Kid's Ministry Coffee Break | A Few Minutes of Spiritual Refreshment for Children & Youth Ministers.
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
"EMOTIONS AS A SIXTH SENSE" Kids Ministry Coffee Break 36: Our emotions are like any other sense; they communicate to us about our environment. It's healthy to assess what they are trying to tell you.
"EMOTIONS AS A SIXTH SENSE" Kids Ministry Coffee Break 36: Our emotions are like any other sense; they communicate to us about our environment. It's healthy to assess what they are trying to tell you.
Today’s break is called “Emotion as a 6th sense”
I’ve had conversation with more and more people over the last couple of years who are all dealing with the same issue…
the same issue I’m dealing with myself…
an issue that is not easy.
There are days when I just go through a number of emotions that are not easy.
I may experience a day where I’m joyful, very sad, overwhelmed and defeated, irritated and incensed, and then indifferent.
All in one day.
I have spent many days…as have many other people…trying to identify why we are feeling the things we are feeling…and some days we just come up empty.
I’d like to think it’s just the struggle of living through the season of pandemic.
I’d like to chalk it up to getting older and my children’s struggles getting more complex.
I’d like to assume it’s just the news headlines amid war and weather and everything else.
Maybe it’s all of those things.
But what is important to understand, no matter what you’re feeling, is that emotions are a 6th sense.
Emotions, like your other 5 senses, are communicating to you about your environment.
For instance, if I placed my hand on something that was very hot, my sense of touch would tell my brain to move my hand away quickly.
The heat is not a bad thing.
The sensation of heat is not a bad thing.
But leaving my skin on that hot thing could be bad.
What determines my health is if I heed my emotions—if I assess what is happening and respond appropriately.
Sometimes our reflexes take over and make us jerk our hand back from something hot before we’ve thought about it or even felt the pain.
We try and use our mind over emotions which is where “keep a stiff upper-lip” comes from.
Our culture says things like, “toughen up…” and “men don’t cry.”
People act like emotions aren’t helpful…but they are.
Just like the sensitivity of the nerves in our hand can help keep us healthy and out of harm’s way…our emotions can help us be healthy too.
What are you feeling today, friends?
Is there a particular emotion that is being felt more than others?
Are you carrying a mixture of emotions?
I encourage you to take some time today to consider what they are trying to communicate to you.
If you are angry—what is going on that has you feeling so irritated or disturbed?
If you are sad—what is breaking your heart?
If you aren’t sure what you are feeling, then Google “emotion wheel” and then look at images of emotion wheels. Read over the hundred or so words until you find the words that connect to what you are experiencing.
Let the very words bring some clarity to your mind from your heart.
Look at the other words around the words that connect to you and get a better sense of how you are feeling and then ask, “what is this emotion trying to tell me?”
Where in my life do I need to assess and respond?
May you honor the completeness of the sensitivities God has given you.
May they be given space to speak to you.
And may they lead you into health and wholeness.
(Emotion wheel link: https://www.davidhodder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Emotion-Feeling-Wheel-1-1.jpg)
Message brought to you be Rev. Joseph Sanford of Sanford Curriculum (Student ministry resources available on The Sunday School Store written by he and Lauren Sanford). https://sundayschool.store/products/kids-4-kindness-4-week-childrens-ministry-curriculum
Music by The Muse Maker
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