In GLADNESS OUR NEED is to share joy. The gift of gladness is freedom and gratitude. Gladness isn’t extra. It’s essential. It reminds us our hearts were made for delight, not just endurance. Gladness shows up in small moments, a quiet morning, a kid’s laugh, a breath where nothing feels wrong for a second. It's also isn't scared of sadness. It holds sadness at the same moment as joy. Example ---> I'm so glad my kids are playing in the driveway right now, I'm also sad knowing this won't last forever. Gladness is holding both at the same time. Gladness helps me feel two emotions at the same moment. I'm happy they're playing and sad knowing it doesn't last forever. They don't contradict, rather they collide! When we notice it, gladness restores us. It strengthens us. It whispers, “Your heart still works.” Gladness doesn’t deny pain. It tells the truth...you can feel joy even in the middle of the mess. Practicing gladness... It starts with naming it, receiving it, sharing it and builds resilience from the inside out. Gladness is the courage to say, “I’m allowed to enjoy my life…even here, even now.”

Sometimes God invites us into reverse living. However, His ways are higher. Maybe it looks backwards to others, but in fact it's healthy forward progress. Can we trust Him when it feels like we're going backwards? I've learned that His Kingdom doesn't measure success like the world does. What might look like regression with God is often a Father's tenderness. Have you felt like you're going backwards at all? How did you make it through?

Anger isn’t the problem. Unspoken anger is. Anger shows up when something matters and something feels wrong. It’s a signal that your heart is trying to speak. 1. NAME THE FEELING “I feel angry.” Not to justify it, but to tell the truth. Naming anger keeps it from turning into resentment or explosion. So don't avoid it. It will only grow more. 2. NAME THE NEED Anger’s need is simple: a voice, to be heard and understood. When that need goes unmet, anger falls into the ditch of withdrawal, blaming, or control. 3. RECEIVE THE GIFT When anger is named and heard by God and safe people, it becomes a gift: passion — the energy to protect, create, restore, and act with clarity. Anger is fuel. It just needs direction. Jesus held anger this way. He didn’t stuff it or act out of it, He brought it to His Father and acted from love. Reflection Where is anger trying to give you a voice today? Micro-Action Say it quietly: “I feel angry. I need to be heard.” Let God and trusted people meet you there, so anger becomes passion, not pressure.

Fear is one of the most important human emotions you’ll ever learn to tell the truth about. Because on one side of fear is a ditch...anxiety, control, tightening, spiraling. On the other side is safety — faith, wisdom, and a steadiness that actually frees you to grow. So how do we get from the ditch to the safety? The pattern is simple…and the same for all eight feelings: 1. NAME THE FEELING “I feel fear.” Not “I shouldn’t feel this,” not “I need to be stronger,” not “I know the verse.” Just honesty. Feelings aren’t your identity, they’re passcodes into your heart! ACCESS POINTS. Naming the feeling keeps you out of the ditch. 2. NAME THE NEED Every feeling carries a God-designed need. Fear’s need is protection, help, and refuge. If I can tell the truth about fear, the next question becomes: “What do I need right now?” Fear is not the problem. Ignoring the need is. 3. RECEIVE THE GIFT When fear is brought to God and to trusted people who feel safe, the need gets met and the gift emerges. The gift of fear is: Faith and Wisdom. This is why fear is sacred. It’s how the Spirit forms us. But when fear is pushed down, denied, or handled alone, it turns into the ditch: anxiety and control. This is how Jesus lived. He didn’t deny His human feelings and call it spirituality. He named them and brought them to His Father. That’s why He lived with such clarity, courage, and internal wholeness. Reflection Where is fear showing up today and have you named the need underneath it? Micro-Action Whisper it: “I feel fear. I need protection, help, and refuge.” Then let God and trusted people meet you there so fear can do what it was designed for: lead you into faith and wisdom, not anxiety and control.

But you’re not. You’re exhausted. You’re anxious. You’re performing your faith instead of living it. Somewhere along the way, many of us were taught that feeling less made us more like Jesus. So we shut down fear. We ignored hurt. We hid loneliness. We spiritualized sadness. We demonized anger. We drowned shame. We denied guilt. We numbed gladness. And then we wondered why our souls couldn’t breathe. You were never designed to be a spiritual robot. You were designed to be a whole person — heart, mind, body, spirit — fully alive, fully aware, fully connected. Jesus didn’t disconnect from His heart. He felt. He wept. He groaned. He got angry at injustice. He felt compassion move Him to act. He sweat blood under pressure. He didn’t numb His humanity, He embraced it. So here’s the truth: You can’t heal what you refuse to feel. And ignoring your emotions won’t make you holy. It’ll make you anxious, disconnected, and quietly falling apart. This is why we’re walking through the 8 Core Feelings, not as psychology, but as discipleship. Because healing isn’t the absence of emotions, it’s the integration of them. Let’s stop performing faith and start practicing wholeness. Tomorrow, we begin with Fear, not as an enemy to conquer, but as a doorway back to wisdom, grounding, and connection. You don’t need to be less emotional. You need to be more honest. Your heart is not your problem. Your avoidance is. Let’s do this.