Are fear and guilt totally unnecessary emotions ?

caliber

Feelings do not necessarily speak truth. If you feel guilty, it does not mean that you are guilty. Many times, feelings merely tell us what is going on in our thought life (or what we are really believing). If we think we are guilty, there will be feelings of guilt as the fruit of those thoughts or beliefs. It's sort of like feeling a hot stove; feelings are meant to help alert us of something that is wrong. Feelings should not be ignored, but properly interpreted.

Are our feelings wrong because our belief was wrong ?

Remember, feelings are just the fruit of our thoughts and beliefs. However if we feel wrong, would it not hurt to stop and ask ourselves ......am I doing the right thing here ? Does not our inborn conscience serve a purpose ?Sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blame worthiness of one's own conduct, intentions, or character, together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good. Hence, a faculty, power, or principal conceived to decide as to the moral quality of one's own thoughts or acts, enjoining what is good." (Webster's new Collegiate dictionary, page 176).

2 Timothy 1:7 hit my spirit: “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Could it be that the fear and condemnation I suffered were not from God but from man ?

james_woods

I think both fear and guilt are valuable social safety nets for human behavior.

A person who cannot feel either fear or guilt is (at least) a potential psychopath.

Joseph Stalin comes to mind on a grand scale - Ted Bundy on a much smaller scale.

PSacramento

People without fear do stupid and dangerous things.

People without guilt do stupid and dangerous things.

AGuest

Depends on the situation and circumstances, dear Caliber (peace to you!). In some instances, fear and guilt can be totally unnecessary, debilitating, burdensome, enslaving. In other instances, the first can save your life and the second can save your reputation, marriage and/or other relationships. Reasonable, moderation... and love... should tell you when and where either is appropriate or not.

I hope this helps and, again, peace to you!

A slave of Christ,

SA

caliber

Thanks to all for their intelligent and insightful thoughts. AGuest ... You are always so gracous and kind which draws me

and appeals to me ! .... indeed you bring peace and love... thanks

sabastious

Emotional Red Flags (guilt and fear etc) are part of our brain's ensemble for a reason. Listen to them, but don't always act on them.

-Sab

little witch

I believe fear and guilt are but emotions that we have that serve a TEMPORARY purpose. They are uncomfortable for a reason. They should alert us that (in the case of fear) something is amiss and needs to be immeadiatly dealt with (flight or flight)...

In the case of guilt, I would say that it triggers us to know we have done a major injustice that needs to be dealt with (take ownership of the fault, apologize, ask forgiveness and learn from your error).

To say they are 'negative emotions' to me makes them without merit. I believe they have a special purpose and that is why they are so painful. We are not meant to live in long term pain. It makes one over emotional and out of balance. If they are used as "alerts" they are benificial and sustaining to life and to relationships. I think that to carry these emotions long term lead to physical and emotional damage in the extreme.

LW

WTWizard

You really should be afraid if a lion is attacking you or the SWAT team is at your home inspecting it for gold and silver. However, being afraid of hyperinflation is counter-productive. You should prepare, not panic--and you should think rationally about what you will do if such a disaster happens. Nor should people be complacent--which will lead to panic and fear when the event happens. This is as true with an earthquake as with a government collapse.

As for guilt, I think it is more worrying about the consequences of a past action. You eat that cake, you are thinking that you are out of control and horrible. Usually, it is beyond the reality of the circumstances--you eat a piece of cake, you are going to get a little fat (or a lot, depending on how much you ate). However, that is usually not the end of the world--you can compensate later with exercise or eating less the next time, and that will balance things off. But, guilt that continues after such "debt" is repaid is counter-productive and usually leads to even worse consequences. And the people that really should feel mass shame and guilt never do--the Washtowel Babble and Crap Slaveholdery, Osama Obama, Bernanke, and the Rothschilds never feel any guilt.

White Dove

According to Egg, guilt is a useless emotion.

She says that to me sometimes.

Are fear and guilt totally unnecessary emotions ?

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