Emotional Wholeness
The Power of Pleasure
Psa 115:3
But our God is in heaven: he has done whatever was pleasing to him.
The Importance of Pleasure
We have intellect, will and emotions but within our personality our emotions hold enormous power for they have the capacity to feel pleasure! We are designed to to love pleasure so it is natural that our emotions have a powerful voice. However, our emotions can chase the wrong pleasures so we have to control them; they must have oversight. As Christians, Christ and His Word provide that oversight by setting the standards and the limitations for the kinds of pleasure we should be seeking. Emotions will always be powerful, but within the boardroom of our soul, we give Christ alone, through His Word, the position of Chairman
Our emotions, if not informed by the Word of God, will have us loving all the wrong things; we will be loving the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of loving God. But the Scriptures clearly tell us to love and enjoy Him above all else.
We can have superior biblical knowledge and be an emotional atheist; we can know facts about God but feel nothing for Him! If we're going to be emotionally healthy, our fulfillment must come from the pleasures that flow from emotional dependence on the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
If we are not emotionally impacted by the Person of Christ and what the Cross has accomplished for us then we will never be happy for God has given us His best and it doesn't affect us.
If our priority is personal fulfillment apart from Christ, then we are off center, and will be led by the counsels of our own thinking rather than led the Word of God
Christ will satisfy only if He occupies the place of our highest pleasure. We cannot have fellowship with Jesus Christ if we find greater pleasure in things, in accomplishments, or in people; He is God and will accept only the highest place within our heart. We are commanded to love Him above all, which includes finding our highest emotional fulfillment in Him.
He, and His work for us, are our only sure source of spiritual and emotional fulfillment. We need to be honest about our pursuits and what they do to us; fleshly emotions promise fulfillment, but they lie, for they cannot deliver lasting fulfillment. Only a heart and mind that enjoys Christ above all, finds lasting fulfillment.
For many, the source of their emptiness results from their dependence on their hopeless pursuits: money, self-image, people, popularity, pleasures, importance, power, etc.. But nothing, apart from Christ, is able to bring us to a place of lasting emotional and spiritual health; no thing, no accomplishment, no person, no experience, and no pleasure, can meet our deepest emotional and spiritual needs. We were created to love and enjoy God, and only when we love and enjoy Him above all else, will we find that place of peace that passes understanding.
You may realize that Christ is not your highest pleasure. If that is so, then go to Him and acknowledge your sin. He is faithful and merciful to forive. Sit at His feet, spend time with Him. If you come to know Him then you will love and enjoy Him for He is most Beautiful of all.
God bless you.