In the aftermath of someone hurting us, especially as children, a lingering wound remains inside. If the wound isn’t healed, it will eventually fester and push us into bad behavior that hurts others, especially those in our relationships. The saying goes, “Hurt people hurt people.

“What are the signs that your heart is wounded?

• How many times have you debated your next course of action in your head?
• In your head, is there a committee accusing you of handling that last conversation incorrectly?
• If you ever did something out of the ordinary, have you thought, “Why did I do that?”
• Did you ever feel angry or sad or depressed for no apparent reason?
• If you’ve tried everything you know to change an area of your life, but no amount of prayer, counseling, deliverance, or biblical teaching seems to help or bring lasting change, are you still stuck?
• When has it happened to you that you have been reprimanded repeatedly for saying or doing something you didn’t say or do?
• Have you found yourself somewhere and wondered how you got there?
• Sometimes you feel that you are watching yourself do something or say something that you did not intend to say or do?
• Are you struggling to overcome sin in your life?
• What time periods in your life are you missing?
• Have you lost a memory?
• You never remember where you were or what you did for hours or days in a week, do you?  This is all evidence of a broken heart or a broken soul.

Bringing healing to a wounded heart requires inner work. 

Despite your best efforts, you can’t control your reactions. We call that “bad fruit” that came from bad fruits.

Paul, one of the most zealous men of God in the Bible, experienced the same thing. In Romans 7, he writes, “I can’t seem to do what I want to do!”. The very thing I don’t want to do is what I do! I am a wretched man. Who will rescue me from this body of death? ”

Even Paul dealt with a heart wound that pushed him to respond in ways he didn’t want to.