The Emotional Roots to Disease

There is a both a hidden source and an observable pathway by which many diseases enter our lives. The hidden source is the place in our hearts where we “choose” (often unwittingly) to depart from that graced place of trust and love which God intended to be our true inner life. Science cannot tell us why we keep choosing to fall from grace, but it certainly has been showing us what happens when we do! At Healing Streams we call this the pathway of disease and it can be seen in six aspects. 

1) Loss of health comes from a loss of peace in the mind or heart. Unless there is peace in the soul (heart and mind) the body’s peace (homeostasis) is disturbed and the resulting chemical and neurological imbalances account for many diseases. (Read on for more on this, but also see “The Dangers of Excessive Stress” under Medical Profession Quotes.)

2) Loss of peace comes through the entry of negative emotions. This is simple displacement: you cannot have deep peace and any negative emotion at the same time. There may be a tug of war between the two during a period of inner struggle, but one or the other will gain ascendency.

3) Negative emotions draw power from unresolved issues carried from the past. We all can see it in others when their emotional reaction are out of proportion to what is actually going on—but it is much harder to spot in ourselves. Nevertheless, unresolved issues are the “power boost” of the emotional life for everyone.

4) Unresolved issues reveal that there are broken relationships of trust and love with God, self or others still carried from the past. These represent a breach of the two great commandments (Matthew 22:37-39) for we are to love God with our whole heart which surely includes trusting Him in all of our moments (past moments as well) AND we are to love others as ourselves and that surely includes giving everyone total forgiveness and complete acceptance (ourselves as well).

5) A sin issue needs to be dealt with whenever the loss of peace occurs—whether the negative emotion seeking to rub us of peace is coming from the past or the present. It is the Holy Spirit who plays umpire by showing us we are not letting the peace of Christ rule in our hearts as it is meant to (Colossians 3:15).

6) Another kingdom is manifesting through us whenever we are not flowing in the peace of Christ. Just as peace, love, joy and the other fruit of the  Spirit (Galatians 5:22) manifest the life of Christ and the working of God’s kingdom through us, so too the negative emotions are actually manifesting the “emotional life” of the enemy and advancing his dark kingdom through us (see Gal 5:19-21 for a partial listing). Ouch! We hate to see it this way, but sometimes you have to take the fig leaves off and face the truth.

We are paying a terrible price
for not living in the peace of Christ.

Three flawed theories of why we get sick

Before we look at what is actually making us sick, let’s go over some cherished notions that we may still be carrying around in the back of our minds. There are three flawed theories of why we get sick. They may not be taught, but they are often caught by a lot of folks.

1) Germ theory . As an explanation of why we get sick, this is accurate but misleading, since germs account for only a small percentage of the diseases afflicting humanity. Nor does it tell us why we may have had the weakened immune system that allowed germs to get at us in the first place. Stressing the body by lack of sleep, poor nutrition, or lack of exercise can weaken the immune system, but are you aware that research has shown that just 6 minutes of a negative emotion can suppress the immune system for more than 21 hours (Berk, 2001)? 

2) “Out of the blue” theory. This provides a graceful covering for us, since we are claiming to have no earthly idea of any connection between our lifestyle and the disease—surely it is nothing we have done! It just came on us out of the blue. And yet everything on earth happens by cause and effect. The real problem with this one is that it seems to be pointing a finger at God who lives in those blue heavens. And God says He is definitely not the author of any evil. Disease, death and destruction all are consequences of our Fall, not His Design. 

3) Punishment theory. According to this theory we sinned, so God is punishing us. But God punished Jesus fully and completely at the cross for our sins—it would be a breach of justice for God to punish us when the penalty has already been paid in full by Another. A further problem with this one is that it seems to suggest that God just reaches (in anger) into His bag of punishments and puts something on us without regard to the natural order.
 

What our science is showing us

The truth is that there is a natural connection between the way that we live and the diseases that come upon us. As many as 80% of all incurable diseases have a mind-body connection. According to one study, stress related disorders account for 75 to 90% of all visits to primary care physicians (Deadly Emotions, p. 6). Consider these connections between disease and emotional stress (Dr. Don Colbert, Deadly Emotions, 2003, front cover):

• Anger and hostility—hypertension and coronary artery disease
• Resentment, bitterness, un-forgiveness, and self-hatred—autoimmune disorders,rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and multiple sclerosis
• Anxiety—irritable bowel syndrome, panic attacks, mitral valve prolapse and heart palpitations
• Repressed anger—tension and migraine headaches, chronic back pain, TMJ and fibromyalgia
   

Negative emotions damage the body.
When we perceive a situation to be dangerous, adrenaline and cortisol are released by our bodies to facilitate “flight or fight” responses. This is part of the General Adaptation Syndrome. The problem is that most of the “dangers” that stress us cannot be resolved by fighting or running away! Modern life seems to be characterized by a mounting sea of stressful events and daily pressures coming at people from every conceivable direction. And yet the real culprit isn’t the situation which surrounds us—it is the emotional reaction going off inside us. That is why Dr. Don Colbert entitled his book on the mind-body connection Deadly Emotions—not “deadly situations.” He writes:

No person experiences an emotion just in his “heart” or in his “mind.” Rather, a person experiences an emotion in the form of chemical reactions in the body and the brain. These chemical reactions occur at both the organ level—stomach, heart, large muscles, and so forth—and at the cellular level…The emotions that are most damaging are rage, un-forgiveness, depression, anger, worry, frustration, fear, grief, and guilt. (Deadly Emotions. pp. 9, 20)

From a medical point of view all of the negative emotions are stressors to the body. It is now becoming evident how damaging they are to our physical health. But from a Christian point of view they represent something that is also very damaging to our spiritual health. They are sins. Now this may seem like adding to the bad news—the negative emotions (which we don’t like feeling in the first place) are not only causing disease, but they are also sins, separating us from God! Isn’t this very bad news indeed? No, it is good news, because it shows us there is a way out, both from disease and from the entrapment of negative emotions.
 

