Healing the Wounded SoulSample

A Wounded Soul

In Psalm 23:3, David introduces us to the Good Shepherd who restores our souls. If the Shepherd can restore the soul, then the soul can be wounded or fragmented. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 tells us that we are a spirit with a soul, living in a body. Your soul houses your intellect, emotions, personality, feelings, and will.

When you are born again, your spirit, which was dead in sin and separated from God, is made alive to God in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:5). The Holy Spirit then indwells the believer, bringing transformation and renewal. This process of renewal is called sanctification. In Romans 12:2, we are warned not to conform to the patterns of the world but to be transformed by the renewal of the mind.

While our spirits are instantly changed when we get born again, the process of renewing the soul is gradual and progressive. It requires partnership with the Holy Spirit. Our souls can carry traumas from past lives into our new ones. That is why it is important to partner with the Holy Spirit to bring healing, restoration, and transformation to our souls. He also changes our habits and desires to conform to this new life.

Healing the soul begins with taking responsibility. What happened to you was not your fault, but healing is your responsibility. There is a quote I love that says, “If you don't heal from what hurt you, you will bleed on people who did not cut you. In other words, unhealed pain often spills over onto those who were never responsible for it. When you take responsibility for your healing, you begin to reclaim territories in your soul that you once surrendered to the enemy. And once reclaimed, you walk in renewed authority and dominion in that area of your life.

You stop parking at the place of your pain. Instead of suppressing it, you allow yourself to feel it. Sometimes we build walls to guard our hearts from further hurt, but those same walls can also keep God out. Yet He is the only one who can truly and completely heal us.

When healing takes place, your authentic self begins to thrive. The person God originally designed you to be starts to emerge. Your creativity awakens as you begin living from wholeness instead of trauma. There is a version of you that you may not have fully encountered yet: a healed version. This person does not live in self-condemnation or self-sabotage, but extends to themselves the same love and compassion that Jesus demonstrated on the cross.

Reflection: Are you ready to do the work that comes with healing? Are you ready to encounter a version of you that is whole and healed from trauma? A New ‘You’ awaits.