5 Steps to Spiritual and Emotional Healing

By Brian Knack

 

I want to get straight to the point. If you are suffering from spiritual or emotional hurts, Self Help, Self Improvement and Self Esteem books,  programs and workshops are a waste of your time and money. "Why?" you ask. It's simple really, because they do not work! Self Help, Self Improvement and Self Esteem books, programs and workshops all focus on one thing and one thing only; YOU! Let's be perfectly honest, if you have been spiritually or emotionally wounded YOU are the problem. There is something wrong in you that is in need of repair. Self help, Self Esteem and Self Improvement books, workshops and programs will not work to bring you spiritual and emotional healing because it is an attempt by something broken (you) trying to fix itself! A created thing or being (you) can only be fixed by its creator (God).

 

The first step is to ACKNOWLEDGE the need for healing, whether spiritual or emotional. For us to receive the healing of spiritual and emotional wounds, we must first acknowledge that we are hurting (Matthew 9:10-13, Revelation 3:17). Many of us have lied to ourselves as well as to others. We have said, "I'm really O.K." or "It really doesn't matter that much."

 

Sometimes, the spiritual and emotional wounds are so painful that we develop a case of amnesia. We may not be able to recall voluntarily the event or that time in our life. In such a case, we may need the aid of a compassionate counselor to guide us gently in facing our spiritual and emotional hurts.

 

The second step is to LOCATE the cause of the spiritual and emotional pain. In the natural, we may have a pain in our legs, but the cause may be a pinched nerve in the spine. To operate on the legs would be the wrong procedure. A youth may have severe problems getting along with his peers at school, when the real source of the pain is from an abusive stepparent at home. A wife may feel enormous pain every time her husband disciplines one of the children. However, the pain she feels may originate from her own spiritual and emotional wounds as a child.

 

We may unconsciously associate one spiritual and emotional hurt with another. Furthermore, time itself, does not heal spiritual and emotional hurts. Only God does! Therefore, with each new conflict, we pick up additional baggage. It is therefore important that we locate and separate each spiritually and emotionally painful experience. This is the work of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 139:23-24).

 

The third step is to CLEANSE the wound. If you received a deep wound in your hand and you left the wound open, it would sooner or later get contaminated and infected. The same is true in the spiritual and emotional area. Spiritual and emotional hurts are an open wound for unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, depression, and anxiety to enter. The Word implies that we may "give place to the devil" when we are angry longer than one day (Ephesians 4:26-31). Therefore, these critters may be more than just harmful emotions, they may also be evil spiritual creatures (Matthew 18:34).

 

For cleansing of our spirit and emotions to occur, (1) we must forgive those who have offended us, (2) ask God for to forgive and cleanse us (I John 1:9) for our unforgiveness, (3) yield that area unto the Lord, (4) request that God restore our soul (Psalm 23:3) in the area yielded to the enemy, and (5) use the name of Jesus to drive out the enemy.

 

The fourth step is to RECEIVE HEALING of the spiritual or emotional hurt. God gives us two distinct pictures of healing in Scripture. One picture is that of God calling off the enemy (Deuteronomy. 7:15). This picture relates to the cleansing of the wound. The other picture is one of mending the net (Exodus 15:26). After the physician cleanses the victim's wound, he sews it up so that it will not become contaminated again. Forgiveness opens the door to freedom, but forgiveness is not healing. Without our receiving the spiritual and emotional healing, the wound again becomes contaminated. However, when God mends the wound, He also heals the wound.

 

We may receive our spiritual and emotional healing by (1) understanding that Jesus suffered all kinds of spiritual and emotional hurts (Isaiah 53:3) and that he became a hurt substitute (Isaiah 53:4) for us , and (2) believing that Jesus was sent to heal the broken hearted (Luke 4:18), and (3) asking in faith for that spiritual or emotional healing. When God heals the wound, we may recall the experience without being flooded by the pain.

 

The fifth step is to STRENGTHEN the weak area. Again, in the natural, the area around the wound may remain weak even after the healing occurs. This is also true of spiritual and emotional wounds. The enemy will try to get us to focus our thoughts (II Corinthians 10:4-5) on the event that brought the spiritual or emotional hurt. If this occurs, we may mentally pick at the area until we have opened a new wound.

 

Therefore, it is critical that we strengthen that area by applying the Word of God. (1) We need to see that God had a purpose in allowing us to be wounded (Genesis. 50:20). (2) We need to see that God can work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). (3) We need to come to rejoice in the Lord over the experience (Philippians. 4:4). (4) We need to develop and share our testimony with others (Revelation 12:11).

 

At [http://www.BrianKnack.com], I want you to learn who you truly are and to discover your God- given destiny and purpose so that you may walk in true freedom and live a life worthy of what you were created for. I want you to throw away all your old Self Help, Self Improvement and Self Esteem and empty your mind of all the self-centered garbage you learned and begin to focus on true healing, God Esteem, God Improvement and God Help. After all, is it not written that God is our Helper (Hebrews 13:6)? For more information on Spiritual and Emotional Healing or if you are ready to take the steps necessary to heal your spiritual and emotional wounds go to [http://www.BrianKnack.com].

 

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