Compared to the power of emotional stress as the instigator and sustainer of all the stress related disorders and diseases, nutrition, diet and exercise are distant though secondary conditons to explore and perhaps correct.  But they are usually NOT the main issue. See what the Bible has to say about Health Issues and Dietary Concerns. We are spiritual beings at the core level of our being. It is sprit first and foremost, then soul (emotions, intellect and will), and then body (as subservient to the other two) in the order of the divinely created heirarchy. That is why the spiritual roots to disease are the ones we need to pay special attention to and why it is with them that the lasting cures will come.

If the negative emotions, causing us so much loss of peace and joy as well as health, are actually things in our personality that God has given us and wants us to have then we are stuck with them—and the diseases they induce. But if the negative emotions are sins then He has provided a way of freedom. Let us remember that Jesus died to free us from sin’s penalty and from its power. Through faith in Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit living within us, we have been given God’s antidote for every negative emotion—the peace of Christ!
 

God’s way of escape

In fact we always have a choice how we will respond to life: will we go into stress, take on the negative emotions so close at hand, or will we choose to find the path of peace that comes from trusting and loving? God created us to live in peace with His peace. Even under the conditions of the Hebrew covenant, it was possible to live with perfect peace, but there was a condition: keeping one’s mind fixed or stayed on the Lord. How does/did one do that? By trusting in God.

You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.    Isaiah 26:3 NKJV

Peace comes to us on the basis of our actual heart trust in God, not the doctrinal rightness of our beliefs. Our minds judge right and wrong, but it is with our hearts that we judge whom to trust. Whenever we actually release our hearts to trust God, our minds naturally become rested or stayed upon Him—until something else disturbs our rest! In the New Covenant Jesus promises us peace and His peace goes far beyond any of the outward things that disturb us.

 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.   John 14:27

How does the world give us peace?
Anyone on earth can get peace from the world in this way: I see the problem; I go to work on it; I begin to see the thing getting better; I get my peace back. You don’t have to be a believer in anything but yourself to get peace in this way. But there are real problems with getting peace this way: I can’t always make things better so I lose even more peace in the attempt; I have to wait until things look like they are getting better before peace begins to return to me; and as soon as one trouble is fixed, I may lose peace over two more that just flared up! Jesus gives believing, trusting hearts peace at the first sign of trouble—whenever we cast our cares on Him.

When our hearts are at peace, our bodies experience peace (homeostasis) and all systems work in balance to maintain health. As Art Mathias of Wellsprings Ministries in Alaska likes to say, our bodies are barometers of our spiritual health! Texts that speak to health issues abound in scripture, especially in regard to the connection between negative emotions (sins) and physical health—what our science describes as the mind-body connection (see also Proverbs 38:3-4; 3:7).

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:20-23 NKJV
A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.  Proverbs 17:22 NKJV
A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones. Proverbs 14:30 NKJV
 

Stress reducing steps to take

What are some steps you can take to reduce stress in your life? Of course this workbook is intended to help you convert emotional stress back into the peace of Christ, but there are many practical ways to de-stress as well. Consider these steps that others have found helpful, then add the ones that you will actually do to the second list.

• Laughter--a merry heart real works wonders.
• Loving—pets, children, anyone and anything you can (in a right way!)
• Getting out in nature—drink in the beauty and grace of our Creator’s world
• Deep, relaxed breathing
• Stretching, tensing and relaxing your muscle groups from head to toe
• Imagining a relaxing scene (like walking along a beach or lying in sunshine)
• Meditation—focused awareness, interactive and directed toward the Lord
• Prayer—casting your cares on Him because He cares for you; sharing the day’s burdens
• Massage and hugging—these are healthy, legitimate forms of receiving and giving human touch
• Aerobic exercise—brisk walking, cycling, swimming, jumping with reasonable intensity
• Daily quiet time all to yourself, with little or nothing to do but relax
• Playing gentle music, watching wholesome videos, reading good books
• Sleep—we need between 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night and more on the weekends

But remember: the main way to reduce stress is to learn how to shift from the negative emotions back into the peace of Christ. And this includes the stress that comes out of emotional issues carried from the past as well as those in the present. Someone has wisely observed that present emotions are like a faucet left running; past emotions are like the slow drip from a leaky faucet. Either way the sink of emotional stress is getting filled and our bodies begin “sinking” under the load!

Bringing our hearts to God in such a way that we actually get free of old issues and present negative emotions is something every believing Christian can learn to do no matter how difficult it may seem in the beginning. The Holy Spirit is the greatest teacher on earth and He is here to help you! The things that we believe He has been teaching us about recovering our emotional life make up the workbook and the CD/DVD series, Matters of the Heart that are posted on this site and available in the store. Many people have found that these teachings provide the tools that they have needed gain true victories in their walk with the Lord.
 

Disclaimer: We do not diagnose or treat disease. Nothing we teach is intended to be a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions or disorders. What we offer is an opportunity to explore, identify, and gain freedom from what may be the spiritual/emotional roots of specific conditions.

Interested in going deeper?

For further study and for help working these truths into your heart and life, explore all of the Main Healing Lessons and Head to Heart Guides, plus the Life Applications, Illustrations and other Healing Articles posted on this site or available in the store.

Or better yet, let us minister to you in person
     --at one of our Savannah Seminars...