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Healing Hurts

Forgiving God

11 February 2007                                                 

“I’ve forgiven him many times, but I still feel hurt and angry. Why can’t I forgive him?”  Many of us know about this question. It is a dilemma. We try to put something out of our mind and it keeps coming up.

Part of the solution is to see that it may not be about forgiveness but about anger. Anger is normal, and often legitimate. But in some cases our anger feels wrong. Especially when it is anger towards a parent. ...

The dilemma escalates when we discover that we are angry with God. Can that be right? Are you allowed to be angry with God? Many people do feel angry with God – whether it is allowed or not – because they feel he has let them down, or not helped them, or caused something bad to happen to them.    Read the rest of the Article.... Post a Comment

Forgiving ourselves

4 February 2007                                                 

Forgiving ourselves is both simple and difficult. Forgiveness is just a matter of deciding not to hold blame against someone. It is deciding not be the accuser of someone any more. A consequence of it is that we also stop trying to punish them.

But when it comes to ourselves the problem gets a bit more complex. The reason is that there is a hidden step in forgiveness which involves admitting that the other person has done wrong.    Read the rest of the article... Post a Comment   [1 Comment]

Healing through forgiveness

28 January 2007

A surprising part of the ministry of healing involves the confession of sin. For many people this is not only surprising but also threatening – even unbiblical. But confession and forgiveness is given a central place in healing by James (5.14-16). Confessing sins to one another is one of the means of healing. Such confession aids healing by removing barriers between people, as well as removing the guilt that people carry around with them. To own up to sin and know God's forgiveness is very liberating in its own right. Many of our inner burdens are associated with unresolved guilt and its effects.

Another way to think about this is to acknowledge that not all sickness and healing is simple. In fact some people find that when they become Christians their life seems to get worse. This is sometimes because they are now in a place in which God can begin to heal serious harm that they have experienced (or done) in the past. Part of this involves forgiveness for holding on to resentment or anger, or for continuing to act in ways which are no longer helpful or godly. It sometimes involves facing up to the habitual denial of relationship problems.  Read the rest of the article....   Post a Comment

Healing hurts

21 January 2007              

 Mention healing to a group of Christians and different feelings and opinions are sure to be expressed. Some have had bad experiences. Others just don’t believe the hype, some really wish that they or their friend would be healed, and some have been healed.

Lots of people want healing in their inner life.   All of us have experienced psychological hurts. Physical trauma has an effect on our feelings and sometimes on our inner self. Verbal abuse, and the traumas associated with loss, disappointment and rejection all have an impact on our inner person. Some of us have suffered major ridicule, or opposition, or injustice. Others have been physically or mentally attacked or abused. Others have been witnesses to horrific events.

These experiences can make a major impact on the way we think about ourselves and how we behave. But getting free from them, or finding healing is not easy.   Read the rest of the article....             Post a Comment  [2 Comments]

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