I am convinced emotional health is vital to our overall well being. Stress, worry, and fear are a few of the big things that can sow toxic seeds. Seeds that can and will eventually grow into disease in our lives. These diseases not only affect us as individuals they begin to resonate and spread to those in our circles of influence. Into our friends, family, those we love, and even those we don’t know so well.
When emotions lead the narrative and shape our story we’ve put ourselves in a losing position in the battle for wholeness. Many of us have grown unaware of our tendency to live from a place that is authored by emotion. When that is the case, our lens is distorted to such a degree that we seek solutions by way of bringing others deeply into our pain.
In addition, with this perspective we become the center of everything. We view the world through our hurt, our disappointment, our missed opportunities, our loss, our frustration and our “what ifs?” Often this results in this false reality that says our joy can only come at the expense of someone who owes us.
I suggest a different path.
Own it.
All of it.
Address it, recognize it, strip it from any power it is wielding in our lives and move on to wholeness.
Both for your sake and for others.
How?
As a Christian and follower of the Bible as governing authority in my life. And with the understanding that Jesus Christ is the living embodiment of the written Word of God I can find a clear and specific path to freedom and wholeness in Christ Jesus daily.
I acknowledge that my sin is deep and egregious against my Savior. I own that. I run to Him daily for washing, cleansing and forgiveness. I accept His unconditional love and receive His invitation into a holy covenant. I persist in my running to Him and my walking with Him.
I put any perceived offense by others towards me in that same place. Those wounds aren’t mine to keep. They are mine to the degree that I own the wound and my response to it. Just as my transgressions aren’t held against me, I am not allowed to hold any against anyone else. Because in doing so, I am holding them against my well being, and against the sacrifice of Jesus on my behalf.
Jesus Christ at the cross reconciled my sins – past, present and future, as well as any trespasses perceived or real that would be enacted against me. Just as I can’t die on the cross to redeem mankind, I am not created and designed to carry offense. When I do that, offense will destroy me. Not my perceived offender.
When my daughter was little, she would suffer from congestion from time to time. We kept after her about blowing her nose and getting the mucus out so it wouldn’t cause further problems. But for some reason blowing her nose was really uncomfortable so she wouldn’t do it. She would let it all build up and often that led to an infection and worsening of symptoms.
There may have been discomfort in owning the responsibility of blowing her nose, but not as much pain as a doctor visit, an ear infection, or the many possible outcomes of a worsened condition.
Even if it took several days of nose blowing to get through the symptoms while her body was addressing the root cause it would be better than the potential later complications. We could even hold a tissue to her nose, but if she didn’t blow out, nothing was going to change.
So you got some pain? Of course you do. We all do. It’s real pain.
Are you struggling to get past some hurts and wounds? I get it. I would think it strange if you didn’t have those struggles.
Can I offer you an option? One that works for me?
Can I hold the tissue for you?
I choose to live a lifestyle of ownership that allows the Lord to continue his wholeness bringing, life giving power to me and through me daily. Stress isn’t an issue. In fact it isn’t an option If I want His plan to operate through me in the fullest way that He intends.
Worry, fear, stress, anxiety – not allowed. Because I own where those emotions belong.
Would you be willing to confess this today and see if your emotional health will take an upturn?
Would you consider making it a pattern, a discipline and a lifestyle?
Now it’s your turn to blow your nose.
Here is a sample confession to get you going in the right direction.
Lord I thank you for releasing me from the penalty due for my sin. Forgive me for holding on to hurts, wounds and offenses and not giving them to you. After all you already took them. They do not belong to me, they belong to you. Help me to walk in a way that quickly reconciles transgressions through your shed blood so that the power they might hold over my emotional, mental and as a result physical health – is cancelled out as you desired it from eternity past as the Lamb Slain from before the foundations of the world.
Help me to walk with you in an “unoffendable” manner. Remind me daily of my debt to owe no man anything but to love him. Which is a sweet smelling reasonable sacrifice of worship in memory of Your body and blood shed for me Lord.
Thank you for giving me emotions – to love, to show passion in my praise and worship, to mourn and to grieve in due season, to imagine and create - but help me to remain the master and not the servant of my emotions so they will honor You and give You glory.
Amen