| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Be the church” Our Bible verse for today: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6 (CSB) Our thought for today: “We need emotionally intelligent Christians” “Emotional intelligence” is a concept developed by psychologist Daniel Goleman and published in his ground-breaking 1995 book by the same title. It’s been common knowledge for much of human history that people with high IQs often do not do well in life. They’re very smart in terms of knowledge; they are quick-thinking and they have the ability to grasp complex concepts and to solve difficult problems. But often those same people seem to have little common sense, they sometimes have poor communication and relational skills, and therefore they struggle in life – sometimes tragically so. In his research Goleman discovered why that is – it’s the difference between intellectual intelligence and emotional intelligence. Goleman discovered that humans effectively have two minds – the rational mind and the emotional mind. The rational mind gathers and processes information and solves problems. The emotional mind governs feelings, moods, instincts, judgment, and decision-making. Emotional intelligence includes many of the factors that combine to create the spiritually mature individual we have been thinking about this month – the person with self-awareness, self-discipline, empathy, optimism, hope, compassion, trust, and faith. It’s the kind of knowledge and wisdom Solomon was writing about in Proverbs 2:6. Emotional intelligence is a different way of being smart and it’s actually the more important of the two. People with high intellectual intelligence often flounder in life and consequently end up unhappy. People with high emotional intelligence may have modest IQs by comparison, but they do surprisingly well in life. Would it surprise you to learn that God is more interested in your emotional intelligence than He is in your intellectual intelligence? Can you see the correlation between emotional intelligence and Biblical virtues? Mature Christians have a high level of emotional intelligence and as a result, they tend to thrive in life. They are also a blessing to others and they are effective at helping to build the kingdom of God. We need more emotionally intelligent Christians, and here’s the good news: emotional intelligence can be learned and developed. This is what discipleship and spiritual growth achieves in us. If we are going to effectively be the church out there is this very lost, very confused, very angry and contentious world, we will have to be mature, emotionally intelligent Christians who can do more than just recite Bible verses and complain about the things we don’t like. We will have to be bigger and better than that. For the Christian, emotional intelligence and spiritual maturity are essentially the same thing. I encourage us all to be emotionally intelligent Christians. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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