Healing Our Broken Parts: Being Transformed into Wholeness
Recovery starts with your emotions
Welcome to Cruthú Nua!
I’m excited to get to this stage of my writing as I know it’s what people really need, but I didn’t want to start writing about healing without first setting the foundations.
We need to know what the Word of God says about our separation from God before we can be put back together.
God is our true source of love so without that, we will not heal.
We are all broken. No matter how strong we think we are, we know in our hearts that we are broken and that our goal in life is to recognize this brokenness that began in the Garden of Eden.
The Fall of Adam
In the Book of Genesis, in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they could enjoy every other tree in the garden. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from that one tree or they would die.
“You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”
They disobeyed God and ate from the tree causing shame to enter into them. ‘They knew they were naked.’
This shame made us feel inferior and so not good enough. And without regeneration, we will live our lives operating from this place of shame.
As the world has not been transformed, we suffer more and more because of our parents, teachers, friends, siblings, and colleagues who reinforce our feelings of inferiority and shame.
Only when we deeply know and receive the love of God can we heal from this pain and be truly transformed.
We are fragmented, so the narrow path that leads to life involves going deep into your spirit, soul, and body to be restored to wholeness.
We can start to heal by becoming aware of our negative thoughts and emotions seeking to transform them into light through God’s divine grace.
How do you feel right now?
“Me, what do I feel? I don’t know. I don’t think about those things.”
This is true for many. They live in the mind, disconnected from the heart. They don’t know how they feel most of the time.
They may be able to say, “I’m good. I’m fine, I’m okay,” or those who are a little more aware might say, “I feel happy” or sad” but, few will consciously be able to go much deeper.
We experience a wide range of emotions, but we are not in tune with them. We are disconnected from this powerhouse within us. And, some of the most unaware, disconnected people are Christians.
Christians are too spiritual for their own good sometimes.
Many read the Bible but rarely apply it, and churches are like dysfunctional families where all uncomfortable emotions are repressed. We play this happy family, churchy game when really people are dying on the inside.
Genuine Christians in need of support have to run out of the churches so they can breathe and find love and acceptance.
It doesn’t feel safe to express their true feelings in church, so they must go elsewhere, but where?
We need to create environments where it is safe to say how we feel.
If you want to be made whole In Christ, you need to start feeling your emotions.
Below is a list of some emotions you may feel. You can study this more if you feel ready to heal your emotions and become a more integrated person.
If you want to name an emotion or sensation in your body, ask yourself:
Do I feel?..…
Anger
Sadness
Disappointment
Regret
Rage
Disgust
Horror
Fear
Anxiety
Stress
Awkward
Shy
Timid
Confused
Numb
Nostalgic
Amused
Awe
Wonder
Appreciation
Joy
Happy
Surprised
Trust
Serenity
Ecstacy
Optimism
Aggression
Contempt
Remorse
Acceptance
Interest
Annoyed
Irritable
Bored
Indifferent
Pensive
Grief
Lonely
Distracted
Terror
Loathing
Amazed
Disapproval
Shame
Guilt
You can also look up Paul Ekman’s Atlas of Emotions, where he breaks down the complexity of human emotions into 5 categories:
Enjoyment
Sadness
Fear
Anger
Disgust
Why are we doing this?
We want to get in touch with our emotions so we can create harmony in our lives and learn to heal the wounds behind stronger emotions.
For example, if you feel numb, you may find it difficult to connect with another person because you have disconnected from your stronger emotions that may be hiding beneath the surface.
By acknowledging our emotions we discover what they are communicating to us.
Instead of being afraid of our emotions, it is better to practice sitting with them and trying to understand them.
For instance, if you sit with sadness or fear and just feel it, it dissipates, leaving you in a better position to ask yourself why you felt that way.
Did something happen that day or week to leave you feeling sad or afraid?
Be real
Don’t be afraid to try this in your daily life. It’s easy, it take a few minutes each day.
If you are in the habit of praying morning and evening, you can add this to your prayer time.
Invite the Holy Spirit to help you. Just sit and breathe slowly focusing on your breaths and tuning into your body by asking yourself - “How do I feel?”
Then say. I feel _____ or _____. Then sit with those feelings.
Just become aware of the range of emotions in you and observe them.
You could also write down your feelings in a notebook and look back on them at the end of each week. This will help you to become more aware of your emotions.
I will write more about healing wounded emotions in my future posts and podcast, but if you try these simple practices you will notice a shift in your mood, which will, in turn, give you the courage to go deeper.
If you have any questions - you can drop me an email anytime.
Thank you once again for reading my newsletter.
Wishing you peace, joy, and freedom in your life.
Blessings!
Órla
If you would like to follow my podcast, you can click the link below. We are talking about healing, growth, and transformation in the believer’s life.