Dharius Daniels - How to PROPERLY Manage Your Overwhelming Emotions with Grace

I can’t be successful relationally if I’m not sober. I can’t be successful spiritually if I’m not sober. I can’t be whole emotionally if I’m not sober. I cannot advance professionally if I am not sober. The enemy understands the importance of our sobriety, and this is what is often under attack. He attacks you by attacking your sobriety. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, we must be intentional about grooming and growing our love for God, our love for ourselves, and our love for others to the degree that we become willing to perpetually—not seasonally, not periodically, not temporarily—but perpetually do the inner work to properly manage unbridled emotions. Busting windows out of a car is an expression of emotions that are unbridled. Come on, talk to me. We must be willing to do the work so that we can grow spiritually, thereby influencing ourselves emotionally, so that even though we have feelings, feelings don’t have us. Listen, when you get better spiritually, everything gets better. Spiritual life is not the only important part of your life; it is the most important part of your life because it affects every other part. That’s important, but you don’t get stronger spiritually accidentally. It takes intentionality. You need to get fed, and you have to learn how to understand, interpret, apply, and explain the Bible. The Bible is the blueprint to your best life, and I’m going to tell you that Sundays are not enough to give you the tools you need to improve your understanding of the Bible. I want you to join me in my community called Bible You, where I help you take your understanding, application, and explanation of the Bible to another level. It’s one thing for feelings to be within us; it’s another thing for us to be in our feelings. Come on, Church! Therefore, those of us who prioritize purpose must embrace the following axiom—this is for my note-takers: My success requires my sobriety. I can’t be successful if I’m not sober. I can’t be successful relationally if I’m not sober. I can’t be successful spiritually if I’m not sober. I can’t be whole emotionally if I’m not sober. I cannot advance professionally if I am not sober, and the enemy understands the importance of our sobriety. This is what is often under attack. He attacks you by attacking your sobriety because he knows when you’re drunk, you’re vulnerable. My God, when you’re drunk, your decision-making is impaired. When you’re drunk, you connect with people that you would not normally link up with. Where are the 12:30 people today? When you are sober, but when you are drunk, you entertain things that you would not entertain when you are sober. This is why some of you need to pray for new friends to enter your circle. This is why some of you need to get into a change group, because when you are drunk but have sober friends around you, your sober friends will keep you from being destroyed in your drunken state. Will somebody pause right now and thank God for sober friends? When you were about to send that text, they said, «Don’t you send that text!» When you were about to pull up, they said, «Give me your keys!» When you were about to go back, they reminded you of why you left in the first place. Thank God for sober friends! Girl, where are you going? Turn around, come back home! You need some «give me your keys» people in your life. When I say sobriety, people think of intoxication, and when we say intoxication, culturally, people only associate it with alcohol. What I’m arguing today is that alcohol is not the only intoxicating agent. In fact, one of the most dangerous forms of intoxication is emotional intoxication—when there is an emotion that is so unmanaged and so unbridled that it clouds and impairs your reasoning and judgment and allows you to be okay with behavior temporarily that you would not be okay with long-term. It puts you in an «I don’t care» mindset. The «I don’t care» mindset is always seasonal; it never leads to full relief because when a person hurts you, hurting them never heals you. Did you hear what I just said? When you hurt them, you realize that hurting them didn’t stop your own pain, so now I want to hurt you some more. Am I making sense here? And the enemy understands this, which is why he is after our sobriety. This may be why Peter says in 1 Peter 5:8 to be alert and of sober mind. Why, Darius? Because your enemy prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. So, it means I don’t even have to be strong to avoid being devoured; I just need to be sober. Are you here? Maybe this is why Solomon—one of the wisest men to ever live, besides Jesus—says this in Proverbs 29:11: «Only a fool gives full vent to their rage.» He didn’t say a fool only feels angry—he said only a fool gives full vent to it; they have no filter, no boundaries, and just emotionally unload. He says, «But the wise bring calm in the end.» Y’all missed it—they bring calm in the end! It means that the wise are subjected to the same kinds of tendencies and practices as fools. It means that they may begin to temporarily engage in some of the same tendencies and practices as the fool, but the wise get a revelation of their behavior mid-action, enabling them to catch themselves and reel themselves back in. All of the perfect people, be quiet!