Question
How do Christians deal with emotional wounds?
Answer
The main concern of the bible is to help us deal with sin, our greatest problem. However, we can say that most, if not all emotional problems, come as a result of sin, us doing things to others or them doing things to us. This would exclude emotional problems caused by physical conditions.
First, God provides forgiveness to us, through Jesus, that we might come into relationship with Him. No longer are our sins to be held against us, but He graciously forgives us as we respond to His word.
ACT 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ– this Jesus whom you crucified.”
ACT 2:37 ¶ Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
ACT 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
If God forgives us, then we should not hold these sins against ourselves.
Sometimes though, our sins, although forgiven, have continuing consequences. Some may continue to respond to us in anger or neglect or some other sinful way. This might cause us great emotional pain although we are forgiven.
But even in these cases, God helps us by allowing us to take our burdens to Him in prayer and giving us other Christians to help us bear these burdens.
PHI 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
GAL 6:1 Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted.
GAL 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.
Finally, even after becoming a Christian, we often stumble and go back to sin. Here, God blesses us with His continued mercy as we turn from our sins, confess them to Him, and ask for His forgiveness. We can continue to grow and improve, learning His word and responding to it in our lives.
1JO 1:5 ¶ And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
1JO 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
1JO 1:7 but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
ROM 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
ROM 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
By Gary Hunt
