Wear your feelings on your sleeve

Wear your feelings on your sleeve.

In the days of the Knights these soldiers would joust. Riding their horses with their long lances held forward they would attempt to knock each other off the horse they were riding. It was violent. It was dangerous. It was festive. Honor and dignity and often the hand of a fair maiden were at stake. These Knights would often be asked to attach something from a maiden to their armor. It was said that such warriors “wore their feelings on their sleeves.”

Jesus showed his emotions, and he wore his feelings on his sleeve. There are 6 Primary emotions all men experience: Love, Joy, Surprise, Anger, Sadness, and Fear!

Love:

Jesus demonstrated love often. He touched the suffering and sick. He came to seek and to save sinners. He prayed and walked with God daily. He was full of it. Lovingly, he set his face to go to Jerusalem to die for the sins of all mankind. He accepted God’s cup of suffering for all of us.

Joy:

The scriptures teach us that Jesus endured the cross and despised its shame for the “joy that was set before him.” The scriptures tell us of a man who had a zest and a desire for others to enjoy their lives. He saved the day changing water to wine. He theatrically calmed the storm. He scared his disciples out of their minds walking on the water. He did life with 12 other guys. He open his arms, and lap to little children.

Surprise:

The scriptures reveal a complex person who was amazed by great feats of faith. The scriptures reveal a person who was astonished by the ignorance of those who claimed to know God’s law, but didn’t act upon what they knew. He healed a man because he was amazed at the faith of the guys who brought him. He healed a soldier’s daughter because he was amazed at that soldier’s grasp of who he was.

Anger:

Jesus was zealous for how things should be in the place of worship. He wanted His Father’s house to be a house of prayer. He took up a whip in anger and drove the money changers out, tipping over their table. He got angry about how the Pharisees abused people in the name of God’s law and called them tombs full of bones.

Sadness:

Jesus wept in the garden begging God to remove the cup of suffering. Jesus wept at Lazarus’s tomb and then called him back into life. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Jesus wept when he was beaten, punched, and brutalized for us. No two words are more fixed in our hearts as that fact that God himself shed tears for us, for his friends, and for the places he loved knowing they would all be lost.

Fear:

Jesus demonstrated all of these emotions except fear. Jesus never faced fear. What I mean by this is that as Deity he could not experience fear. He is love and perfect love casts out fear. He had “no fear”. He did not fear dying, but he laid down his life. He didn’t fear the Devil, but he faced him. He didn’t fear the dignified Pharisees, rather he faced them. The only thing close to fear Jesus may have experienced was when his mother realized he had stayed behind in Jerusalem when he was young. It behooves us all as men to notify those that love us of where we are.

So what is the point? Jesus demonstrated for us how to lead when we are emoting.

1. Let love guide you when you encounter the suffering, the sick, and those who are seeking God. Love especially those who are followers of Jesus. A leader loves.

2. Live life fully with the understanding that there are no wasted experiences. Drink and enjoy the life you have been given. Savor today and each day, love others, enjoy the experiences you are given, and open your arms and laps to children. A leader has joy for living.

3. Be amazed at the faith others have and be astonished by those who take advantage of what is good in others and do wrong. A leader believes the best about others.

4. Get angry about things that offend your heavenly Father. Be angry at the wrong, the sin, the brokenness, and injustice in the world. A leader gets angry at what God gets angry about.

5. Weep with those that are weeping. We should sorrow over the loss of things that you love, but don’t let sorrow become depression. A leader identifies with what is saddening to others.

6. Unlike Jesus you will never live without fear. You have limits. You will face enemies and have fear. However, Jesus taught us to face it. Courage is not the absence of fear, but taking action in spite of fear. A leader faces his fears and acts demonstrating his courage and character.

So, dear Knight of God’s Round Table wear your feelings on your sleeve.