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Emotional Dependence

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Emotional Dependence

Proverbs 25:28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

As created beings we cannot find lasting fulfillment apart from a deep love for our Heavenly Father. He did not create us to look away from Him but to Him and to love Him, not casually but passionately; it is within our passionate love for God that we find rest. When we love Him above all else He then fills our heart  with Himself and His peace.  A passionate love for God is healing for it brings us into His presence and the result is an emotional and spiritual wholeness this world cannot give. 

People who save their greatest love for God live the best and most fulfilled lives; when Jesus, and His redemptive work are loved the most, then and only then will we find happiness in just being alive! 

We Look In All the Wrong Places

Unfortunately, we can, and do, become emotionally dependent on people and whatever they can do for us; we can become dependent on how people make us feel. We can become dependent on such things as money, status, influence, or appearance. We mistakenly think that if we can only have, just the right things, then our lives will be happy and meaningful. This is fantasy thinking and for many, their life is empty because they have bought into an imaginary, magic world - a world which they believe holds all the keys of happiness and fulfillment. But that is a lie for this world cannot give what it does not have. Real happiness, real joy, and real fulfillment belong to God alone.

If we do not find lasting satisfaction it is because we have given ourselves to those things which cannot satisfy

God extends His love to us through Christ. We can look to people and possessions to satisfy our thirst, but the wise person drinks from the river of God's love which is abundantly given to us in Christ Jesus. If we understand that Christ is both the evidence, and the means of God's love to us then we become able to love Him deeply.

Our sinful condition distorts our concept of God and distorts our concept of His love for us. But in Christ we clearly see His love. In Christ we have forgiveness of sins which forever settles the question of God's love. His love is a healing balm for our soul. As we accept and allow His love to fill our hearts then we become able to love Him with joy and passion. 

In this world, satisfaction is defined as getting what you want! However, if one lives long enough, they find neither people nor possessions, in fact, nothing in this world - no accomplishment, no pleasure and no relationship - has the power to give lasting fulfillment.

The secret of emotional health is the love of God, given to us, in Christ Jesus. The kind of love that heals, is the love that makes one emotionally dependent on Jesus Christ, and on His work of redemption which He accomplished for us. We cannot separate the two: who He is, and what He accomplished for us.  We become healthy through our dependence on the Person of Christ, and equally dependent on the redemptive truths of Salvation. These (Christ and His work) become the foundation of our emotional health and our spiritual life. In them (Christ and His work) we are given a New Identity which then enables us to put on a godly self-image with a new self image. When we put on our New Identity then we can see ourselves as God sees us. When we allow Gods Word to define us He liberates us from a skewed self-image  that is deeply dependent  on people, on personal accomplishments, and on things. Our life, and our health, flow from the Person of Christ and His redemptive work both in us and for us.

If we find ourselves growing fearful, anxious, discouraged, or discontented, it is a good idea to ask ourselves, where am I, or, where is my heart? Has my heart moved from Christ and have I become emotionally dependent on my own way, or another person, or people's opinions, or money, or even my problems? Problems are painful and can be a spiritual trap because of the ease with which they capture our focus. If we empower problems, then they, rather than Christ, will determine our emotional and spiritual health. It is our love for God that keeps us on the right road; a passionate love for God gives a healthy and balanced perspective of our problems.

If we do not make up our mind to give God our first love, in every circumstance, then problems or people, when they come, will weaken or destroy our faith.

If we are not emotionally dependent on Jesus Christ, then darkness can, and will, exploit our thoughts and feelings which will produce in us depression, defensiveness, anxiety, fear, frustration, apathy, insecurities, and many foolish habits.

We Choose To Love Christ First

There is a spiritual war for our souls and it begins with our emotions. This world, people, and things, pressure us through the promises of pleasure. They attempt to convince us that to be happy and to find the pleasures of life, we need them. This is not true. To be happy we NEED to receive God's love in Christ and then we NEED to experience the pleasures of loving Him deeply. The World promises happy fulfillment, but the promises are empty, for this world cannot deliver what it does not have.

Christians who choose to make Christ their first love, emotionally root themselves in the love of God. People who live by their own pursuits, root themselves in a life of empty promises.

The Christian, to remain spiritually and emotionally whole, can never love anything or anyone (including family) above Christ. As we choose to be emotionally dependent on Christ, and on His redemptive work, He then becomes our source of joy, stability, and peace.

Thank you Lord Jesus.

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Thank you,

Jim