Proverbs 15:15
All the days of the afflicted are evil:
But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
I used to sing a little song as a teenager, a song called, “Victory is a State of Mind”. It is quite a true fact that our attitude determines our altitude. External and internal pressures may try to dictate our moods and thereby confuse our lives, but stability of spirit belongs to he who does not yield to emotions dictates. Peace comes by keeping our eyes stay set on the Spirit of Messiah.
Jewish sages were aware of emotions’ unreliability. They determined that the influence of the intellect is stronger than that of the heart, and therefore levels it. They believed in ‘Mind over Matter’. They derive that concept from the main prayer in Judaism called the ‘Shema’. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The prayer starts with, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (Punctuation emphasis mine)”. Love is a reaction of the heart. Dictated, it is not love. How then can we be commanded to love God? The text teaches us, ‘Hearing God will cause us to love Him’. We hear the voice of the mighty Creator of our soul in our hearts, and like a woman being wooed with tender words we fall in love with Him. The intellect leads the heart.
In the same way, our proverb does not indicate that happiness is the emotional reaction to the demands of our environment. It rather teaches us that happiness comes with the leveling of our passions with the imposition of God’s Spirit on all that would dictate the ups and downs of our emotions. Making decisions solely on an intellectual basis may sound cold, but to indiscriminately react out of emotions is foolish. The two need to work together. The dangerous emotional fire needs to furnace to control it; we can all then enjoy its warmth.
All the days of the afflicted are evil:
But he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
I used to sing a little song as a teenager, a song called, “Victory is a State of Mind”. It is quite a true fact that our attitude determines our altitude. External and internal pressures may try to dictate our moods and thereby confuse our lives, but stability of spirit belongs to he who does not yield to emotions dictates. Peace comes by keeping our eyes stay set on the Spirit of Messiah.
Jewish sages were aware of emotions’ unreliability. They determined that the influence of the intellect is stronger than that of the heart, and therefore levels it. They believed in ‘Mind over Matter’. They derive that concept from the main prayer in Judaism called the ‘Shema’. It is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. The prayer starts with, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (Punctuation emphasis mine)”. Love is a reaction of the heart. Dictated, it is not love. How then can we be commanded to love God? The text teaches us, ‘Hearing God will cause us to love Him’. We hear the voice of the mighty Creator of our soul in our hearts, and like a woman being wooed with tender words we fall in love with Him. The intellect leads the heart.
In the same way, our proverb does not indicate that happiness is the emotional reaction to the demands of our environment. It rather teaches us that happiness comes with the leveling of our passions with the imposition of God’s Spirit on all that would dictate the ups and downs of our emotions. Making decisions solely on an intellectual basis may sound cold, but to indiscriminately react out of emotions is foolish. The two need to work together. The dangerous emotional fire needs to furnace to control it; we can all then enjoy its warmth.
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