. I have great trouble understanding this concept because I know that we have thousands of passing thoughts per day, but the thing that dictates our emotions which is our BELIEFS, goes deeper than mere thoughts

for example, I struggle with depression, and as I am writing this i am THINKING about getting another coffee, does my thoughts about coffee affect my depression? not at all, so please help me understand what people mean when they talk about the link between thoughts/beliefs and emotions

PLEASE USE PRACTICAL ANALOGYS

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They are wrong, sort of.

Your emotions can be influenced by your thoughts, words, but mostly by your actions.

But emotions are not in the "same brain" as your "vocabulary brain"
which is why it's so hard to speak your emotions well.
"I hate you so much I can't talk"
"I love you so much I can't put it into words"

But you can smile and wave at somebody you hate and you will begin to like them.
Your actions can influence your emotions.

Ben Collyer said:

Ok, so imagine for example that someones depression is rooted in that they BELIEVE they are rejected or hopeless, what action would they take to change that belief? you cant act yourself into believing something

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A lot of people believe in the phrase "fake it till you make it" where you can fake yourself into actually being that person. I, being one of those people think if you put in enough will power to act in ways you believe you're not, eventually the willpower threshold it took for you to act will diminish and you'll become that person. It worked with my nervousness when I was first learning how to drive. I had crazy anxiety when it came to driving since I felt as if I was poorly taught by my father, so everything I was to enter a car, I'd hold on to positive thoughts only, I'd mimic everything I'd seen on a practical video I watched on how to drive and now, I think I'm the best driver in my family.

Now I'm not trying to take anything away from your depression because I know how severe it is (I've had some personal episodes of depression), however I do believe and recommend the phrase fake it till you make it to you brother. Whenever you think those thoughts that rip you apart, think of a scripture that could rebuttal it. God even recommends it,

2 Corinthians 10:5 New International Version (NIV)
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

And if you are tempted to not step out of your comfort zone, act like someone who is confident (not arrogant) and eventually, the willpower threshold that it took you to step out of your comfort zone will eventually diminish.

Ben Collyer said:

As im sure many of you know, biblical counsellors say that our emotions are directly linked to our thoughts. I have great trouble understanding this concept because I know that we have thousands of passing thoughts per day, but the thing that dictates our emotions which is our BELIEFS, goes deeper than mere thoughts

for example, I struggle with depression, and as I am writing this i am THINKING about getting another coffee, does my thoughts about coffee affect my depression? not at all, so please help me understand what people mean when they talk about the link between thoughts/beliefs and emotions

PLEASE USE PRACTICAL ANALOGYS

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You grew up believing that the word "splunk" was a bad insulting word....you were taught this by your peers and parents and viewing how it is used and other's reaction to it. Now when someone calls you a splunk...you immediately get offended...and the emotion of anger...hate etc...then you react accordingly. Here the emotion, is directly tied to your thought about the word, which ties to your beliefs which ties to everything you were taught(and believe) up until this point in life.

On the other hand, other person was taught that splunk mean to be a handsome smart man.......When he is called it today, he smiles and have the emotion of happiness, joy, gratefulness. Emotions also tied to his thought about the word which ties into.......etc...

Change your beliefs, change your thoughts, change your life..

Ask our Father to baptize you in the Holy Spirit. He will be your helper. I use to suffer depression.I even had suicidal thoughts. The Holy Spirit helped me to see that it was spiritual and that I could speak to it in resistance and it would leave me James 4:7.So I replace the thought with that scripture and with others that tells me who I am in Christ. Sometimes you have to encourage yourself in the Lord.

Emotions are the influence of the body (or rather that old basic animal part of the brain) with the intellectual part of the brain, the mind.

That basic animal part of the brain has been informed by both physical experience (after being burned, fire is to be reacted to with flight) to an extent by the mind (association of a stimulus that isn't directly associated with a fear to the fear, such as a blaring alarm with a fire).

So emotion is really a passion rooted in the flesh, and like all reactions of the flesh, it should be brought under the control of the Christian mind, which is conformed to the mind of Christ.

As im sure many of you know, biblical counsellors say that our emotions are directly linked to our thoughts.

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But Ben you said:

as I am writing this i am THINKING about getting another coffee, does my thoughts about coffee affect my depression? not at all,

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I would say those counselors might mean the thoughts which you are committed to, for how you see things and react to people.

If you commit yourself to thinking in a wrong way about something, then you can then get into deep suffering because your wrong way of thinking gets you into trouble. But it is not the thinking only which is the problem but deeper how you have the character to commit yourself to that bad way of thinking.

I will offer one example of how many people can help themselves to get depressed, even because they do not appreciate something which is good.

rain

Is not rain God's blessing which we so need in order to have life on this planet? But is it not true that a number of people have become committed inside themselves to considering rain to be "bad" weather? And don't a number of people get down . . . more or less depressed . . . because it is a rainy day . . . when they could be thanking God and enjoying how He is providing His rain for us?

Because a person has sown that evil seed inside oneself, now the person is doomed to reap so much lousy feeling time while it is raining. The person is committed to complaining against rain and counting it a pain; and this evil seed-commitment means the person will spend so much time being negative, for the rest of his or her life, unless the person gets wise to this.

And this way of blaspheming God can result in a person staying so ignorant and weak, so that the person can be more and more deeply degraded while the person continues in such stuff. One wrong thing can help keep the person weak so then the person can go on to more and worse things, so emotional trouble becomes more and more hard and cruel.

