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Mo�va�on Awareness and Fluency Building: The A four-quadrant model that fleshes out a Genesis
Mo�va�on Factor Lis�ng 3:16 approach gives defini�on to these post-fall co-
Genesis, Chapters 1 and 2 express the various ping strategies (Murphy & Murphy, 2007 & 2008).
needs and desires that had fulfillment in the pre-fall Building psychological understanding through com-
crea�on. An ini�al compila�on of mo�va�on fac- petence building, is shown to have a posi�ve impact
tors from these chapters, is listed verse by verse in on regula�ng emo�on within the coping experience
Appendix A (Also see Murphy, 2009) and is based (Gross & Jazaieri, 2014; Lewis et al, 2013, 2016; Moy-
on all that God had provided for man at the crea�- al et al., 2014).
on.
The ques�on one might ask then is, “Do these fac- Redemp�ve Direc�on
tors undergird/mo�vate heart-felt emo�onal con- From a Biblical worldview, our emo�ons are based
tent post fall?” This factor lis�ng gives defini�on to on either the fallen view of the experience of our
desires, longings and yearnings built into humanity lives or the redemp�ve experience of life in Christ
at crea�on and aids in Chris�an psychoeduca�on and our emo�onal interpreta�ons of these experi-
through mo�va�on awareness and fluency buil- ences. Robert Roberts (2013) defines emo�on as
ding. These might be considered a basis for what “concern-based construals” (p. i) and indicates that
drives our mo�va�on and emo�on to the present they are of an “interpre�ve, mo�va�onal and moral
day. nature based on desire, a�achment or concern” (p.
Current defini�on from George et al. (2020) states, 46).
“emo�ons are closely linked with mo�va�on” and The Bible presents a balanced approach of living
goes on to say, “mo�va�on is typically the require- out life as emo�onal and though�ul human beings.
ment or wish to achieve “sa�sfac�on of [a] need [or When we think of the fruits of the Spirit or grace gi-
desire]” (pp. 112, 208). ven daily through the cross,these are emo�on-ge-
nera�ng experiences that do not necessarily line up
The Fallen Nature with cogni�ve human thinking. They are beyond
As the enemy offered false logic, false desire and our understanding, yet we experience it every day
false iden�ty with the fall; mankind experienced as the children of God. We are also called to “lean
addi�onal emo�onal content. Satan decep�vely not on your own understanding, but in all your ways
twisted Eden’s fulfillment and the eternal wri�en acknowledge him…” (New Interna�onal Version,
into the hearts of man into broken and sorrow-dri- 1978/2011, Proverbs 3:5-6).
ven ways for reaching self- kingdom goals that As one considers these aspects of what it means to
could no longer be perfectly possessed and only be fully human in God’s eyes, one of our roles as
painfully and par�ally arrived at (Genesis 1-3). Chris�an psychology educators is assis�ng our stu-
dents and their future clients in making room for
Researchers such as Lazarus (1991) indicate that the beloved other to process life emo�on, life
emo�on pa�erns result from “a s�ll larger process perspec�ve and life meaning; from the past, in the
domain: that of ‘appraisal.’ Appraisal processes are present and for the future. This is directed through
defined as intrasubjec�ve processes that turn inco- the fall and redemp�on worldview that we share as
ming s�mulus events into ones with affec�ve value believers.
and further meaning for well-being and mo�ve sa-
�sfac�on” (as cited in Lewis et al, 2008, p. 71). Emo�on Fluency as Expressed in Scripture
Throughout the ages, there has been an undermi- What is the biblical evidence for insight into the va-
ning of the emo�onal desirous mind in view of the lue that God has given emo�onal life for human re-
value of the logical mind. The shame, sorrow, and ality and for our work in Chris�an educa�on and te-
pain of all that Adam and Eve faced and the genera�- aching? The psychological realm has had many
onal residue passed down; o�en con�nues to be co- years of exposure to the value of the cogni�ve and
vered over and hidden from, since the days of the fal- behavioral work of psychology. Logic is necessary in
lenness. Our world has placed much effort in gaining this world, yet we are also reminded that it was im-
control of, devaluing, and s�fling or numbing emo�- petus for the fall of the first man and woman.
on (Leahy et al., 2011; Lewis et al., 2008) through lo- What are some of the facets that come together
gic, fear, desire to escape, and the human will. through our Biblical worldview to form our basis of

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