The psychological constructionist and dimensional approaches to emotion offer a hopeful, integrative vision of human feeling, proposing that emotions are not hard-wired reaction packages but are actively constructed by the brain from more basic ingredients. Foremost amongst these components are core affect (ongoing states of valence and arousal), conceptual knowledge, and context (an idea powerfully articulated by Lisa Feldman Barrett in her Theory of Constructed Emotion (2017)). These approaches are grounded in earlier dimensional work such as James A. Russell’s circumplex model of affect (1980), which maps emotions within a continuous space defined by pleasure–displeasure and activation–deactivation. Together with contributors like Gerald Clore, Phoebe Ellsworth, and Nico Frijda, this tradition emphasises meaning-making, learning, and culture in emotional life, reframing emotions as skills the brain acquires rather than reflexes it merely triggers. From a Christian perspective, this view resonates deeply with biblical anthropology: humans are created as embodied, meaning-seeking beings made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), whose inner life is shaped by the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2), the discernment of the heart (Proverbs 4:23), and the cultivation of spiritual fruit such as love, peace, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23). Emotions, then, are not enemies of faith but arenas for wisdom, formation, and compassion, echoing the Psalms’ honest emotional language and Jesus’ own affective life (e.g., John 11:35). Practically, this body of work empowers personal wellbeing by teaching emotional literacy, flexibility, and responsibility, helping people reinterpret sensations, expand emotional vocabularies, and choose healthier constructions. It also supports societal health by reducing stigma, improving empathy across cultures, and informing humane policy, education, and mental-health care, offering a vision in which scientific insight and spiritual wisdom converge to foster resilient individuals and more compassionate communities.