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Emotions and the Gospel: Created for Connection
Embracing positive emotions seems easy to do. Things like joy, gratefulness, and excitement are all positive markers of faithfulness to society. But when sadness, pain, anger, or guilt creep up, those are much harder to embrace.
How can you begin to understand your own emotions if half of them are ones you’d much rather ignore?
Emotions and the Gospel reminds all believers that your emotions are not something to be shamed. Rather, they are beautiful gifts from God that connect you with your Creator. Learn more about how the entire range of your emotions is to be celebrated with biblical examples and insight from author and licensed mental health care provider Heidi Goehmann.
How can you begin to understand your own emotions if half of them are ones you’d much rather ignore?
Emotions and the Gospel reminds all believers that your emotions are not something to be shamed. Rather, they are beautiful gifts from God that connect you with your Creator. Learn more about how the entire range of your emotions is to be celebrated with biblical examples and insight from author and licensed mental health care provider Heidi Goehmann.
184 pages, Paperback
Published September 13, 2022
About the author
Heidi Goehmann
13 books67 followersWriter, licensed clinical social worker, and theologian, Heidi Goehmann, produces resources that advocate for mental health and genuine relationships. She loves her family, post it notes, Jesus, adventure, Star Wars, Star Trek, and new ideas…not necessarily in that order. Heidi can always be found writing and producing resources at heidigoehmann.com.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 25, 2022
This book really has been transformative for me, in how I consider my emotions and how I consider myself. I’ve always felt a little broken because my emotions often feel too big for me to hold, because I thought for a long time that if I could just control them better, I’d have a more balanced life.
I’d started to think differently, moment by moment, before reading this book; those previous beliefs had slowly cracked and splintered. What I’ve learned in reading, though, has shattered those and left me with a toolbox and a rudimentary understanding how to piece back together my understanding of my emotional self.
I don’t know quite how it’ll look when I’ve put that understanding back together, but I’m starting and I know it’ll be beautiful and mysterious and me.
Some things I’ve learned:
My emotions aren’t good or bad. They just are.
My emotions are a created gift from God, not something to be stuffed down or hidden. They’re broken, yes, just like everything in this world. But they’re also redeemed by Him.
My emotions tell me things, and I’m learning to listen more closely and more openly to them.
I’d started to think differently, moment by moment, before reading this book; those previous beliefs had slowly cracked and splintered. What I’ve learned in reading, though, has shattered those and left me with a toolbox and a rudimentary understanding how to piece back together my understanding of my emotional self.
I don’t know quite how it’ll look when I’ve put that understanding back together, but I’m starting and I know it’ll be beautiful and mysterious and me.
Some things I’ve learned:
My emotions aren’t good or bad. They just are.
My emotions are a created gift from God, not something to be stuffed down or hidden. They’re broken, yes, just like everything in this world. But they’re also redeemed by Him.
My emotions tell me things, and I’m learning to listen more closely and more openly to them.
May 5, 2023
This book was far easier and quicker to read than I had imagined (my fear was that it would be filled with technical counseling jargon; it is not); but that doesn't mean it is simple, nor shallow; it is not. In fact, I hope to return to it again with Bible and personal journal alongside to go through it with a deep dive. I learned so much even with a quick read: I learned so much about God and his care for our emotions and about many misconceptions concerning God's emotions mentioned in Scripture; I learned so much about my own emotions and what they do and don't mean and indicate by themselves; and I learned a lot about relating to others and caring and connecting with them no matter what they or I may be going through. Being a Preschool Director / Teacher, this book excites me about the potential of helping the very young children who are just discovering so many emotions which are so very challenging for them! And given some instances in my past that still afflict my emotional state I found some of the references mentioned to be new sources of hope for healing with specific concerns.
I really appreciated the personal stories and grappling with person emotions (at various stages in her life) that the author shared in advancing our understanding of emotions throughout the book! Her willingness to share and reflect on emotions was helpful in understanding each chapter as real world application and how to look at the emotion in a broader sense of things that often accompany the emotions themselves.
