Post by priest

True, we are not our feelings or emotions, but we are embodied spirits. The definition of man is a creature composed of body and soul. They are infused. We cannot separate our spirit from our flesh any more than our emotions from our heart. It is a package deal. What we can do, however, is discipline ourselves to overcome our feelings and emotions with reason. God did not give us a mind so we would let our passions run wild. We are to use our mind to master the flesh and all its emotions, so as not to allow the flesh to rule over us. As St. Paul says, "For what things a man shall sow, those also shall he reap. For he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption. But he that soweth in the spirit, of the spirit shall reap life everlasting" (Gal. 6:8).