Nick StumboExecutive Director driving healing from sexual brokenness

There Are No Bad Emotions

10 Jun 2026 · 0 min

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0:06

In this excerpt from the YouTube video "There Are No Bad Emotions," interviewer Heather asks Nick Stumbo about the claim that emotions are neither good nor bad. Heather explains that emotions are neutral indicators of internal or external circumstances, and it is our response to them that can be constructive or destructive. Nick reflects on his Christian upbringing, which taught him that happiness was the expected state and that feeling sadness, anger, or fear was a sign of something wrong. He shares that this conditioning led him to suppress "negative" emotions, but he has learned from Heather that all emotions are God‑created and serve as useful signals. The conversation emphasizes that feeling sad does not betray faith in Jesus; rather, it points to a situation that deserves attention, and the healthier approach is to understand and work with the emotion instead of denying it.

Heather, you've said in the past that there are no good emotions, there are no bad emotions. What do you mean by that?
Yeah, the emotion itself is not good or bad, it just is. And like you were saying, Nick, a lot of times our emotions are definitely an indicator of something that we need to be paying attention to. It could be something internal, it could be something external, but it really isn't, the emotion in and of itself isn't good or bad. What we do with that emotion could be good or bad.
If you're, you know, a Christian, you're just supposed to be happy. That's what I was told as a kid or how I felt. So if I was sad or angry or felt, you know, fear, I internalized that as there's something wrong, that this is bad, don't feel that. And that's what I feel like I've learned a lot from you, Heather, is we need all the emotions. And God created all the emotions. And if I'm feeling sad, it doesn't mean I don't trust Jesus. It means something sad is happening. Right. And it'd be better to understand what it is than to try to say, "Oh, don't feel that." 'Cause that's been, I think, my reaction to what we would often call bad or negative emotions.
For sure. And I grew up with those same messages that if you're worried, then you're not trusting the Lord or something like that. And I don't think that's the reality of how we're supposed to use our emotions.