Developing Emotionally Mature Leaders By Aubrey MalphursSample

Day Four

Heart, Soul, Strength

Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:5

God has made us both emotional and intellectual beings. Effective leadership interweaves our head and our heart. Neither one is superior to or inferior to the other. 

Today it is popular among some evangelical teachers to denigrate the role of the emotions in the Christian life in general and sanctification in particular. But we must connect our faith with our emotions. Our emotions tell us where we are spiritually.

For example, John teaches us that loving one’s brothers in the faith (an emotion) is a sign that we are believers (1 John 3:14–20; 4:7–12, 16–21). As people come into contact with us, they should see the fruit of the Spirit, not the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19–21) in our lives. Many of these fruit are emotions, and these emotional fruit of the Spirit are indicators of when we are walking in the Spirit (vv. 19–25) and they validate our faith. 

Sanctification involves not only learning more about God (intellect) but loving God (emotion). Our Christian faith is cognitive and certainly includes holding a set of intellectual beliefs, but it is more than that. Deuteronomy 6:5 says that you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. The command here is not so much to know God intellectually but to love God emotionally. That is not to say that we shouldn’t know about God intellectually, but it is to say that we are to love him!

Just as some Christians warn about trusting our emotions, note that some passages warn us about overdependence on our minds or intellects. For example, Proverbs 3:5–6 says to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not to lean or depend on our own intellect or understanding of a situation. 

For some, a relationship with God is void of any emotion. Instead, it’s all about checking the right boxes—fulfilling a list of dos and don’ts, for example. This leads to a tired, unemotional numbness that is void of feeling on the inside that may explain why some have given up on their faith or on ever having a deep, moving faith. Our walk with God should be a combination of both thinking and feeling. The two work together in helping us truly experience God. 

Do you tend to trust your emotions or your intellect more? Why?