I was captivated by the scope of this book from the very beginning as the author found the dividing point between 'thoughts and intentions' if you will: Beliefs about Emotions (Part 1) was a great discussion which discussed The Image of God in the very midst of those first chapters. Part 2, Misconceptions about Emotions, was equally captivating and insightful. Part 3, Ways to Process Emotions, was great but is a section I am anxious to review with a scalpel to my own heart after reading Part 4, Specific Emotions. There were some surprises here! When I first saw Indignation and Contempt in the list of specific emotions covered in part 4 I thought they were far from me; yet contemplating what they really are and how insidious they relate to various aspects of life ... I've got some reflecting and praying to do!!
Again, this turned out to be a much more personal read than I had first anticipated! Emotions and the Gospel; that's gonna be a nice read of various emotions mentioned in the Bible; but wait, it's not titled "various emotions mentioned in the Bible (a cursory read)"; no, it's titled "Emotions and the Gospel: Created for Connection"! I should have realized the difference beforehand; but that means it turned out to be a much more insightful, inspirational, significant, and satisfying read than I was thinking; and it is very readable and relevant. I do hope that any friends reading this review will read the book and find it equally relevant and helpful! I highly recommend it!
I really appreciated the personal stories and grappling with person emotions (at various stages in her life) that the author shared in advancing our understanding of emotions throughout the book! Her willingness to share and reflect on emotions was helpful in understanding each chapter as real world application and how to look at the emotion in a broader sense of things that often accompany the emotions themselves.
I was captivated by the scope of this book from the very beginning as the author found the dividing point between 'thoughts and intentions' if you will: Beliefs about Emotions (Part 1) was a great discussion which discussed The Image of God in the very midst of those first chapters. Part 2, Misconceptions about Emotions, was equally captivating and insightful. Part 3, Ways to Process Emotions, was great but is a section I am anxious to review with a scalpel to my own heart after reading Part 4, Specific Emotions. There were some surprises here! When I first saw Indignation and Contempt in the list of specific emotions covered in part 4 I thought they were far from me; yet contemplating what they really are and how insidious they relate to various aspects of life ... I've got some reflecting and praying to do!!
Again, this turned out to be a much more personal read than I had first anticipated! Emotions and the Gospel; that's gonna be a nice read of various emotions mentioned in the Bible; but wait, it's not titled "various emotions mentioned in the Bible (a cursory read)"; no, it's titled "Emotions and the Gospel: Created for Connection"! I should have realized the difference beforehand; but that means it turned out to be a much more insightful, inspirational, significant, and satisfying read than I was thinking; and it is very readable and relevant. I do hope that any friends reading this review will read the book and find it equally relevant and helpful! I highly recommend it!
May 9, 2023
What a great read! This concise, cozy book provides plenty of food for thought on emotions and how they relate to our relationship with our Creator. Rather than being full of "do this" and "don't do that", Heidi takes a unique tack to return our focus to relationship with Jesus, our neighbors, and our inner thoughts, providing a useful framework for re-thinking emotions. Highly recommended; will read again.
January 11, 2023
I didn’t know what to expect from this unique book, but I’ve never read anything by Heidi Goehmann that didn’t challenge me, help me dive deeper into Scripture and my own thought processes, or leave me feeling a bit more comfortable with the complexity of our human existence.
In this book, she gives us permission, especially as Lutheran Christians, who maybe feel a little emotionally stunted, to feel and express emotion deeply… we can, we should, and indeed, we all DO! She acknowledges that it’s okay (normal even!) not to know or to understand many things about God or our emotions. Simultaneously, she reminds us that we can know FOR CERTAIN that our emotions are valuable gifts given by a loving God who is big enough to hold all our uncertainty and the tension that sometimes surfaces in our varied and conflicting emotions in His gracious hands. An emotion is not inherently good or bad, it just IS.
I appreciated the author’s vulnerability in sharing personal stories from her childhood and adulthood to help the reader gain insight into her own journey with emotion. It sparked some unique memories of vivid emotions from my past and gave me a renewed curiosity to relive those moments through journaling and contemplation, with healthy and insightful results.
I also enjoyed the chapters that allowed me to dive deeper into Scripture to explore the emotion in certain passages as I’ve never thought about them before.
