Greg and Amy explain that God does not have moods but is unchanging and consistently expresses his character according to his eternal nature and purposes.
Transcript
Question: I just heard the song “Good Mood.” You probably shouldn’t just read one line of a song, but what do you think of the idea that God has moods?
Greg: Well, it’s certainly not classical Christianity. In James 1, it says, “With God, there is no variation and no shifting of shadows.” So, he doesn’t have a “bad hair day.”
What we’re doing now is we’re dialing down for precision. Some would hold—and this is a classic view of God—that God doesn’t actually participate in emotions in the same way that we do, and that when we see things in the Scripture that are analogical, they are not meant to be taken literally and directly. The concept here is the impassibility of God. Like I said, he doesn’t have a “bad hair day.” He doesn’t wake up some days and think, “Oh man, it’s a great day,” and then other times, “Man, I’m really ticked off. Look out. Don’t cross me today.” No, God isn’t like that.
God is not a man that he should change, it says in Numbers, or a son of man that he should repent. So, he’s not like that. That’s like the gods of mythology. They’re these capricious gods that are carrying on, and part of man’s responsibility is to try to manipulate them because of their moods. That isn’t the God of the Bible. I can’t imagine any way that the broader context of “God is in a good mood” is going to redeem that line.
Amy: God doesn’t change who he is. When we think about our moods, our moods affect what we do. God doesn’t have moods that affect what he does. God’s character expresses itself appropriately in every situation according to justice and goodness and grace and everything that describes who he is. We could be irritated one day, and that affects everything that we do—that colors everything that we do. So, that idea is completely foreign to who God is.
Greg: Why would we be irritated about something? Because we learn something new that bothers us, and that changes our mood. Our moods are based on the information flow that comes to us. We discover bad news, we have a bad day. We discover good news, we have a better day. But, see, nothing like that ever happens with God because he never discovers anything. He’s never learning anything new. He doesn’t even know your prayers because you pray them. When you pray them, he already knew that you were going to pray them. Now, that doesn’t mean the prayers are inconsequential. He knows that you’re going to pray them. He doesn’t gain knowledge. But what is happening is you’re making a request that God can then respond to one way or another. But the key thing is he’s not learning anything new there. He’s not learning anything that would change his mood. He has a settled disposition regarding particular things. He has a settled disposition regarding sin. He’s got a settled disposition regarding the things that Jesus did on our behalf. He has a settled disposition regarding the forgiveness that we fall under in Christ. So, these are not changing moods. These are settled dispositions. We change and fall underneath these different dispositions as our circumstances change, but God isn’t the one who’s changing.