Before the Healing Begins
Facing the Soul’s Deep Wounds and Making Room for God’s Transforming Presence
*This is Part 1 in a series on Soul Care by Rob Reimer*
We are all broken. That is the sad truth of humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve. Evil and destruction have entered our world and caused nothing but pain for all of humanity. There is no avoiding it, no matter who you are. We are broken people who need the healing touch of Jesus. Healing for our body, mind, and soul.
Care for the soul is much like physical health. There are a set of principles that, when followed, will lead you to a healthier soul and a deep, intimate relationship with the God who wants nothing more than your full joy. Problems of the soul cannot be fixed through behavior change alone. These are deep-seated issues that Jesus alone can reach and without him, we will continue to spin our wheels against the sin patterns in our lives that plague us.
It is the soul issues that prevent us from a close, intimate relationship with God. Fasting, praying, and scripture are meant to draw us near to God but with a soul block in place, we cannot draw near to Him. These issues fill the container of our soul, leaving no room for God. In order to make room, we must get empty and then let the Spirit fill us back up. Maturity is a required price to pay in this process. God does not care about our talents, he gave them to us, but what he does care about is whether we are moving closer to becoming like Jesus. That is a choice. That is what God sees, the development of our characters.
And that is what God is after. He wants us to become mature Christ followers with open hearts. God longs to be in your heart, for out of your heart comes all your actions, good and bad. Have you ever been stuck in a sin pattern that you can’t break out of? You pray and read your bible but things seem to just never change. The advice you get is to just stop doing that thing, with quotes of Scripture on the evils of sexual immorality or greed or anger or whatever pattern you are facing. When we fight like this, we are merely treating the symptom, not the root cause. It is like a weed where we only removed the leaf, it will eventually grow back. The issue is in our souls and until we take a good look at ourself and long for that soul change that only comes from God, we will never change. You will never rise above your own level of self-awareness.
A key point of following Jesus is to understand that he is way less interested in your behavior than he is your heart. For God knows that your behaviors flow out of your heart so to fix anything, your heart must come first. Any Soul change has 3 unique aspects that must occur or no true, lasting change can happen:
Anointed teaching
True community
Presence and Power
The first bullet is what this book is designed to do, provide anointed teaching from the word of God on how to care for your soul and align it with the will of God. Teachings like this are nearly useless without a group of believers alongside you to support you on your journey. For a true community to thrive, it needs support and confession. A space where everyone feels comfortable enough to be open and honest about their struggles with sin and receive grace from the other members who are likely struggling with the same thing. You will never get free while still holding secrets.
Even without a strong community, we need God. We need his presence in order to change. Through the scriptures, God has provided 7 distinct ways that we can rebuild our soul.
Identity
Repentance
Breaking Family Sin Patterns
Forgiving others
Healing Hurts
Overcoming fears
Breaking demonic strongholds
These soul care principles are seeds that need to be cultivated inside a strong community where the power and presence of God can manifest. Once we empty ourselves of all our negative, soul stealing sinful patters, we can then let the Spirit fill our hearts with the truth of God's word.