The abundant life of the soul 2

The emotions and the will

The emotion of man is the part of man that feels. Man is wired to love and therefore demonstrate all the positive emotions enumerated as the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 one of the most outstanding of which is joy as it expresses all of the emotions of love in one package. When a person is thoroughly influenced by the word of God, joy is the result in his emotions. In other words, he becomes joyful. See Jer.15:16; John15:11

The will on the other hand, is the part of the soul that is responsible for decision making. God has created everyman with a sovereign will such that whether or not we enjoy abundant life has to do with the use to which we put our wills. In Gen.2:16-17 where God told the man:

“Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

God automatically made it clear that man had a right to choose thus making his will sovereign. Man could choose to obey God in which case he would enjoy the abundant life or disobey God and suffer the consequence of not enjoying the abundant life. This truth is further clarified by God through his servant Moses in Deut.30:19 and in John 3:16 where God offers the free gift of salvation and says that whosoever will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved.

Based on the thoughts a man meditates, he could experience the positive emotions with which we are wired or experience the negative emotions which is not supposed to be part of us. Thus develop the emotions and the will to enjoy the abundant life; the following steps are required of a believer:

1.     Read and meditate on the word. Put it constantly before your eyes, dwell on it in your thoughts until it begins to influence your emotions and you will become so joyful that you will find it easy to make choices with your will that honours God.  See Romans 12:2; Jos.1:8; Deut.6:6-8; 1Tim.4:13-16; Jas.1:21.

2.     Consciously speak the word over your life and refuse to speak the suggestions offered you by the circumstances you are going through. This is why the bible tells us in Romans 12:2 not to be conformed to this world but be transformed from it by the renewing of our minds. Mark 11:23; Romans 10:8-11; Prov.18:21. Your speech controls your emotions which in turn dictate the direction of your will.

3.     Keep the right company. 1Cor.15:33; Ps.1:1-3; Prov.13:20. If you are friends with an angry man for instance, you will learn his way and lose the ability to exercise your will to make sound judgments (negative emotions resulting in wrong use of the will – see Prov.22:24-25; 29:22). A snare to your soul in Prov.22:25 refers to negative emotions resulting in wrong decision making!

4.     Walk in the spirit: This will see you swimming in the positive emotion that love can bring about resulting in using your will correctly by godly standards. See Gal.5:16-17; Rom.8:1.