Emotional Intelligence and Communion

According to secular research, what would you say is the most significant predictor of future success in relationships, health, and quality of life?  It is believed that those with this skill can have an average IQ and outperform those with the highest IQ 70% of the time.

Emotional intelligence: Emotional intelligence is defined as “the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others.”

High emotional intelligence allows us to be self-aware of our feelings to help us keep our cool when we could quickly fly off the handle. It enables us to identify conflicting selfish feelings that keep us from putting others first, even if that means we will not get our way. It helps us identify feelings that make us want to lash out at others instead of speaking a calm word to create a peaceful solution. 

Many in corporate America are working to improve their emotional intelligence. Bosses are looking for emotionally intelligent employees, and millions of dollars are spent on seminars and books because emotional intelligence can be improved.

I find it interesting that many of us who have grown up in the church have been trained in emotional intelligence since we were kids. Sunday school and youth group classes taught us to love others. We have been taught that love means to be patient, kind, not envy, not boast, not be rude or proud, to always protect, trust, hope, and persevere.  We were taught to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. So with all of this training, how are we doing?

I want to invite you all to embrace the preaching on the Sermon on the Mount by Pastor Rick. Pray about it during the week. Read about it. Talk about it with your families. Jesus’ teachings help us improve our emotional intelligence.

Communion helps us focus on the importance of the first statement in the sermon on the mount:

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Happy are those who acknowledge their spiritual poverty. We need a savior.  When we realize how amazing it is that God enables us to be with Him through Christ, it drives us to love Him and others with is the foundation for improving our EI.

As you prepare for communion, reflect on how you are doing with your emotional intelligence. How well do you recognize your emotions and the emotions of others when you:

1. Don’t feel like it.

2. Don’t get your way.

3. Those around you let you down.

4. Others don’t meet your expectations.

As a church, let’s be leaders in our awareness of our emotions and how they impact others.  May we grow in self-discipline when it would be easier to react emotionally. Through Christ’s love and the power of the Holy Spirit, may we be transformed in how we speak to those we encounter, act when we are tired and frustrated, and in the habits we build.