Biblical Basis for Emotional Healing
Emotional Healing Handbook | 佚名 UnknownBiblical Overview: The Lie, Sin, and Anger Contained
When God created the world in the beginning, he made everything perfect. Something happened that destroyed all of that and has impacted our relationships with one another since. In Genesis 3, all of this took place after Adam and Eve ate the fruit. Sin came into being and the world and human relationships started on a downward spiral. Let’s take a look at the “negative emotions” that resulted from the sin.
Genesis 3:6-7 states that after both Adam and Eve ate the fruit they suddenly felt “shame” at their own nakedness. Afterward, when God went looking for them, Adam’s response was, “We were ‘afraid’ so we hid.” Eventually, God found them. He asked them, “What happened?” Adam response was to blame Eve and God (“It was the woman that you gave me!”) Eve, in turn, blamed the serpent. So we have shame, fear, and anger from all the blaming. These are the first set of ‘Negative Emotions Found In the Garden (NEFIG)’.
We often talk about the ‘original sin’ as the cause of the fall of mankind, and rightfully so. However, a question remains, “What led to that sin?”
Look at what the serpent did in Gen 3:1-5, “Did God say that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Eve’s response was, “we must not eat or touch from this tree or we will die.” The serpent said, “you will certainly not die...rather you will be like God.” The implication to Eve: she’s not quite good enough and that she could be as good as God. This is one of the greatest lies that Satan has used repeatedly throughout history.
Jesus confirmed the scheme of the devil in John 8:44 when he said that the devil is the father of all lies. John wrote in Revelation 12:9 that Satan is the deceiver of the nations. Deception occurs when a lie is taken for the truth. Knowing this is both good and bad news. The good news is that Satan has no authority over us except when we give it to him or, in the case of Job, when God gives him the authority over Job. Very few of us would fall into the category of Job. The bad news is that when we are deceived by the devil’s lies we will often act on those lies resulting in sin. 1 Tim 2:14 documents this when he states, “The woman was deceived, and sin was the result.”
Because the devil has no authority over us, he uses lies to ‘kill, steal and destroy’. For example, when a person is deceived and believes the lie that he is ‘not good enough’, that person will live his life based on that lie.
One young man went from being a student whose grades were A’s & B’s to one who made C’s, D’s after that lie was planted. He suffered from depression for most of his teenage years as a result. It is common for people to cope with the pain of believing that they are not good enough by turning to anti-depressants, seclusion, drugs, alcohol, sex, performance, sin, etc.
In review, after the lie was planted in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve sinned and ate the fruit. The result of that sin was the first set of negative emotions including shame, fear, and anger.
Figure 1: Illustration of Hurtful Memory Container of Lies, Sin, and Anger (including hurt and pain)Biblical Overview: Collection of Hurtful Memory Containers throughout Our Lifetime
It has been said that many divorces have resulted from some of the smaller issues of our lives (i.e. toothpaste caps being left out, toilet tissue rolls placed inward instead of outward, etc.). Many times when we are stirred up, the problem is really not the root problem. Often, we are stirred up because we are reminded of another incident in the past when the same hurt and pain erupted. This adds fuel to the fire and causes a minor issue to grow into a major one.
In Genesis 4, we read the story of Cain and Abel. Cain was angry because God accepted his brother Abel’s offering and not his. In his anger he killed Able. Do you believe that his anger began that day or could previous hurts and pains have led to this outcome? Could it be that Cain believed the lie that he was not good enough while growing up? When God accepted his brother’s offering instead of his, the frustration and anger level had grown out of control. He had had enough of being compared to his brother and falling short. In his anger, he killed his brother.
As we go through life, we collect hurtful memories. These memories are filled with Lies, Sin, and Anger (including hurt and pain). These hurtful memories are connected to each other by our emotions and emotions are indicators of what we truly believe. Our negative emotions are usually not beneficial for us. However, God has a plan for them as well. Connecting to our negative emotions is similar to what happens when we hear an old and familiar song and we begin to remember where we were and how we were feeling in the past when we heard that same song. Connecting to our negative emotions will lead us to past memories including those where the root lies were planted. These are usually in our childhood.
Figure 2: Illustration of Hurtful Memory Containers connected throughout our LivesToo often, we look at our circumstances and symptoms and think that if we deal with them specifically, then the problems are solved (i.e. Cain/Abel, marriages, etc.). Dealing with the symptom will cut off that symptom, but if the root remains, the problem will come back up. This is much like a weed that will regrow unless you pull it out by the roots.
Christ Transformation Prayer deals with the root of the problem by cutting it off from our lives. The roots are the Anger (including hurt and pain), Sin and Lies. By getting rid of the anger, confessing our sins, and taking our lies to the Lord freedom and healing come forth.
Biblical Overview: Freedom from NEFIG (Shame, Fear, Anger), Sin, and Lies
Let’s look at what the Scripture teaches about how to deal with the NEFIG (i.e. Shame, Fear, Anger), Sin, and Lies.
Biblical Overview: What to do with NEFIG (Shame, Fear, Anger)?
Ephesians 4:26-27 tells us not to “sin in our anger” and “do not let the sun go down on our anger,” or we will give the devil a foothold. What does it mean for us to give the devil a foothold? Imagine if a stranger comes to your door and will not leave. When you try to close the door this stranger sticks out his foot to block the door. Usually, that is an indicator that you are in trouble. In the same way, when the devil has a foothold in our lives, our thoughts will be filtered through that which we have given up to the devil. It’s like opening a door for Satan to enter into our hearts. Having done so, the decisions we make afterward will be filtered through the foothold that we allowed. This explains why even for Christians when we are very angry, we could have thoughts such as “They hurt me, I will hurt them back”, “I’m so angry, they will never see me again”, “I’ll kill them!” These definitely are not Godly thoughts, rather these come from the devil through the foothold that we allowed access into our lives.
In order for us to get rid of the “devil’s foothold”, the Bible teaches that we need to get rid of anger (in Genesis 4, Colossians 3:8 and Ephesians 4:31). We know that when God communicates something once, it’s important. Twice, it’s very important. But for Him to tell us three times to get rid of anger, we must heed His warning. In a similar fashion, 1Pet 5:7 tells us to cast our worries (anxiety or fear) on Him because He cares for you and me. Like ‘anger’, fear and shame (i.e. our worrying about what others think of us) can be cast away unto the Lord.
The Bible makes it clear that we must get rid of these negative emotions but does not tell us how. To me, this means that there are multiple ways to get rid of anger. We will teach you one way that has been effective.
Biblical Overview: What to do with Sin?
Sin is something that most Christians are familiar with. A number of passages tell us very clearly how to deal with sin. 1 John 1:9 says, “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”. Thus, sin is dealt with confession.
Biblical Overview: What to do with Lie?
With ‘Anger’ and ‘Sin’, the individual must deal with them by getting rid of them and confessing them respectively. A ‘Lie’ is different. Satan planted the lies. Jesus is the truth (John 14:6) and He clearly states in John 8:32 that “we will know the truth and the truth will set us free”. As such, when it comes to lies, we must take it to Jesus who will reveal His truth to us. John 8:36 also claims that “whom the Son sets free will be free indeed”.