Freedom in Christ from Oppression

This article on healing addiction is an introduction to our series of 24 teachings, "Matters of the Heart," that are individually posted on this site and available as a complete set in our workbook which can be purchased as a download or ordered through the mail. The lessons are also available on CD and DVD as 24, 1/2 hour teachings. All scriptures are from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

Freedom in Christ is available to the entire Body of Christ! Jesus said that “if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (Johnn 8:36). and Paul tells us that all of creation is yearning to see “the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). And yet there are many Christians who are living lives that seems just the opposite of what has been promised to us. Disease of body and dis-ease of soul (read that as stress, anxiety and depression!) are not freedom. They are forms of bondage that often come from a wounded heart.   

Traumatic events which wounded us when we were young (and perhaps all along the way) often become a “door point” for the enemy to enter into our lives, bringing emotional and spiritual oppression, even sickness. Unhealed traumas often capture the heart with bitterness and fears and these in turn can hold ungodly beliefs locked in the gateways of the mind. This is why trauma must be healed in order for true freedom in Christ to be experienced: un-mended trauma is screaming out a message deep inside our heart that our world is not safe; that our God cannot be trusted to protect us from it or heal us of its attacks; and that we are damaged goods—not the new creation we yearn to be.

Basic discipleship, as the church has known it (learning scripture and following principles), is not enough to set the captives free. At its best it can help Christians to live a life of bearable inward pain and sustainable outward progress. It can also help them to remove the unwanted fruit associated with the deep hurts they may carry such as outbreaks of rage, anxiety attacks, pity-parties, or other obvious displays of a lack of self-control. However, there is a deeper healing that can take place for any Christian who is willing to deal with the painful root issues lodged within the heart.

There are five main ways that God works to heal trauma

God uses 1) our tears, 2) the prayers of others, 3) forgiveness (giving it as well as receiving it), 4) active believing, and 5) the supernatural (see Mending the Broken Heartt (Main Healing Lesson 16). The main indication of a heart still wounded by trauma is pain carried within the memory. This pain is a sign or indication that un-forgiveness is still embedded deep within—bitterness and resentment are heart stains that often take a lot of scrubbing to cleanse away completely. A sense of loss or regret is an indication that belief in the promises of God (Romans 8:28) is not as full and complete as we need it to be. See Freedom through Forgiving (Main Healing Lesson 15) and The Power of Believing (Main Healing Lesson 13) for a fuller treatment of these issues.

Freedom in Christ is obtained as you pray over memories brought to you by the Holy Spirit—He doesn’t want us to push down the pain or ignore the memories, but to bring them to the light of Christ, allowing the greater Truth and love of God we walk in now to transform the way we hold what happened to us in the past. Pray over what the Holy Spirit reveals to you—seeking to fully forgive everyone involved and to fully believe the promise of Romans 8:28. Start with your earliest memories and work up to the present.  In order for complete healing and deliverance to take place we must learn God’s ways of mending our hearts of the deep wounds we carry from the past. It is possible through Christ to be fully delivered and healed from past trauma!

Always remember that as a child of the King
freedom in Christ is your inheritance!
 

Interested in going deeper?

For further study and for help working these truths into your heart and life, see all 24 Main Healing Lessons and Head to Heart Guides posted on this site or in the store.

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