AM: That was so hard for X when his teacher did that. Y thinks he’s being dramatic. 

Betty: Well, does Y handle his own feelings or work them through? 

AM; No. 

Betty: Okay, so you know now what’s holding him back from doing it. There’s a part of him that has judged it to be dramatic and just wants X to drop the whole thing and not think about it. So, you could pray for Y that way. You could hold him up to the Lord and pray, “Lord, help Y to get past this stuck place, so he can relax more.” 

Because in those areas where we won’t let emotions that make us uncomfortable come up so we can look at them and let go of them, then we are kind of stuck in it, right? And yet, I can see where some men think that’s being strong. It’s almost like it’s in their mind a good thing to deny that it’s there so they don’t have to deal with it. They think that’s being manly. I don’t think so. But anyhow, that’s where they are. 

AM: They’re not the one you want to go to if you’re suffering. 

Betty: No, because they’re being brutal to their own feelings. They’re not looking at them. They’re denying that they exist. So, why would you want to expose yourself to that? See, they say of Jesus Christ, “He never hid behind personal defenses.” And I thought, “Oh my gosh.” That’s true, because he’s Eternal Truth. So, Jesus did not go into the luxury of denial. Whatever happened to him, He immediately felt. His integrity would call him into truth. He wouldn’t say, “Oh, that doesn’t bother me,” when it did. But he knew how to let go and not hang on to stuff which you and I don’t always know how to do that. And sometimes we do the best we can. But it’s kind of a half-hearted job. We need God’s help and courage to be able to stand more in our integrity and own up to what we’re feeling. Instead of lying about what’s there. 

AM: And how did Jesus do it? What scriptures can you go to and say, “This is where I need to go. What scriptures can you think of of how he dealt with it?” 

Betty: Well, when he said he was eternal truth. You’re not eternal truth if you’re lying about your feelings, are you? 

AM: What I meant was how did he handle it? Is there a Scripture? 

Betty: Well the way he lived his life. His life example is my model. When you’re doing the gospel, put that up before the Lord, and say, “Lord, could you point out to me some examples of how you stayed in your integrity?” Because you already know he’s eternal truth. Because he actually said he was. But what you’re looking for is an example in Scripture whereby you can help a person who lives by Scripture alone. Spiritual writers will at times refer to his anger as a just anger, as a pure holy anger. Whereas you and I, our anger is not always pure.  I once heard a priest talking about the cleansing in the temple and how anger that’s holy and purified is actually healing. Whereas, anger that has our contamination of judgment is not as healing and is more destructive to others. 

Pray and see if there are any areas in your life where you’re living in denial repressing your true feelings. Ask Jesus, who is Eternal Truth, to help you live in integrity.