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N E I L   A N D E R S O N   D A I L Y   D E V O T I O N A L
             from Freedom in Christ Ministries

October 23

EMOTIONAL BAGGAGE

The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my
distresses (Psalm 25:17).

Unlike our day-to-day emotions which are the product of our
day-to-day thought life, emotional baggage from the past is
always there. Years of exposure and experience in life have
etched grooves in our memory banks which are triggered by current
events.

For example, if your kind, loving grandfather was named Bill, you
probably have a favorable emotional reaction to other people
named Bill. But if the school bully was named Bill, your initial
reaction to the Bills in your life is probably negative. If your
spouse suggests, "Let's name our first child Bill," you might
even react, "Over my dead body!"

I call these long-term emotions which lurk beneath the surface
primary emotions. The intensity of your primary emotions is
determined by your previous life history. The more traumatic your
experience, the more intense will be your primary emotion. Many
of these primary emotions will lie dormant and have very little
effect on your life until something comes along to trigger them.
Have you ever brought up a topic of conversation which upset
someone and sent him storming out of the room? "What set him
off?" you wondered. He was "set off" because a bad experience in
his past was triggered by your topic. The trigger is any present
event which he associates with the past conflict.

Most people try to control their primary emotions by avoiding the
people or events which trigger them. But you can't isolate
yourself completely from everything which may set off a response.
You are bound to see something on TV or hear something in a
conversation which will bring to mind your unpleasant experience.
You must learn how to resolve previous conflicts or the emotional
baggage will accumulate and the past will control your life.

During the next few days, we will consider ways to resolve our
emotional baggage from the past.

Lord, I don't want to be controlled by past events. Show me how I
can resolve these issues so I can walk in freedom today.


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This daily devotional is published and distributed by
Crosswalk.com.  It is written by Neil Anderson at
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You can purchase "Daily in Christ" and other titles by Neil Anderson at
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Additional devotionals are available from Crosswalk.com:
< http://devotionals.crosswalk.com >.
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