The Wounded Spirit - part 5
As we continue our study of the wounded spirit, let’s acknowledge the effect of sexual promiscuity on our hearts and lives. In truth, sexual promiscuity will wound our spirits. Using our bodies in ungodly ways, rape, incest, molestation, and personal violations can wound as well as deeply damage us. There are so many people today that are victims of sexual abuse. It is truly an epidemic of evil inflicted on the innocent.
This sexual misconduct creates a barrier to emotional growth in an individual’s life. A person can literally get “stuck” emotionally at the age the offense occurs. This results in forty-year-old women with eleven-year-old emotional growth. The little girl is still inside that adult body waiting for healing from those traumatic moments in her earlier life.
Rejection is another major contributor to wounded spirits. Rejection from family, friends, parents, leaders, ministers, or anyone causes wounds. Can you imagine growing up in a home where you heard words spoken to you daily that were critical, negative, shaming, and non-affirming? You would have wounds upon wounds built up in your heart that would affect your adult life continually. It is bad enough that the devil attacks us. But imagine your mother or your father attacking you daily with verbal assaults. Words can hurt and verbal abuse creates wounds that only Jesus can heal.
My first experience with betrayal was so deeply wounding that I mentally could barely function. I thank God that I had Jesus in my life and that He helped me work through all the pain of that experience. Betrayal can wound so deeply that we may need more than one prayer to get through the layers of hurt and pain that develop. One time my experience with betrayal was so intense that I couldn’t even let anyone pray for me or get near me in the spirit. I was too fragile and I did not trust anyone. I knew that even just one wrong word spoken would do me in.
Proverbs 15: 4 (NKJV) says, “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness (a deceitful tongue) in it breaks (crushes) the spirit.” I knew that one judgmental statement would kill me.
Sometimes our wounds are so deep that it feels like we can’t manage anything that might come near our heart or we will die. It’s like the analogy of having an open wound on our body and someone comes along and asks to help us. But instead they take a dagger and cut into that gaping wound even deeper. The pain simply becomes intolerable.
Suicide attempts or actual suicides are one of the most wounding experiences a family can encounter. There is something so deep in regard to the pain caused by suicide. People who have walked through this can tell you there are no words to describe what their heart feels. The wound is agonizing and lasts a lifetime.
It is true that the Lord can heal this type of wound, but the pain is never forgotten. The agony of the moment seems to be engraved deep within.
Mothers of Nations, life is so precious. May we forever be reminded to guard our words and only bring life to others.
Dr. Sharon Predovich
