Perhaps most everyone has an imbalanced view of Jesus’ emotional life. We tend to see Him as either Lion or Lamb, but not both. Those of us with more Lamb personalities will focus on the parts of the Bible where Jesus was meek, kind, patient, loving, and appears passive, if not even timid. Those of us with more Lion personalities will focus on the parts of the Bible where Jesus was strong, firm, urgent, controversial, and appears active, if not aggressive.
Are you more of a Lion or a Lamb? Do you see Jesus more as a Lion or a Lamb?
The Bible presents Jesus as both a Lion and a Lamb, sometimes in the same chapter. In John 2, we see Jesus as a Lamb making water into wine to help a young couple at their wedding. And, we see Jesus a Lion making a whip and driving animals and people from the Temple at Passover.
In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called “the Lion of the tribe of Judah.” A lion is the king of the jungle. A lion eats whatever it wants: buffalo, hogs, and even elephants or alligators. A male lion lives in a pride or pack with mainly females and children, and if another male comes around, the lion who is head of the pride will go to war and slaughter anything that threatens his pack. Sometimes, Jesus is a Lion.
In John 1:29 Jesus is called “the Lamb of God.” Lambs are meek creatures who run from danger and stick together with their flock because they are very social animals. Lambs are vulnerable and so comforting and safe that we invite our kids to count them at night until they fall asleep. Lambs are not a threat to other animals because they are vegetarians and mainly eat grass.
The key to your emotional life is having the Holy Spirit empower you to be both a lion when the time is right and a lamb when the time is right. Those who are only and always a lion not only protect others from harm, but they also harm those who are for them and with them. Those who are only and always a lamb are loving, kind, and safe people who avoid conflict while the lions rush in and devour the other lambs.
How about you? Are you more of a lion or a lamb? Do you see Jesus more as a Lion or a Lamb? Where do you need to invite the Holy Spirit to empower your emotional life so that what you feel is like the fullness of Jesus in your feelings?