The more pastoral counseling I do, the more I realize how often people deal with life’s traumas, hurts and disappointments by suppressing either their mind, their heart, or their spirit – and thus some vital aspect of who God created them to be.

For example, instead of being healthy, integrated people, they numb out or otherwise retreat exclusively into the realm of their minds – i.e., their analytical logic and reason – to the exclusion of their heart and their spirit.

They are alive, but hardly living – as they deny themselves the catharsis of honest emotions and the wonder of new-found belief.

For others, their heart is the oppressor as they subjugate their mind and spirit to their feelings and sensibilities.

Some even allow their spirit to squelch their minds and hearts by super-spiritualizing everything, and treating reason and emotions as irredeemably corrupt.

I now realize that God created our mind, heart and spirit to be equally vital aspects of the whole, complete individuals He wants us to be.

I’ve seen many, many instances of how authentic confession, repentance and forgiveness allow our heart, mind and spirit to once again experience fully integrated, healthy expression.

Confession, because our mind denies what our heart still feels and needs to express, and what our spirit nonetheless still remembers.

Repentance, because we deceive ourselves by believing lies rooted in life’s regrets, rather than finding freedom in God’s liberating truth – which changes not only what we think, but also what we feel and believe.

Forgiveness, because we hold onto the heart’s hurts, the mind’s wrongs and our spirit’s wounds from real sins – both committed against us and that we’ve committed against God and others.

Don’t remain fractured. Seek whole health.

~ Jim Wright

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• Grace and Forgiveness (crossroadjunction.com)
• God Shows Up (crossroadjunction.com)