Many of us carry emotional wounds in our bodies, minds, and spirits like shrapnel after a battle. Without treatment and healing, those wounds fester, causing continual pain and eventually producing emotional gangrene that slowly kills the spirit and weakens one physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Where did this pain come from? For some, it comes from growing up in a dysfunctional family that manifested itself in some form of physical, mental, or emotional abuse. For others, it comes from the church, which, sadly, can also be dysfunctional. Members may have been abused by a priest, pastor, or layperson, such as a Sunday School teacher, and their belief system has been shaken to the core, and they seriously question if there even is a God who could allow that to happen. Still, for others, their emotional wounding comes from spousal abuse or abandonment, a bitter betrayal by a family member, friend, or co-worker. There are unlimited ways in which we become emotionally wounded.
For many, they learn to “live with the pain” and find ways to cope with it: self-medicating, perfectionism, denial, suppression, keeping so busy that they don’t have time to deal with it.
They don’t or won’t seek relief. Why? They fear facing it, fearing the onslaught of overwhelming emotions it will produce, or shame and guilt keep them from getting the help and healing they need. They may be too embarrassed or prideful to ask for help, or don’t know where to turn for it.
Can we ever be completely healed and whole this side of eternity? While we were created in holiness and wholeness in the beginning—Adam being “the perfect model or expression of health…before the Fall, a balanced, harmonious, human organism designed for immortality,” wrote John Wesley—sin took that away from us, and we understand that wholeness is not entirely possible. Wesley observed, “Since the Fall, the wholeness to be realized is wholeness within the limits of mortality.”
Sin brought brokenness to the body, the mind, and the soul. Once we understand that concept theologically and practically, we can arrive at some semblance of peace with our pain and even learn how to live in that brokenness with grace.
Complete healing and wholeness won’t be realized until we inhabit our glorified bodies in heaven (Philippians 3:21), when we will experience a state of perfect wholeness. Until then, we can still experience some semblance of healing and wholeness. Here’s how.
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1. Through God’s Power
1. Through God’s Power
Trauma is nothing new. Stories abound in Scripture of instances where characters experienced profound trauma: Adam and Eve, suffering the loss of their perfect life in Eden and the murder of their son by their other son; David, hated by the king he served and who tried to kill him; Leah, unloved by her husband; Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers; Hagar, used and abused by her employers then banished to die in the desert; Job, losing all 10 of his children and the plentitude of possessions in a matter of minutes; Hosea, cheated on continually by his wife; Jesus, betrayed by one in his inner circle; and many others.
In all these instances, God saw each person’s struggles and emotional pain. As El Roi, “The God Who Sees,” he is aware of everything that affects us, and he is not immune to our pain and suffering. As Jehovah Rapha, “The Lord Who Heals,” he is our Great Physician (Exodus 15:26). He holds within himself the power (as the omnipotent One) to restore and renew the bruised and broken. He heals the brokenhearted [the weak, the crushed, the destroyed in spirit] and binds up their wounds,” we’re told in Psalm 147:3.
The Hebrew word for “wounds” (mazo) refers to “a physical wound or injury,” while the Greek Septuagint translates it as “trauma.” Regardless of trauma's form, God “binds” it, just as a doctor bandages a festering sore to protect it and promote healing.
God first binds our wounds of sin. He wraps them in forgiveness and restoration through Jesus Christ, who “personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed” (1 Peter 2:24, NLT).
Yet, while we are spiritually made whole at the moment of our conversion, we still carry the emotional shrapnel of past hurts and injustices.
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2. Through the Holy Spirit
2. Through the Holy Spirit
The second “binding” comes through the help of the Holy Spirit. His title is “Helper” (“Comforter,” KJV), given to him by Jesus (John 14:16-17). In times of emotional distress due to trauma triggers, the Holy Spirit comes to our aid as the parakletos, as the “one called to the side of another.” He comes to comfort and guide. He lends strength and peace. He even prays for us with “groans” when we lack the words.
“With such groans,” writes Andrea Hollingsworth, “God’s Spirit intercedes for us when our knowledge fails, our strength wanes, and our prayers flag. Some Christians—including the fourteenth-century mystic St. Catherine of Siena and the twentieth-century theologian Jürgen Moltmann—have taken Paul’s words to mean that the Spirit suffers, even sheds tears, with creatures in our anguish.”
The Holy Spirit feels our despair deeply and attends to it with his presence, compassion, and agonized “groans” as he walks alongside us in our emotional pain.
He also begins the work of sanctification in us. He does not leave us in the bondage of unholy living and thinking. A wonderful consequence of sanctification is that we often experience emotional relief and healing as godly truth takes root in our hearts and minds. He also challenges and changes our “victim” mentality. He convicts us of playing the “blame game” and then empowers us to take responsibility for our part in healing.