The book is broken into four parts: Beliefs about Emotions, Misconceptions about Emotions, Ways to Process Emotions (tremendously helpful for me!), and Specific Emotions (specifically “forgotten” emotions mentioned in the Bible — this section was fascinating!)… and each section had many helpful insights to ponder and process. It would be a fabulous book for a Bible study or book club discussion group (discussion questions are included). Someday, I hope to be able to share the thoughts and insights in this book with other curious readers like myself!
Grateful to have received this as a Christmas gift from my husband (who knows me well!) and indirectly from the author herself (whose words and wisdom I am increasingly grateful for). Keep writing, Heidi; the world needs your voice, and the voice of the One who shines through your many talents!! His fingerprints are all over this book. 😊
In this book, she gives us permission, especially as Lutheran Christians, who maybe feel a little emotionally stunted, to feel and express emotion deeply… we can, we should, and indeed, we all DO! She acknowledges that it’s okay (normal even!) not to know or to understand many things about God or our emotions. Simultaneously, she reminds us that we can know FOR CERTAIN that our emotions are valuable gifts given by a loving God who is big enough to hold all our uncertainty and the tension that sometimes surfaces in our varied and conflicting emotions in His gracious hands. An emotion is not inherently good or bad, it just IS.
I appreciated the author’s vulnerability in sharing personal stories from her childhood and adulthood to help the reader gain insight into her own journey with emotion. It sparked some unique memories of vivid emotions from my past and gave me a renewed curiosity to relive those moments through journaling and contemplation, with healthy and insightful results.
I also enjoyed the chapters that allowed me to dive deeper into Scripture to explore the emotion in certain passages as I’ve never thought about them before.
The book is broken into four parts: Beliefs about Emotions, Misconceptions about Emotions, Ways to Process Emotions (tremendously helpful for me!), and Specific Emotions (specifically “forgotten” emotions mentioned in the Bible — this section was fascinating!)… and each section had many helpful insights to ponder and process. It would be a fabulous book for a Bible study or book club discussion group (discussion questions are included). Someday, I hope to be able to share the thoughts and insights in this book with other curious readers like myself!
Grateful to have received this as a Christmas gift from my husband (who knows me well!) and indirectly from the author herself (whose words and wisdom I am increasingly grateful for). Keep writing, Heidi; the world needs your voice, and the voice of the One who shines through your many talents!! His fingerprints are all over this book. 😊
October 30, 2023
The title of this book immediately drew me in. Sometimes in the church, I have had the impression that we should stifle our emotions. So it surprised me to find there could be a connection between our jumbled emotions and the sure, true Gospel.
The book did not disappoint. Heidi Goehmann carefully drew out all the places that emotions are mentioned in Scripture and helped me see them not as bad things, but feelings that even God has. She gave me tools to deal with my messy emotions and bring them to God.
I especially appreciated that the book does not give pat answers or cliched approaches to understanding our emotions. Instead, it encourages us to take our time wrestling with difficult feelings with the assurance that God walks beside us even while we figure them out.
The book did not disappoint. Heidi Goehmann carefully drew out all the places that emotions are mentioned in Scripture and helped me see them not as bad things, but feelings that even God has. She gave me tools to deal with my messy emotions and bring them to God.
I especially appreciated that the book does not give pat answers or cliched approaches to understanding our emotions. Instead, it encourages us to take our time wrestling with difficult feelings with the assurance that God walks beside us even while we figure them out.
November 3, 2022
Non fiction is hard to for me to get through without skimming in most cases. I enjoyed every page of this book and how different each chapter was from another. Most importantly, I appreciated the sound Christian theology as it relates to the field of psychology.
January 20, 2023
emotions
Heidi does an excellent, thorough job looking at our emotions. She uses kind words and Bible references to support how God created us to be emotional creatures. And how He is an emotional God.
Heidi does an excellent, thorough job looking at our emotions. She uses kind words and Bible references to support how God created us to be emotional creatures. And how He is an emotional God.
February 10, 2023
Heidi gives a Biblical perspective for our emotions- made by God for good. I love that she reminded us that God doesn't need us to be in control. We can bring our mess to Him. Besides understanding our emotions, Goehmann suggests strategies to help us deal with them.
May 17, 2023
I highly recommend every human God created with emotions and connections—go get a copy of this book. I’m keeping mine to read again!
September 24, 2023
Loved the insight of connecting emotions to God.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews