Applying the strategies from this book into daily life involves incorporating small, intentional habits that build emotional awareness and resilience. Here's some of my biggest takeaways from this book.

Practice Emotional Awareness: Begin by checking in with yourself throughout the day. Recognize and label your emotions as they arise whether it's stress, joy, frustration, or excitement. This helps you build a deeper understanding of your emotional patterns.

Use Emotion Regulation Techniques: Implement strategies like deep breathing, mindfulness meditation, or grounding exercises to manage overwhelming emotions. For example, when you feel anxiety creeping in, take a few minutes to focus on your breath.

Reframe Negative Thoughts: Challenge unhelpful thinking patterns by consciously reframing them into positive or balanced perspectives. If something doesn’t go as planned, instead of saying, “I’ve failed,” you might think, “This is a learning opportunity.”

Cultivate Discomfort Tolerance: Start exposing yourself to situations that make you uncomfortable, but in manageable steps. This might be initiating difficult conversations or tackling tasks you've procrastinated on. Over time, you'll build confidence in facing challenges.

Incorporate Faith or Values: Reflect on your core beliefs and values to stay grounded during emotional turbulence. Drawing strength from your spiritual practices or moral compass can help you navigate situations with purpose.

Engage in Reflection: Take time at the end of each day to reflect on your emotional responses. What worked well? What could you handle differently? Journaling can be a great way to track your progress.

Learn from Experiences: Identify testimonials or life lessons—either from yourself or others—that resonate emotionally. Use these stories as motivators when you encounter challenges.

This was a short read but such a great reminder. Honestly I feel like I need to go back and read it again already! I loved the scripture throughout this book and the questions that go with each chapter

Mastering Our Emotions Biblical Principles for Emotional Health written by Kevin Chapman and narrated by Christopher Hampton is a six star listen. I am planning to purchase a physical copy. Kevin Chapman uses modern psychology connected to scripture to provide tools for understanding emotions. Chapman provides real life examples and methods to put into practice. Mastering Our Emotions is set up to be read individually or as a group. Highly recommend.

This is a good biblical way talking about emotional regulation. It backs things up with scripture and refers to CBT which is backed scientifically. It's one that will be helpful to go back to regularly to practice.

This was not my cup of tea. Questions at the end of chapters or "time to reflect" sections do not work in audiobook for me. Neither do little chimes when it's time to do either of these. Alternate versions should be made for this type of situations.

This book seeks to show God’s purpose for core emotions and master negativity through spirituality. The author is a psychologist drawing on therapeutic experience and scriptural reference. The intent of the author is much needed in Christianity where millions are still dealing with emotional disorder diagnoses like depression, anxiety and more. I was really looking forward to this as I’m currently seeking more guidance on how to find joy within my own mental health issues. Unfortunately this “manual” was too basic to provide much insight. For anyone who has been in basic therapy or has been reading the Bible fairly regularly, the information primarily repeats other sources that are more well known and thorough in biblical interpretation. I also worry about the “easy fix” feel on topics of anxiety like replacing the negative thought with a positive one, but that demeans the more complex anxiety that often doesn’t have triggers but is biological. There’s a bit of shame in the tone as well, which made me feel sinful for dealing with negativity that is naturally part of my diagnoses. I enjoyed the activities at the end of each chapter, but I wish more biblical study had been done within the text rather than alone. Overall this book could be good for someone beginning their biblical journey or believers who don’t have diagnosed forms of depression, anxiety, or ptsd who may be better able to control environments or logical thought patterns.
Note: I received this book as an ARC from the publisher for review.

I enjoyed this book. It delivers a faith-based approach to understanding our emotions. While there were a few areas that felt "preachy", overall the book did a good job of demonstrating ways to embrace our emotions. The fact that Biblical truths are provided along with techniques to master our emotions, I found this book to be intriguing and relevant.

This was a quick listen that provided a lot of insight. The author did a good job balancing self-help with Biblical truths. This book was not only helpful, but intriguing as well. I feel that my emotional awareness and intelligence increased after listening to this book. The narrator was good, and did a great job bringing the book to life.

Thank you NetGalley and IVP Audiobooks for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

Mastering Our Emotions explores emotional well-being through a Christian faith lens, aiming to help readers manage their feelings with biblical principles. Kevin Chapman integrates scripture with psychological insights, particularly cognitive behavioural therapy, to encourage emotional resilience. The book focuses on neuroticism and the relationship with God through the soul.

I enjoyed listening to the narrator’s voice; it was clear and well-suited to the content. I also appreciated the book’s focus on not removing/avoiding emotions but rather understanding and managing them in a healthy way. The length of the audio was great too.

However, the tone often felt too preachy rather than guiding, making it less accessible to those looking for a balanced approach or those of a different faith. While the introduction states that it is written for Christians, I had assumed biblical principles could be more universally applicable. The biblical references were overused, prioritising scripture over practicality.

Overall, while the book has a clear audience—those seeking a faith-driven approach to emotional health—it didn’t resonate with me due to its heavy-handed delivery of literal Bible referencing and lack of depth in its psychological/scientific insights.

Mastering Our Emotions is a great nonfiction book giving advice from a Christian perspective. The author uses both Biblical truths and psychological techniques to offer hope in dealing with emotions. For those who feel emotions strongly, this book is for you! It is a quick read that gets straight to the point while backing everything up with the Bible. I really enjoyed this book and will re-read it often! It provides much hope in not allowing our emotions to have negative outcomes in our lives. I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in trade for my honest opinion. My thoughts are my own.

Mastering Our Emotions by Dr. Kevin Chapman provides a solid foundation for understanding emotional regulation and mental resilience. The book offers practical strategies backed by psychology, making it a useful guide for those looking to manage their emotions more effectively.

However, while the content is informative, it can feel a bit repetitive at times, and the writing style may not be as engaging as some other self-help books. It’s a good read for those new to emotional mastery, but if you're already familiar with the topic, you might not find much new insight here.

Overall, it's an okay read—helpful but not groundbreaking.

Mastering Our Emotions: Biblical Principles for Emotional Health

I enjoyed this book quite a lot, and I got a lot of insight from it.

I found it was a good combination of self help and Christian book, and I found it helpful and pertinent to me.

Chapman is a solid author, and I found a lot of his writing very warm, while still being helpful and guiding.

Check out this book if you want to improve your emotional intelligence with a Christian lens at the same time!

3.9/5

This book is meant to help "regulate emotions" of anxiety, anger, while also touching on the benefits of sadness, guilt, shame, and disgust. It talks about how these emotions can be useful and ways to work through them-like praying, journaling, being present, practicing stillness and silence, and trusting in the Lord.
One of the main things I took away from it was that emotions are a triad: thoughts, physical feelings, and behavior and that we have to be adaptive & aware. But when it came to scripture, I wish the author had actually explored the verses instead of just saying, "For more on this, look up C subject." It felt like a missed opportunity. The structure also wasn't great
-the topics jumped back and forth, especially with anxiety and anger, which made it hard to follow. It would have been better if each emotion had its own chapter instead of being mixed together.
Overall, this book felt very surface-level. I could see how it might be useful for a beginner, maybe in a group setting where people could discuss it together. But for someone who already reads the Bible regularly and follows Jesus, it just felt repetitive. A nice reminder, but not life-changing.