DAY 14: Your "Emotional Skeleton"
Week 2: Internal Relational Skills
Day 14: Your “Emotional Skeleton”
Think with me briefly what your physical skeleton does for you. It keeps you upright so you are not a blob on the floor trying to get places. This enables you to move around more easily and quickly. If you think about it a little longer, you realize that it protects your internal organs from being pummeled as we move. In fact, if your really think about it, being a blob on the floor would actually smother your internal organs and you could not actually live! Your physical skeleton is actually vital for life!
Now translate these same concepts to an “emotional skeleton”. As I have pondered this, I realized we have a lot of sayings in America that speak to an internal emotional skeleton. Take “You have a good head on your shoulders”, for instance. What is that saying about the person? It is saying that the person is intelligent, can think or reason well, is a good problem-solver, and is able to retain knowledge. If you are also described as a person who can “think on your feet”, you likely also have a quick wit, you are ready at a moment’s notice with information you might need, or you can think through a situation fast so as to not cause you or others much of a delay in getting to solutions. If you are described as a person who “has good shoulders to cry on”, you are likely a person who is compassionate, who listens well, and may have a timely word of wisdom for a given situation. Another saying we use for people is that they have “backbone”. We usually mean they are courageous, bold, assertive, and have guts. (When we say they have “no backbone”, we mean they are cowardly.) When we describe a person who has a “leg to stand on”, we are describing a person who can back up what they are saying, they have objective proof to explain their position, and they project confidence in their knowledge. If you were to make a list of all that we just described in these sayings, we would have the characteristics of a person of strength, integrity, wisdom, intelligence, and emotional fortitude. We would also likely see a successful person relationally and professionally. Much research is being done on people with this “skill set” and they are labeling the person as having a high EQ (Emotional Quotient). They actually say that a high EQ is a better predictor of success than a high IQ (Intelligence Quotient)!
God’s Word has a lot to say about wisdom, compassion, integrity, empathy, courage, and even a sense of humor! We could all use time in His Word and in His presence to nurture and grow our “emotional skeleton”. He and His Word are described as water, milk, meat, bread, and honey that will nourish your soul and spirit. He gives us opportunity to cultivate these amazing attributes by giving us revelation about our trials, wisdom of how to apply what He shows us, and even supernatural power to carry it out. Let Him be your “personal trainer” and “life coach” so that you have the emotional fortitude to go through lifes ups and downs.
Declare over yourself, “I am a person of character. I am being trained in righteousness through the Word and how He directs me to apply His Word to my life circumstances. I do not cower or shrink when life throws a tough situation at me. I “have a leg to stand on” as I stand on His truth and His promises.”
Author of this post: Melanie Connell
