Call It Healthy Emotions, emotional intelligence, or emotional health—the barometer of the human condition is, for most people, the state of their own personal moods and feelings.

The conundrum of human emotions is not just the topic du jour over cafe and kitchen tables. Thinkers as early as the third century BC attempted to explain the emotions. Aristotle felt that emotions involve experiencing and evaluating stimuli that are weighed by taking into account the potential for gain or pleasure. Emotion, the French philosopher Descartes reasoned centuries later, mediates between a stimulus and a response.

There is, however, a mode of understanding beyond Aristotelian wisdom, Enlightenment philosophy, and modern-day isms and ologies—such as psychology, phenomenology, behaviorism, and neurological sciences—all of which classify emotions and emotional responses. Jesus practiced a form of emotional healthcare that remains unsurpassed for effectiveness.

Take, for example, those concise life—principles in the Bible, the Beatitudes (see Matt. 5:3–11). The Beatitudes can be viewed as rules for maintaining strong emotional health—rules for a happy and stable life. In fact, I believe that they amount to the highest laws of emotional intelligence.

The phrase that begins each statement, "Blessed are ...," is rendered "Happy are ..." in some modern translations. So, when Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," it can be understood to mean, "Happy"—or emotionally stable, fulfilled, and peaceful—"are those who know their need for God," (Matt. 5:3; J. B. Phillips). Likewise, "Happy are the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart and mind, and those who make peace." Sounds like a workable program for a fulfilled life. But putting these principles into practice in working lives that can be like an emotional theme-park ride is the challenge—and yet practice is the key to stability.

In Jesus' own "workplace," the open-air classroom where his students gathered, there was a moment when the mother of two followers requested special treatment for her sons (see Matt. 20:20–29). The other disciples were, predictably, steamed—"moved with indignation," as Matthew put it. Jesus responded immediately, with spiritually therapeutic words. He reminded them that their mission was not to be served, but to serve others.

It's clear that the disciples learned a lesson from Jesus' words and example. Matthew's account concludes, "... a great multitude followed [Jesus]." He came to serve. Nothing is more attractive than spiritual peace and purpose. And a very important step toward achieving this divine calm is emotional health.

We are constantly reminded—by conscience, if in no other way—to consider our place in God's network of relationships. We are all equal in the larger family, here to serve each other, but we're also served by the social network that we are part of. Bestseller author Daniel Goleman and other social scientists say that emotional health is achieved by acting with what they call emotional intelligence, which can be expressed in several areas of life, including the following:

• Self-awareness: The ability to observe oneself and recognize a feeling.

• Emotion management: The ability to handle feelings and to realize what's behind them.

• Self-motivation: Skill in channeling emotions in the service of a goal or higher aim.

• Empathy: Sensitivity to others' feelings and concerns, and the ability to view things from another's perspective.

• Relationship management: The ability to manage one's response to others' emotions.

That's quite a list. But, as the example of Jesus teaching his disciples shows, emotional intelligence also can be found in a higher realm—as a divine gift, one that is everyone's, because the Giver's help is always available. The Bible is like a casebook in emotional healthcare. The fundamentals are there to be practiced: prayer and spiritual self-examination.

I once felt overwhelmed by my workload at a German university, as well as by my long commute and a number of other factors that weighed heavily on me. My emotional health was low, and my emotion management and self-motivation, especially, were in very bad shape.

I had just been appointed to the position of professor. Two men in the department opposed my appointment. I had applied from outside the state and as an outsider at that university. Also, I represented a school of thought not in favor there. The other applicants were household names, were in some way already affiliated with the institution, and were all men.

A majority of the faculty, though, was convinced that I was the right person to fill the position. Many meetings ensued, including a final reconciliation meeting in the university president's office, shortly before my appointment. So I started my work, feeling joyful and full of promise.

Although friendships evolved, all of the history—the emotional battle we had gone through—weighed on me and diminished my trust in others. There were days when I dragged myself to work. The emotional fire that had fueled my fresh start was down to mere embers.

A passage from Mary Baker Eddy's autobiography aptly describes the state I was in. She wrote, "If beset with misguided emotions, we shall be stranded on the quicksands of worldly commotion, and practically come short of the wisdom requisite for teaching and demonstrating the victory over self and sin" (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 79).

Where was my trust in God's love and guidance that had sustained me prior to the appointment? I realized that misguided emotion includes an element of ingratitude. So I started to look at my days from the point of view of Jesus' Beatitudes. Was I striving to live a pure and meek life? Was I a peacemaker? That autobiographical passage continues: "Be temperate in thought, word, and deed. Meekness and temperance are the jewels of Love, set in wisdom. Restrain untempered zeal. 'Learn to labor and to wait.' "

I realized that nothing is more important for achieving emotional health than getting to know God a little better each day. I prayed every morning for God's guidance, and this communion has become my guarantee of happiness. That doesn't mean my professional life is all calm waters. But the stability that God gives is like a rudder in sure hands.

I discovered in a very practical way that lasting emotional health is not beyond reach. As I learned, we just need to begin the search for it by pausing to feel the presence of divine blessing. It is flowing toward each of us at this very moment.