KEEP IT SIMPLE

Kind words heal and help...cutting words wound and maim. - Proverbs 15:4
It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. - James 3:5-6

All of us have experienced both kinds of words. In this lesson we are going to focus on those words that others have spoken to us that have wounded us. These are the words that stay with us over the years and continue to hurt us emotionally whenever we recall them.

Our natural response to emotional pain is to deny its existence. Since we feel powerless to eliminate it, we try to pretend that it doesn't really hurt. This would be a wonderful technique if it worked, but it doesn't. The hurt remains and flares up whenever we encounter words or experiences that remind us of it. Since we pretend it isn't there or doesn't affect us, it never gets resolved and becomes a part of our identity.

Another misconception is that we fail to realize the profound effect an unresolved emotional hurt in one area of our life has on all other relationships. Since we don't want to be hurt in the same way again, we adopt behaviors and ways of relating to others that are designed to protect us from further pain. These behaviors are oftentimes confusing and detrimental to those new relationships.

We want to help you face the hurts in your past and to deal with them in a healthy, biblical manner so they stop affecting your future. Emotional healing is like cleaning a house; you tackle one mess at a time! Usually, you will have more than one issue and a multitude of people who have hurt you. The goal of this section is to help you identify the most hurtful things and person in your life so that you may gain focus and a starting point for the healing process. It is highly recommended that you work on one person at a time. The process can be repeated as often as necessary to promote healing in other relationships.

**Taken From "Healing Past Emotional Hurts" - By Tammy Sevison and Lon Garber. Copyright 1998 by Snowbabies, Inc. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from "The Message." Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.