Spiritual and Emotional Wellness

EMOTIONAL BROKENNESS.

Based on the validity of the Word of God we can go back to the Garden of Eden and discover how brokenness entered our world and us as individuals.

When Adam and Eve were together in the Garden before sin, they were totally the same on the outside and on the inside. But then, they rebelled against God and sinned. In Genesis 3, we see that the integration and the unity of inside and outside have been broken. We see them putting on masks and blaming. Their true authentic self in God is now shattered. The image of God in them becomes marred and they begin to construct an imposter, a false self. They’re not living God’s original intention for their lives.

Because of this fall we were born into a broken world and do not know the true self that God created, but have come to accept who we are by learning from the world around us, which is often a distortion of the true self, creating confusion and the inability to hear the truth. Like our first parents ,we try to hide from God and cover ourselves with the fig leaves of a false self. (things like fear, guilt, blaming.) We also start out in life not living God’s original intention for our lives.

However, when a person comes to Jesus and s/he gives their life over to the process of transformation by the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, the distortions, lies, and false messages of sin can be removed so that the person can know their true self and function out of their true self in Christ and can fulfill the purpose for his/her life. Emotionally healthy spirituality is possible as a result of transformation that can take place at the intersection of emotional brokenness and biblical meditation. It is here that the power of the Holy Spirit is released, illuminating our minds to understand the meaning, significance and personal application of biblical truth (2 Tim. 2:7 -; Eph. 3:14-21).

We all experience emotional brokenness to one degree or another by virtue of the fact we are broken by sin and that we are born into a broken world. Our efforts to love well as God desires- Lk.10. is hampered or impaired by wrong thinking, which generate wrong feelings and produce wrong behavior. At the intersection of emotional brokenness and biblical meditation this can be corrected, as we repent or change direction, through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

The following list, although not exhaustive, identifies some areas of emotional brokenness that need to be biblically addressed so that emotional healing can take place. They are the fig leaves of a false self.

1. Am I the kind of person that says “yes” when I really

mean “no?”

2. Do I get depressed when people are upset with me?

3. Do I have a need to be approved by others to feel good

about myself? Each of those is a symptom of something larger

and deeper going on inside of you.

4. Do I act nice to someone on the outside, but on inside I

can’t stand them?

5. Do I often remain silent in order to keep the peace?

6. Do I believe that if I make mistakes myself, I am a

failure?

7. Do I criticize others in order to feel better about

myself?

8. Do I try to avoid looking weak or foolish for not having

the answer?

9. Do I have to be doing something exceptional to feel

alive?

10. Do I have to be needed to feel alive?

11. Am I fearful and unable to take risks?

12. Do I do what others want, so they don’t get mad at me?

13. Do I use knowledge and confidence to cover my feelings

of inadequacies?

14. Do I want my children to behave well, so others will

think I’m a good parent

15. Do I compare myself to other people?



These are just symptoms that indicate that you are probably living a lot more out of a false self than out of your authentic self in God.

When biblical meditation and emotional brokenness intersect, the power of the Holy Spirit is released to bring about transformation in a person’s life. Let me emphasize that biblical truth must be applied to our emotional brokenness for emotional healing to take place.


Transformation, is a difficult process, change is not easy. When you change what you do, you will change what you get. Until the pain of remaining the same becomes greater than the pain to change it is not likely that you will want to change. But when you do, knowing yourself that you may know God is really the first step.

The issue then is how to remove the fig leaves of the false self and allow the true self in Christ to emerge. This will be the topic of my next post.