Recently, I said some very harsh things to someone that I love dearly. It was a tense conversation and something that probably needed to be addressed long ago, but as the conversation progressed, I found an intense anger rise up within me. I ended the conversation with very angry words that I regretted saying the moment they came out of my mouth.
As I continue to strip away the damage that FEAR has done to my HEART over the years, I have discovered that FEAR generally damages your HEART in THREE MAIN AREAS:
And although I've begun to break the cycle of FEAR in my own life, I've discovered that breaking free from FEAR is a lot like becoming a Christian. Yes, you can become a Christian in an instant, but it also will take a lifetime to actually work out what that means. In the same manner, you can break free spiritually from FEAR in an instant, but it will take time healing some of the wounds that were inflicted on your heart from that fear.
JESUS deals with this in Matthew 15:17-19:
The focus is so often on external things, but Jesus refocuses us onto the HEART. And the things that fly out of your mouth come from that heart. And there's a reason.
So when you find yourself lashing out at someone and can't seem to understand why you can't control that anger, there is a reason for that. There is an unaddressed hurt. There is a wound that needs healing. The same is true of others who might lash out at you.
And here's the thing--just because you've overthrown FEAR from ruling your heart, it doesn't mean that the damage is completely undone. Just like following JESUS is a relationship that needs daily tending and leaning into Him, so does our heart need time and healing.
Too often, however, we choose to hold on to the hurts. We don't want to let go. We don't want to resolve it. It's just who we are. Deal with it. We tell it like it is.
God's plan for you is so much bigger than that. There's a reason that Jesus famously tells us in Matthew 6:21 that, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." What you keep in your heart and refuse to let go becomes your treasure. It's like Gollum's "precious" in the Lord of the Rings. If your heart's treasure is not GOD, it will destroy you.
That's why God tells us in Ezekiel 36:26 that, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
GOD wants to give us a new heart. He wants to heal us from our past hurts. He wants to restore our view of OURSELVES, our view of HIM, and our view of OTHERS so that we can embrace the plan that He has for our lives.
For some of us, we find it impossible. God couldn't do that. He can't use me. He can't heal me. This won't ever get better. Well, that's the wounded heart speaking within you. That isn't the voice of God. That's the lie of the enemy planted in the fertile soil of your wounded heart.
The truth is found in 1 John 3:20: "If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."
GOD is greater than your heart. LISTEN to HIM. Pray to enjoy healing in your broken parts. In fact, your restoration is meant to not just benefit you but also others.
American author Ernest Hemingway put it like this, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward many
are strong in the broken places." The broken places of your HEART are fertile ground for GOD's HEALING and RESTORATION not just for you, but for the wonderful hurting folks that God will place in your path. You will become STRONG in the BROKEN PLACES if you allow God to work.
It's my prayer for my recently revealed wounds. These are wounds carried around by nearly 40 years of submitting to FEAR. And these are wounds that can't be worked away. They can only be LOVED away by the perfect and unfailing love of the FATHER.
Begin your path to healing today by allowing GOD to make you STRONGER in the BROKEN PLACES of your HEART. FEAR has no place in your life. You were born for a purpose. Break free.
As I continue to strip away the damage that FEAR has done to my HEART over the years, I have discovered that FEAR generally damages your HEART in THREE MAIN AREAS:
- FEAR distorts how you SEE GOD and how you RELATE to HIM. Fear will destroy any real intimacy you have with GOD because it will prioritize other problems and things above God. It DENIES GOD access to the broken places in your HEART and stops up the access to healing.
- FEAR damages your conception of YOURSELF and breaks the God filter that allows you to see yourself as God does. Instead you focus on how horrible you are and allow yourself to sink into depression, and into a personal spiritual and relational paralysis. FEAR will destroy any real self-reflection of yourself and will cause you to see yourself in a skewed light. Instead of being able to see your flaws and learn from them to get better, you will see them as unfixable messes that make you unworthy of love.
- FEAR mutates how you see OTHERS. You will no longer see them as God sees them. You will see their worst qualities. You will mock them, You will not be capable of COMPASSION because your focus is always on yourself and your own problems. FEAR will destroy any intimacy you might have with others. It will make them a punching bag for your own hurt heart.
And although I've begun to break the cycle of FEAR in my own life, I've discovered that breaking free from FEAR is a lot like becoming a Christian. Yes, you can become a Christian in an instant, but it also will take a lifetime to actually work out what that means. In the same manner, you can break free spiritually from FEAR in an instant, but it will take time healing some of the wounds that were inflicted on your heart from that fear.
JESUS deals with this in Matthew 15:17-19:
“Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”The things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart. And these defile them.
The focus is so often on external things, but Jesus refocuses us onto the HEART. And the things that fly out of your mouth come from that heart. And there's a reason.
So when you find yourself lashing out at someone and can't seem to understand why you can't control that anger, there is a reason for that. There is an unaddressed hurt. There is a wound that needs healing. The same is true of others who might lash out at you.
And here's the thing--just because you've overthrown FEAR from ruling your heart, it doesn't mean that the damage is completely undone. Just like following JESUS is a relationship that needs daily tending and leaning into Him, so does our heart need time and healing.
Too often, however, we choose to hold on to the hurts. We don't want to let go. We don't want to resolve it. It's just who we are. Deal with it. We tell it like it is.
That's why God tells us in Ezekiel 36:26 that, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
GOD wants to give us a new heart. He wants to heal us from our past hurts. He wants to restore our view of OURSELVES, our view of HIM, and our view of OTHERS so that we can embrace the plan that He has for our lives.
For some of us, we find it impossible. God couldn't do that. He can't use me. He can't heal me. This won't ever get better. Well, that's the wounded heart speaking within you. That isn't the voice of God. That's the lie of the enemy planted in the fertile soil of your wounded heart.
The truth is found in 1 John 3:20: "If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."
GOD is greater than your heart. LISTEN to HIM. Pray to enjoy healing in your broken parts. In fact, your restoration is meant to not just benefit you but also others.
American author Ernest Hemingway put it like this, "The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong in the broken places." The broken places of your HEART are fertile ground for GOD's HEALING and RESTORATION not just for you, but for the wonderful hurting folks that God will place in your path. You will become STRONG in the BROKEN PLACES if you allow God to work.
It's my prayer for my recently revealed wounds. These are wounds carried around by nearly 40 years of submitting to FEAR. And these are wounds that can't be worked away. They can only be LOVED away by the perfect and unfailing love of the FATHER.
Begin your path to healing today by allowing GOD to make you STRONGER in the BROKEN PLACES of your HEART. FEAR has no place in your life. You were born for a purpose. Break free.
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