Untangle Your Emotions

1.Jennie argues that the belief "feelings are sinful" is a myth that has done real damage in Christian communities. Where do you think this myth comes from — bad theology, cultural stoicism, misread Bible verses? What has been its fruit in your own faith community?

1.Jennie describes two common unhealthy patterns: stuffing emotions down (suppression) and spewing them out (explosion). Which pattern do you more naturally default to? Do different emotions bring out different patterns in you?

1."Notice" is Step 1 of Jennie's five-step process. Why does she think noticing is harder than it sounds? What gets in the way of simply pausing to acknowledge that something is happening inside you?

1.Jennie introduces the concept of "emotional granularity" — the ability to distinguish between emotions with precision rather than labeling everything as simply "stressed" or "fine." Why does specificity matter? What is the difference, practically, between knowing you're "sad" versus knowing you're "grieving a lost friendship"?

1.Jennie's central thesis arrives most forcefully in this step: "Feelings aren't something to fix; they are something to feel." Why is this so countercultural — both in the secular world and in Christian culture specifically?

1.Jennie argues that emotions are meant to move us toward connection — with God and with others. She calls this the "social" function of emotion. How does this reframe the way you think about vulnerability? Is sharing feelings a spiritual obligation, a relational gift, or something else entirely?

1.Jennie's fifth step is "Choose." Why is it important that this comes last — after Notice, Name, Feel, and Share — rather than first? What goes wrong when we jump straight to "what should I do" without doing the preceding steps?

1.Jennie walks through multiple scenes of Jesus experiencing emotion — joy, grief, anger, compassion, anguish. Which of these depictions of Jesus surprised you most, or felt most unfamiliar compared to how you typically picture Him?

1.Jennie has spent much of the book defending the value of emotions — so why is this chapter important? What would be incomplete or even dangerous about a view of emotions that never acknowledged their capacity to mislead us?

1.Jennie defines emotional maturity not as feeling less but as responding more wisely. How does that definition align with or challenge what you thought emotional maturity looked like before reading this book?

1.Jennie grounds the entire case for emotional engagement in the doctrine of the imago Dei — we are made in the image of a God who grieves, delights, is jealous, and loves. How does this theological anchor change the stakes of the conversation? If God feels, what does it say about our feelings when we suppress them?

1.As Jennie concludes the book, she paints a picture of what life looks like when emotions are consistently noticed, named, felt, shared, and responded to wisely. How is that picture different from your life at the beginning of this book? What has shifted in your thinking, even if your habits haven't fully caught up yet?

1.Which chapter or concept in *Untangle Your Emotions* had the most impact on you personally? What was it about that particular idea that landed so hard?