What does the Bible say about emotions?
The Bible does not treat emotions as something to be avoided, suppressed, or exalted. Instead, it presents them as essential to what it means to be made in the image of God. From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture portrays God as having emotional responses—joy, sorrow, anger, compassion—while also affirming the emotional life of human beings. Yet the biblical view of emotions differs significantly from both modern secular psychology and sentimental approaches to spirituality. This article explores how the Bible speaks about emotions: what they reveal about God, how they relate to humanity, and how they can be engaged in light of God’s redemptive purposes.
We’ll examine five central themes:
God’s emotions in Scripture
The ancient understanding of emotion
Emotional engagement in Bible study
Expressing emotions faithfully
Christ’s emotional life and our hope
1. Does God Have Emotions?
The Bible presents God as deeply relational and emotionally involved with His creation. He is not detached or stoic. While God’s emotional life is not identical to ours—since He is eternal, unchanging, and holy—it is nevertheless described in language we can understand.
Joy: “He will rejoice over you with gladness” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Anger: “God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day” (Psalm 7:11).
Compassion: “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him” (Psalm 103:13).
Grief: “And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Genesis 6:6).
These expressions in Scripture reveal that God is not an impersonal force. Rather, He responds to sin, injustice, and covenant faithfulness with real emotional engagement. The Bible’s portrayal invites us to trust that God's emotional responses are always righteous, measured, and redemptive.
2. How Did the Ancient World Understand Emotions?
In the biblical world, emotions were not understood as fleeting mental states or chemical reactions in the brain. Ancient people viewed emotions as originating from the internal organs—the heart, kidneys, and bowels.
Heart: Seen as the seat of thought and will—“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
Bowels: Associated with compassion and deep inner feeling—“Put on… compassionate hearts” (Colossians 3:12).
Kidneys: Linked to the testing of inner motives—“You… test the hearts and kidneys” (Psalm 7:9).
This view shapes how the Bible describes both divine and human emotions. The physical language grounds the emotional life in the body, not as something merely “felt” but as something experienced in the whole person. Recognizing this helps modern readers avoid imposing psychological categories onto texts written with a different anthropological framework.
3. Should Bible Study Be Emotional?
Some today seek an emotional “experience” in Bible reading, hoping for a spiritual high or a sense of peace. While the Bible does affect the heart, its primary aim is to reveal God and His redemptive plan in Christ.
Jesus corrected those who searched the Scriptures merely for emotional or religious validation:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39).
Likewise, Paul reminded Timothy that all Scripture is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Emotional reactions may accompany a deepening knowledge of God, but the goal of Bible study is not feelings—it is formation. Right understanding leads to right worship and, often, appropriately ordered emotional responses. In other words, emotions should be a byproduct of communion with God, not the main goal.
4. How Should Christians Express Their Emotions?
The Bible does not call believers to suppress their emotions, but rather to express them faithfully in communion with God. The Psalms are the most prominent example of this, offering inspired prayers that include fear, sorrow, anger, longing, and joy.
Fear: “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you” (Psalm 56:3).
Despair: “Why are you cast down, O my soul?” (Psalm 42:5).
Righteous anger: “O daughter of Babylon… blessed shall he be who repays you” (Psalm 137:8-9).
Joy: “In your presence there is fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11).
The New Testament affirms this honest emotional life. James writes, “Count it all joy… when you meet trials” (James 1:2-3). This is not emotional denial, but emotional reorientation. The Gospel does not erase emotions—it transforms them.
For those in Christ, the Spirit sanctifies even our emotional responses. As we await the renewal of all things, our present emotions—whether grief, anger, or delight—can be part of our worship when offered honestly and in hope.
5. What Do Jesus’ Emotions Teach Us?
Jesus is the perfect image of God and the perfect human being. He shows us what it means to be fully emotional without sin. His emotions were not erratic or selfish; they were aligned with truth, righteousness, and love.
He wept over death and loss (John 11:35).
He expressed righteous anger at injustice in the temple (John 2:13–17).
He felt sorrow and anguish in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:38).
These scenes remind us that emotions are not a result of the fall—they are part of our design. Jesus, as our high priest, sympathizes with our weakness and emotional struggles (Hebrews 4:15). He has entered into the full range of human experience and redeemed it. In Him, our joy is made full, and even our lament becomes a form of faith.
The Gospel teaches us that salvation is not merely an escape from sin's penalty but a transformation of the whole person—including how we feel, grieve, rejoice, and love. In the resurrection, our emotions will be made perfect. Even now, in union with Christ, they are being redeemed.
Conclusion: Emotions, the Gospel, and the Hope of Restoration
The Bible’s vision of emotions is not one of chaos or cold detachment but of covenantal wholeness. God created us to feel deeply because He Himself is emotionally involved with His creation. Our emotions reflect our desires, values, and relationships—and when ordered rightly, they point us back to the One in whose image we were made.
In light of the Gospel, we are not slaves to our emotions, nor are we called to ignore them. Instead, we submit them to Christ. As we grow in the knowledge of God through His Word, our emotions are shaped by truth and guided by the Spirit. They become tools of worship, compassion, and perseverance.
Bible verses about emotions:
Zephaniah 3:17, "The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing."
Psalm 7:11, "God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day."
Psalm 103:13, "As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him."
Genesis 6:6, "And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart."
Proverbs 4:23, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
Colossians 3:12, "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."
Psalm 7:9, "Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end, and may you establish the righteous— you who test the hearts and kidneys, O righteous God!"
John 11:35, "Jesus wept."
Matthew 26:38, "Then he said to them, 'My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.'"
James 1:2–3, "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