Another example > the Bible is very clear > that we are to do every single thing and every married thing "without complaining and arguing" > please see and feed on Philippians 2:13-16.

So, clearly complaining is anti-God and therefore anti-love. So, the complaining against rain thing can help keep a person degraded from having the nature of God's love. Also "disputing" > arguing > is anti-love. And so we need to grow more real and strong in love so we can be sensitive and strong enough to stay clear of arguing; or else, we can break down into more and more awful stuff in us.

And yes, even in a secular counseling book, I found that a study was done of wives who had depression problems. And they said their depression trouble got worse as they had increase of arguing with their husbands! So, even secular people can see there can be a connection of one wrong thing with something more and more painful.

And what thinking could help to cause this? . . . to enforce this downhill loss? If I think I have to have the last word in an argument . . . instead of thinking I need to stop, right away when I realize I am arguing . . . there is thinking which it is good to be committed to. The Bible says to think I will trust God to take care of a disagreement, and I therefore will not try to lord myself over someone else to control them to listen to me >

"nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock." (1 Peter 5:3)

Also, in case I see that my problem is my fault somehow > how am I committed to thinking and feeling about this? Jesus has compassion on us, about howsoever each of us is wrong; so Jesus our example will point out how we are wrong, but He means for us to be encouraged to see our problem and seek Him for real correction. And so, we need to not let people get us down, if they criticize us in a bad way, but have compassion on them!!

"He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness." (Hebrews 5:2)

Ben Collyer said:

As im sure many of you know, biblical counsellors say that our emotions are directly linked to our thoughts. I have great trouble understanding this concept because I know that we have thousands of passing thoughts per day, but the thing that dictates our emotions which is our BELIEFS, goes deeper than mere thoughts

for example, I struggle with depression, and as I am writing this i am THINKING about getting another coffee, does my thoughts about coffee affect my depression? not at all, so please help me understand what people mean when they talk about the link between thoughts/beliefs and emotions

PLEASE USE PRACTICAL ANALOGYS

Click to expand...

it is very easy really if you think thoughts which are important to your emotions then they fire your emotions.

For example if you have thoughts that your partner is unfaithful to you and you believe these thoughts have a look how much they impact your emotions!

The same with depression. our depressive thoughts are fired by our hurting emotions and our hurting emotions in turn are fired by our depressive thoughts.

Like - life is never going to get any better - i will always feel bad like this - nobody loves me - my situation is hopeless - what are such depressive thoughts, if believed, going to make you feel like?

This is why it is very important for a depressed person to keep a close eye on their thinking world. For good thoughts, if believed, bring good emotions. For example - i'm a child of God - Jesus loves me, i'm safe - God cares about me and will help me with my troubles - all bring good emotions into place.

Faith in God' love will bring you hope and hope in God will never let you down.

Be of good courage.

Twice Blinded

What destroyer, where would he be?
The deadly snake bite I didn't see!
Still part of myself was dragged away,
held captive there by wicked sway,
all the lies sown in my soul,
day by day taking control,
feeding my life lies and misery,
my good times became history.

Bringing thoughts and feelings around,
which are in no way sound,
rather inner kings cruel and strong,
those worldly ways so very wrong,
raising Babylon in all her might,
holding me captive in my fright,
denying grace to rule my ways,
mocking God in His face.

Horse hooves trampling my soul,
grass-hoppers devouring all,
scorpion stings stinging,
famine upon famine bringing,
brimstone burn everything to ash,
massive hailstones me to smash,
the darkness ever growing close,
for the goats got me by the nose.

So working for another's bread,
God's loving truth I forget,
thinking my world would always stink,
driving my good life to the brink,
yet there at the bottom of my might,
I finally began to see the light..,
..Jesus, whom I bring so much grief,
when I have that liar as my chief!

And so The Truth did shine on me!
His Spirit alive in my heart to see!
Oh what blinding light I saw there?
God's goodness displayed everywhere!
His love washing me white as snow!
His loving truth inside my life to flow!
Oh Lamb of God forever to be praised!
For from the dead I have been raised!

if you decide that God cannot or will not help you with your troubles you would grief Him badly and do yourself an incredible disservice.

As believers we can call upon The Lord for grace and we can grow a new life through this grace into a strong person who can withstand even the perils depression brings our way.

A depressive mind lies to us on a constant basis making us miserable but faith in God's love brings hope for better and in such hope you can grow away from the hopelessness of depression. Make the promises of Scripture your own and hold onto the love God has for you an ill person, it is your best bet to get better from your depressed life.

With Jesus in tow you can overcome the desolation be of very good courage

Isaiah 61:1-7
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion –
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendour.


They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.


Instead of your shame
you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
and everlasting joy will be yours.

Ben Collyer said:

As im sure many of you know, biblical counsellors say that our emotions are directly linked to our thoughts. I have great trouble understanding this concept because I know that we have thousands of passing thoughts per day, but the thing that dictates our emotions which is our BELIEFS, goes deeper than mere thoughts

for example, I struggle with depression, and as I am writing this i am THINKING about getting another coffee, does my thoughts about coffee affect my depression? not at all, so please help me understand what people mean when they talk about the link between thoughts/beliefs and emotions

PLEASE USE PRACTICAL ANALOGYS

Click to expand...

Ionno I feel like feelings are just feelings Ben Collyer.