Does God have emotions?

by Matt Slick

Yes, God has emotions. Of course, when we say that God has emotions we are saying he has emotions like we do. We have to understand that what we are seeing in Scripture is God relating to us in terms we can understand – and this includes God having emotions. So, we can say yes, God has emotions. He has revealed them to us in the Bible. Let’s take a look.

• God loves. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).
•  God hates. “The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates,” (Psalm 11:5).
• God has compassion. “But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city,” (Genesis 19:16).
• God grieves. “And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart,” (Genesis 6:6).
• God expresses joy. “…Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength,” (Nehemiah 8:10).
•  God rejoices. “For as a young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you,” (Isaiah 62:5).

So, does God have emotions? Absolutely, yes he does.