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3. Though Personal Pursuit
3. Though Personal Pursuit
“What do you want me to do for you?” was Jesus's question to blind Bartimaeus. “I want to see,” Bartimaeus answered (Mark 10:46-52).
Our part in pursuing healing is possessing the desire to be healed. Wanting to be healed, unfortunately, is not the case with everyone. Even some believers. When have you ever met someone who only complained about their “lot in life” and played the “victim” card, yet never did anything to try and change their circumstances or attitude? For whatever reason, they seem to enjoy secretly living in their self-imposed misery. Perhaps it’s because of the attention and sympathy it brings them. They’d rather blame others, which keeps them stuck in their trauma and justifies their bitterness, resentment, and pain. In the end, however, they are the ones who suffer needlessly.
Jesus was (and is still) right to ask, “What do you want me to do for you?” Like Bartimaeus, we must want to be healed and not just give it lip service. Acknowledging the ongoing pain and emotional distress caused by trauma is the first step (taking responsibility) in our healing process.
Secondly, healing requires actively seeking out those people—a biblical counselor, a trusted pastor, a Christian psychologist or psychiatrist—with professional and spiritual expertise to aid us in the healing process. “Incorporating therapy into your healing journey doesn’t mean you’re lacking faith. Instead, it acknowledges that God works through various means to bring about healing, including the guidance of trained professionals. Proverbs 11:14 reminds us, ‘Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety,” writes Grace Shepherd.
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4. Through Patience & Persistence
4. Through Patience & Persistence
Healing emotional wounds is not instantaneous. Emotions run deep and stay buried, and it often takes time, depending on the person and the depth of their pain, to uncover and recover. Furthermore, the healing journey often experiences setbacks. Stalled emotions, regression, and fear can be roadblocks in the process, further lengthening the time of healing, but they are not insurmountable. The goal, with God’s help, is attainable. It just requires patience and persistence on our part.
Sharon Martin, DSW, LCSW, says, “Healing is a lot of work. We must be patient and allow the time needed to gain new insights and skills. We must be persistent and keep going even when it gets difficult, be willing to try new approaches, and challenge ourselves in new ways.”
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5. Through Prayer
5. Through Prayer
“Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray” (James 5:13). The word “trouble” means afflictions, suffering, hardships, or distress, be they physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual.
Prayer is one of God’s spiritual prescriptions for healing emotions. He encourages us to ask for help, which begins with a simple prayer such as, “Lord, I need your healing help.”
Prayer is powerful. It offers peace, mercy, comfort, strength, and resolve to keep going and not grow weary in the healing journey. Many Christian therapists incorporate prayer in their sessions with their clients. Even secular counselors acknowledge prayer’s therapeutic benefits and blessings in the healing process.
“Empirical evidence shows that religious belief and spiritual practice, from prayer to meditation to community participation, positively impact mental health. Given these findings, some therapists now turn to spirituality as an ally rather than a foe in helping clients find healing,” cites Annelise Jolley. “Religion and spirituality also offer essential resources for people to heal, process trauma, and achieve closure.”
There is also power in partnership prayer. “Bear one another’s burdens,” Paul instructed in Galatians 6:2. While this verse speaks to a person’s being caught in sin, the principle of being a caring presence and compassionate prayer partner applies in all situations.
“Bearing” another’s burden can be as simple as sitting with them, listening attentively and sympathetically, going with them to their counseling sessions as moral support, praying for them and with them, or offering a biblical yet gracious perspective on their suffering (Don’t be Job’s friends).
Bearing another’s burdens “all begins with being the kind of person others can trust with their suffering,” says Jon Bloom at Desiring God.
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6. Through Forgiveness
6. Through Forgiveness
Much of the emotional pain and trauma experienced by people has been at the hands (or words) of other people, whether what they did or said was intentional or not. The pain is still there; it is genuine and has had lasting emotional effects.
Another of God’s spiritual prescriptions for emotional healing is forgiveness. God calls us to forgive the person(s) who hurt us and caused the trauma that prevents us from moving forward into healing and wholeness. Forgiveness (aphiemi, “to loose, let go”), however, releases us from the bitterness, resentment, and anger that have kept us emotionally imprisoned.
“Forgiveness doesn’t mean condoning what the person did, or that it would be OK for them to do it again. It doesn’t mean denying our feelings of hurt, or that there should not be consequences for the offending person. Forgiveness doesn’t mean forgetting something painful happened or reconciling with the offender. Forgiveness means letting go of resentments that keep us tied to the wrong committed against us. It means to heal and move forward with life without allowing anger, hurt, or unproductive rumination to waste too much of our mental or emotional energy. In this respect, forgiveness is as much (or more) for ourselves as it is for the other person or people,” cites christiancare.org.
We forgive, too, more importantly, because it’s been modeled for us by God our Abba Father, and, hence, is expected of us as his redeemed children (Ephesians 4:32).
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Originally published May 01, 2025.
