The Wound

I have been tossing the topic of this blog around for a while...a few weeks actually. I haven't posted in a while and usually when I get the "itch" I just gotta write. I think the reason I have put off writing this blog is because it is so emotional. I've been in a Women's Bible Study the past few weeks that had me going into the past and opening wounds I thought had healed. So here goes.

We all have a wound...women especially. If you're a living, breathing woman, you have been wounded at some time in your life. All of our wounds are different (and some of us have several). Some wounds are deep and take a lot to heal. Many women have wounds that still bleed, that still cause pain, and that are still in need of stitches. Some women have partially healed wounds but if that wound is "picked" at or "bumped," the bleeding begins again. Others have a wound that they try desperately to hide. They stick a flesh colored band aid over it and try to forget about it, hoping no one will notice. Still others have wounds that have healed over and are nothing more than a scar. Many of those women wear that scar like a badge of honor and can actually talk about how it got there. So, dear friend, what kind of wound do you have?

To clear up any confusion, I am talking about a "heart wound" not a "body wound" (although that can actually be the source of your heart wound as well).

Heart wounds come from all kinds of situations: physical, emotional, mental, sexual abuse; abandonment; extreme criticism; affairs; lies; gossip; etc.

Many of our wounds are inflicted by the very people we trust the most - our family. Wounds don't necessarily come from a one time incident but can be the result of years of inner or outer turmoil.
If we don't deal with these wounds and allow Christ to come in and  take over, bitterness will. The pain that we experienced as children or teenagers or even young adults will inevitably cause us to inflict pain on others whether from our own words, actions, or even inaction. If you grew up with a critical parent, chances are you might just end up being critical yourself. If you grew up with a worryer, maybe you find yourself doing much of the same. If you were raised in a negative household, perhaps you are negative too. Look at your past and then look at your present. Have you been able to break some chains and interrupt the ugly cycle that has plagued your family for possibly generations or are you still caught up? Maybe you don't even realize it.

I'm grateful to have a mother who broke a lot of cycles in the midst of raising me and I am thankful still that there are cycles that I am breaking even in my own life. I've had to look within myself and open up old wounds I thought were healed in order to really be honest with myself. I've had to forgive again...and again. I'm certainly a work in progress but I'm thankful that my Jesus works from the inside out. I'm thankful that my Jesus desires me as I am now and not what I could be. I am thankful that my Jesus did what He did for me on the cross. And I'm thankful that He pursues me and holds me up...because if it were the other way around, I'd be in trouble.

It will be hard. It will be painful. But I promise you it will be worth it. Dive into your past. Discover what sins you "learned" as a child that you are still carrying with you. Find the bitterness you harbor and begin the road to clearing it out and making room for forgiveness. Only then can you experience the full power of God at work in your life. Wouldn't you like to be free?