A Word from Bob
Over the past two decades of writing for RPM Ministries and the Truth & Love blog site, I’ve penned well over 200 free resources about our emotions. Over the past year, I’ve crafted nearly two dozen resources related to emotions.
Today I’m linking to 21 Resources About Our Emotions and the Bible.
There is so much confusion in Christian circles about the role and value of emotions in our lives. I’ve designed these resources to provide biblical clarity and practical wisdom for our emotional life.
I am sharing these resources below in no particular order of “importance.”
Resource #1: 10 Biblical Principles About Emotions: Drawn from the Emotional Life of Christ
This is my most read post in the past half-year. As the title and subtitle suggest, the post examines the emotional life and Christ and then makes application to our emotional life.
Ten Biblical Principles About Emotions: Drawn from the Emotional Life of Christ
Resource #2: 7 Biblical Examples Countering the False Gospel of Emotional Health and Wealth
This post was well-received by many…and received a little pushback by a few. Read it for yourselves and see what you think about:
7 Biblical Examples Countering the False Gospel of Emotional Health and Wealth
Resource #3: Rich Hope Requires Intense Lament
We often think about a couple of verses in Lamentations 3, especially when we sing, Great Is Thy Faithfulness. But did you know, that the vast majority of verses in Lamentations 3 are intense laments? Read all about it here:
Rich Hope Requires Intense Lament
Resource #4: 10 Common Mistakes in Our Biblical Counseling, #7: We Devalue Emotions Rather Than Seeing Emotions as God’s Idea
This post is part of a series that I derived from my book, Consider Your Counsel: Addressing Ten Mistakes in Our Biblical Counseling. It focuses on how we devalue emotions, compared to how God values our emotions…
Resource #5: Emotions: God’s Idea
Do you know that your emotions are fearfully and wonderfully made? For a refreshing biblical “take” on our emotionality, read:
Resource #6: Anxiety and Our Physical Bodies: God’s Care for Embodied-Souls
There’s a great deal of confusion about anxiety in the life of the Christian. I’ve taken this post from my booklet, Anxiety: Anatomy and Cure. The post especially examines the role of our body/brain in anxiety.
Anxiety and Our Physical Bodies: God’s Care for Embodied Souls
Resource #7: Fear Is Not Sin: By Ed Welch and CCEF
In this post, I summarize an extensive article by Ed Welch where he presents biblical evidence that fear is not sin. I also link to Ed’s entire article.
Fear Is Not Sin: By Ed Welch and CCEF
Resource #8: 36 Scripture Passages on Safety and Refuge in God: Home, Safe and Sound
Don’t we all long to be “home, safe and sound”? I know I do. Don’t we all feel “out of the nest,” and “away from home,” in the middle of such an unsafe world? I wrote this post to calm my own soul with Scripture. I hope it will bring you peace, too…
36 Scripture Passages on Safety and Refuge in God: Home, Safe and Sound
Resource #9: Learning the Biblical ABCs of Emotions
This is a free 30-page PDF collating foundational biblical principles about our emotional lives. Download it here:
Learning the Biblical ABCs of Emotions
Resource #10: Empathy Is Biblical
Here’s another free PDF, this one 42 pages, on Empathy Is Biblical.
Resource #11: Grief and Your Child: Sharing God’s Comfort in Loss
If we need peace, calm, and hope in the midst of our suffering, loss, and grief, then how much more do our children need the God of peace and the peace of God? I’ve taken this post from my book Grief and Your Child: Sharing God’s Comfort in Loss. In the post, I share four images or pictures to illustrate four practical ways we “can be there for” our children in their grief.
Grief and Your Child: Sharing God’s Comfort in Loss
Resource #12: 3 Resources for Experiencing God’s Healing Hope: A Trilogy on Grieving with Hope
God’s Word is the most real and raw writings ever penned. And God is the most empathetic Being in the universe. And the Trinity offers us healing hope in our grief. In this post, I share links to three books on grief and healing—and dozens of free resources.
3 Resources for Experiencing God’s Healing Hope
Resource #13: Healing for the Holidays
Holidays… They’re “supposed” to make us think of words like “thankful,” “merry,” and “happy.” We’re “supposed” to associate holidays with a phrase like “Home for the Holidays!” But… what if a loved one is not coming home this holiday season? What if death, divorce, distance, or family discord causes us to associate the holidays with words and feelings like depression, anxiety, and stress? This post introduces and links to a free 20-page PDF on:
Resource #14: 6 Lessons from a Depressed Puritan Pastor
The Puritan Pastor, Timothy Rogers, lived from 1658-1728. Rogers was a godly and competent pastor. On at least two occasions, each lasting an extended period of time, Rogers was overwhelmed by severe depression. In this post, I share 6 amazing, relevant, timeless principles from Rogers’s life that we can apply to our emotional life—especially during times of sadness and depression.
6 Lessons from a Depressed Puritan Pastor
Resource #15: I’m Never More Christ-Dependent Than When I’m Doing Deep Breathing Exercises
This is one of the most personal posts I’ve ever shared. If you or someone you care about has ever faced anxiety, fears, phobias, trauma, or panic attacks, this post can provide a compassionate, comprehensive biblical approach to caring for the whole person.
I’m Never More Christ-Dependent Than When I’m Doing Deep Breathing Exercises
Resource #16: 14 Scriptural Consolations in Suffering
This post is from the ministry of Martin Luther. Luther takes a worldly method of caring for the hurting, and redeems it into scriptural comfort and consolation for the suffering. Read Luther’s timely, timeless, and compassionate words here:
14 Scriptural Consolations in Suffering: Martin Luther Re-Narrates and Redeems Worldly Counseling
Resource #17: Experiencing Peace While Enduring Chronic Suffering
In times of stress and distress, I often reflect on God’s promise in Isaiah 26:3. “You will keep them in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because they trust in You.” In this post, we delve into this verse applying it to times of chronic suffering.
Experiencing Peace While Enduring Chronic Suffering
Resource #18: Your Body, Your Suffering, and Your Pain Matter to God
Are you seeing a theme in some of these posts? I’m connecting, emotions, our body, our suffering, and our Father of compassion and God of all comfort. Read this post to learn about compassionate and comprehensive biblical counseling that addresses the whole person:
Your Body, Your Suffering, and Your Pain Matter to God: Biblical Counseling and Your Body
Resource #19: Psalm 88: “The Dark Night of the Soul”: If Heman Saw a Miserable Counselor
This is the first of a two-part post on Psalm 88—which has been called the “Psalm of the Dark Night of the Soul.” In this post, I illustrate how not to care for a hurting person.
If Heman Saw a Miserable Counselor
Resource #20: If Heman Saw a Comforting Counselor
This is Part 2 on Psalm 88. As the title suggests, here we illustrate how to comfort a hurting friend or family member or counselee. Even more than that, read this post to see God’s compassionate care and comfort for the hurting.
If Heman Saw a Comforting Counselor
Resource #21: 4 New Christian Books in 2023 on Mental Health and Mental Illness
As the title indicates, this post links to 4 Christian books that help us to think through—without shame—issues related to mental health and mental illness. Find book summaries, reviews, and links here:
4 New Christian Books in 2023 on Mental Health and Mental Illness
Thank you so much of your generosity in sharing resources. You are expand the view on biblical counselling and it is very comprehensive. Praise God for your work.