The most important message I can ever share with people is that God loves them and has good plans for them through life in Christ. We all need to have a revelation about God’s love for us, because until we do, we’ll struggle to have true, lasting love, joy and peace in our everyday lives.
The world is full of heartbroken people, who have been mistreated or abused in some way. And they’re pretending to be OK, desperately hoping other people will think they’ve got it all together.
The truth is, none of us is perfect, and we all go through hard times and get hurt by someone or something. It’s amazing the hurtful things people can do to others, but it has helped me to understand that hurting people hurt people. And many times when people abuse others, they are acting out of their own pain, so it goes on from generation to generation.
But I have good news: If you’ve been hurt in the past, you don’t have to spend your life being miserable, angry, bitter, resentful or full of self-pity, hurting others. Through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you can receive complete healing in your soul—your mind, will and emotions. God can restore your life and make your life better than it was before you were wounded.
Going Through the Healing Process
I know what it’s like to hurt so much you don’t think you can stand it anymore and you feel hopeless about the future. For most of my childhood, my father abused me, and I never knew growing up what it was like to feel safe, secure and loved. As a result, I became an angry, suspicious, critical, judgmental adult.
When I left home at 18, I thought I was leaving my problems behind me, but I came to realize there were many problems in my soul because of the abuse I had endured. I desperately needed the healing love of God to restore my life!
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NKJV) says Jesus came “to preach good tidings to the poor … to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness …”
Thank God for His promise to heal the brokenhearted, comfort those who mourn, and set the captives free! Now, I’m not going to tell you it’s easy to go through the healing process; it takes time, diligence in studying the Word, and lots of prayer to walk out the healing that is yours by virtue of the blood of Christ. But as believers in Jesus, we have the authority of His name to overcome sin and access the power of God in our lives so we can experience the promises in His Word.
And the promises of God belong to anyone who is born again!
Making the Divine Exchange
When we come into a relationship with Christ, a divine exchange happens. He takes our sin and the messes in our lives and gives us His righteousness, peace and joy (see Rom. 4:17). He gives us joy for mourning, beauty for ashes, praise instead of depression, forgiveness instead of blame, righteousness instead of guilt, hope instead of despair … and on and on. All we have to do is give up our ashes and receive God’s beauty.
A good place to start is admitting you need God’s help. It’s okay to not be okay—God helps the humble (see 1 Pet.5:5-7). We need to pray, “I love You, Lord, and I appreciate my salvation, but I am a mess! I want the truth in Your Word to set me free from deception, the bondage of sin and pain in my soul. Please help me … open my eyes in any area where I am deceived and teach me Your truth.”
Then we need to commit ourselves to study the Word and grow in our faith in Christ. As we renew our minds according to the Word, we will trust God more completely and believe what He says more than what others say to us, more than our feelings, and more than our circumstances. That’s when we live in His beauty—filled with His love, free from the prison of our past and healed in our soul.
I want to encourage you today to humble yourself before God and take Him at His Word. He loves you more than you can comprehend, and He wants you to be free to walk in His good plans for your life. Take time every day to study His Word, pray and cast your cares on Him because He cares about you and wants what is best for you. When you do, you’ll find that life becomes a beautiful, wonderful, amazing journey!
