Life is complicated. Our unique paths and journeys are oftentimes strewn with unresolved wrongs and pain that imprison our hearts and our minds. We need to forgive or receive forgiveness, and experience deep healing in cases of trauma and tragedy, oftentimes not even realizing it.
Whatever the severity, unresolved wounds fester. They skew the lens and filter through which we see and interpret the people and world around us. We live hurt, afraid, non-committed, wary, and guarded to protect ourselves from further pain.
Stress, anxiety, and discord materialize and create imposing roadblocks to achieving the peaceful and full life God desires for His family, a reality crying for resolution. Forgiveness and healing break us free of these balls and chains. Forgiveness and healing must be experienced where wrongs and pain have occurred to achieve peace.
Because wounding is a perpetual element of our sinful human condition, working through hurt becomes a lifetime pursuit. Alone, this is insurmountable, but our hearts and minds can change to become more like God’s – supernaturally equipped to repeatedly forgive and overcome pain.
Jesus perfectly embodied healing and forgiveness. In fact, He taught and lived it throughout His ministry, so we can study and learn His well-articulated and proven path, because it is clearly presented in the Bible. We can respond by living out what we learn, empowered by God through the Holy Spirit, and achieve healing and forgiveness, moving us closer to a sustainable peace.
In his PhD dissertation entitled “The Healing-Discipleship Ministry of Jesus Christ in Matthew“, Kyle Miller laid out how The Beatitudes, found in Matthew 5:1-12, serve as a perfectly sequenced biblical path to healing. We will focus on this path tomorrow. Experiencing healing and forgiveness is life-changing and brings us into a oneness with God that can establish an indescribable peace within.
Important side note: Most wounds require we stretch our mortal capabilities to navigate the formidable paths that lead to forgiveness and healing – and dig deep in areas of our lives that require great introspection and understanding. A solid professional counselor would be a tremendous asset to this pursuit, especially if you are working through trauma.
Where do you most need to receive forgiveness? Whom do you need to forgive? What is your greatest pain, the place needing the greatest healing?
PLENTY OF BIBLE PLANS ON HEALING AND FORGIVENESS
Scriptures:
Colossians 3:12-14 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
James 5:15-16 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Isaiah 57:18-19 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”
Ephesians 4: 31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
1 John 1:8-9 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.