The Freedom to Feel

Jesus wept at the loss of his friend. Jesus cried in anticipation of the difficult road to the cross. Jesus displayed a range of emotions – he felt deeply and he was perfect.

I was in a meeting today and the person speaking started to get choked up. He apologized.

I was with a group of people last week and numerous people started to cry. Some seemed embarrassed.

I was listening to someone share her story and she started to cry. She said, “I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry.”

Often people in my office cry. I have a box of Kleenex on my desk for that reason. And invariably, they are either embarrassed or apologetic or disappointed in themselves for letting their emotions come to the surface.

You’ve been there, too. Someone starts to get emotional and it makes us uncomfortable. We are tempted to tell a joke or distract or simply act like nothing is wrong and ignore the person struggling.

OR we’re the one with the emotions starting to bubble out. We fight them. We hide them. We apologize that we’ve ‘lost control.’

John hit his head pretty good at school the other day. It was enough for his teacher to call us. One thing she said surprised me, “He didn’t cry.” Yet, a few days later, John and I went golfing and he accidentally bumped his head with a golf club. He fought the tears for a moment, looked at me, and started to cry. He already feels (for some reason) that crying at school is just not as accepted as when he’s with his dad. I’m not trying to say that’s right or wrong just interesting.

Some people haven’t cried for years. Some are proud of that.

Some cry at the drop of a hat. Most are embarrassed by their inability to control their emotions.

I don’t think Jesus was an emotional basket case. I do think he felt deeply and sometimes those feelings overflowed.

It’s been an emotional few weeks for the Sauer’s. We are definitely emotionally tired. But we are also overwhelmed with joy. It is so good even though it’s been so emotional. Life has become more real and meaningful in these last few weeks. Tears flowed. It was hard to catch my breath. I looked silly. I didn’t care.

I believe when we live deeply, we feel deeply. When we step into this life God has for us, our hearts will be transformed. We’ll feel more. I’m not saying you have to cry a lot to follow Jesus, but I am saying your feelings will change (and grow) as you live His life.

Jesus loves. This love moves him deeply. He weeps. He challenges. He calls us to His way of life because He knows what that will mean for us and He loves us so deeply, He can’t help but express His emotion. He also feels deeply for us when we live apart from Him. He feels deeply for those who reject Him. He feels deeply for those who do not know Him. He feels deeply for those who do not feel deeply for Him.

Authenticity includes being transparent with our feelings.

I was deeply moved today by this man who, with tears in his eyes, expressed his conviction of his lack of love for those who are lost. He was overwhelmed with his emotions as he was convicted of his lack of compassion. He was crying out for God to help his heart be more reflective of God’s heart. He saw clearly that to ignore the needs of those apart from God was to have a heart of stone – very much unlike the heart of Jesus.

Love and tears go hand in hand. Take away those moments when you felt deeply in your life. I bet you can hardly imagine your life without those moments. I hope and pray that more and more of them come for me. I believe they do and will when I truly seek after Jesus and His Way of life.

You never have to apologize for letting Christ’s heart change yours. It's gonna show.