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Healing the Soul of a Woman by Joyce Meyer
Here is a New Book by Joyce Meyer, titled Healing the soul of a woman
Joyce Meyer has released yet another amazing book, this book is titled Healing the soul of a woman by Joyce Myer, the founder of Joyce Myer ministries. This book is aimed to reach the deep burning agonies women go through in life. Remember Joyce Meyer is a minister of God, who have a lot of spiritual insight and understanding about God, being as a woman how she was able to overcome life challenges. Abused by her dad why she was still young, she could have given up with bitterness and unforgiveness, yet still, she did not give up, she overcame the pain, she allowed God heal her soul by forgiveness. In some years, Joyce Meyer has been preaching and teaching about forgiveness and GETTING RID OF BITTERNESS AND GUILT. In fact, she emphasizes DONT BE MAD, you must never allow your past to be a blocking stone. In one of Joyce Meyers sermons, she encouraged women to take a good dose of Gods mercy. God has medicine for our soul, the word of God is medicine it helps us fix our mind on what God wants us to do.
God is always right, no matter what you feel, the whole Bible all about (do this and live, or do that and live miserably.) According to her new book which was dedicated to women – Healing the soul of a woman, Joyce Meyer had this to say;
“Countless numbers of people are living with deep emotional wounds, not knowing how to be set free. But I believe that with God’s help, this book can serve as an all-inclusive manual on emotional healing from a Biblical perspective. It may take time, but you can be healed. Don’t stay parked in your pain any longer. Take it to God and get free.” — Joyce
Available worldwide wherever books are sold September 11
Healing the Soul of a Woman, How to Overcome Your Emotional Wounds, Joyce Meyer. The book is published by FAITH WORKS NEW YORK NASHVILLE.
Book Table of C O N T E N T S – Joyce Meyer Books
Introduction vii
Chapter 1: The History of Women 1
Chapter 2: Living the Best Life Available 11
Chapter 3: God Wants the Wounded 19
Chapter 4: What Is a Healthy Soul? 29
Chapter 5: Help Me! I Don’t Understand Myself 37
Chapter 6: You Are God’s Beloved 46
Chapter 7: Hurting People Hurt People 55
Chapter 8: Unload the Guilt and Shame 65
Chapter 9: Finding Your True Self 75
Chapter 10: No Parking at Any Time 84
Chapter 11: You Are Not Damaged Goods 94
Chapter 12: The Wounds of Sin 104
Chapter 13: Learning to Live Inside Out 112
Chapter 14: You’ve Got What It Takes 122
Chapter 15: Roadblocks to Healing 132
Chapter 16: The Roadblock of Self- Pity 143
Chapter 17: Stand Up for Yourself 151
Chapter 18: Establish Boundaries— Don’t Build Walls 159
Chapter 19: Become Your Own Best Ally 168Chapter 20: Healing the Wounds of Codependency 176
Chapter 21: The Blessings of a Healthy Soul 185
Chapter 22: The Painless Path 194
Chapter 23: The Great Exchange 203
Afterword 211
Appendix I 213
Appendix II: Who You Are in Christ Jesus 225
I N T RO D U C T I O N Healing the soul of a woman by Joyce Meyer
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
— Psalm 147:3 ESV
Can a woman who has been hurt deeply either by circumstances
in her life or by a person she loved and trusted be healed? Can
her heart and soul be healed? Can she love and trust once again?
As a woman who was sexually abused by my father, abandoned
by my mother, and cheated on by my first husband, I can say
without hesitation, “Yes!” If you are living with a wounded soul
and feeling alone, unloved, and misunderstood, I can promise
you that you do not have to stay that way.
Beauty for Ashes, which was published in 1994, was the first
book I wrote on emotional healing. Since that time I have had a
great deal more experience in this area and am more knowledgeable
in God’s Word, and I want to share those things with you.
I have written other books that include some portions of what
I will share in this book, but with God’s help, this will be an
all- inclusive manual from a biblical perspective on the subject of
emotional healing.
Countless numbers of people are walking around wounded in
their souls from past hurts, and they either don’t know they can
be healed or simply don’t know what to do or how to begin. I
will share what I have learned on my journey, and although yours
won’t be exactly like mine, I hope my story can be an inspiration
viii Introduction
and a guiding light as you step out onto your path of progress
toward wholeness.
Just as our bodies can be sick, our souls can be sick, but God
wants to heal us everywhere we hurt, including our soul. The
soul is the mind, will, and emotions. It is the inner part of us
and a very important part. No matter what we have materially
or how good our circumstances are in life, if we have wounded,
bruised, and bleeding souls, we will not enjoy life. Whether our
hurt is from shame, anger, bitterness, depression, doubt, insecurity,
guilt, or fear, it needs to be confronted and dealt with.
I limped through life for years thinking I had the best life I
could expect considering my past. I can actually remember thinking
as a young adolescent that I would always have a secondrate
life because of what my father had done to me. I didn’t even
attempt to deal with any of the problems that were created from
my past simply because I didn’t think anything could be done
about them. But I was wrong.
It is amazing how wrong our thinking can be, but if we don’t
know it is wrong then we never rise above it. In this book, I hope
to show you that a wonderful, amazing, fulfilling life is available
for you. With God’s help you can learn to think and behave in
ways that will actually set you free to be the amazing woman
God created you to be.
Once you know what is available to you, I pray that you will
make a decision to go for it! The world offers a variety of remedies
for the wounds of the soul, and some of them may be helpful,
but Jesus offers us complete healing. He is the healer and restorer
of our souls. The psalmist David said God had restored his soul
(Psalm 23:3). When something is restored it is made like new
once again.
What kind of life did God intend for you as a woman who is
Introduction ix
created in His image? It certainly is not one of being minimized,
devalued, mistreated, abused, used, and battered. He offers us
unconditional love, infinite worth and value, wholeness, righteousness,
peace, and joy— and that is just the beginning of His
blessings for those who will believe and walk with Him through
life!
As you begin the journey of healing for your soul, I ask you
to remember that healing takes time. It is also sometimes painful
because we have to let old wounds be opened up in order to
get the infection that is festering and poisoning our souls out of
them. Women who have need of healing for their soul only have
two choices. The first is to continue limping along in life, just
trying to get through each day, and the second is to say, “I’ve had
enough misery, unhappiness, pretense, guilt, and shame, and I’m
ready to do whatever it takes to be made whole!”
C H A P T E R 1 The History of Women Joyce Meyer
Make the most of yourself, by fanning the tiny sparks of
possibility into flames of achievement.
— Golda Meir
First let me say that women are God’s idea. Although He created
Adam first, He quickly realized that he needed a helper, so He
took a rib from Adam’s side and created Eve out of it. I like to
make the point that Eve was taken from Adam’s side, thus indicating
she was to walk beside him in life as someone he needed.
She was not taken from the bottom of his feet, indicating that he
had permission to walk all over her.
If you are familiar with the story of creation (Genesis 1– 3), you
may know that after God created Adam and Eve, He placed them
in a beautiful garden called Eden, and His plan was for them
to enjoy life abundantly and fellowship with Him. They had a
great deal of freedom to make their own choices and had been
endowed with authority to have dominion over the animals and
the entire realm they dwelt in. There was, however, one thing
God told them not to do, and that was not to eat from the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, of blessing and calamity (Genesis
2:9, 16– 17). They could eat from every other tree, including
the tree of life. It is clear from this account that God wanted His
creation to be filled with life as only He could give it, and in His
2 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
original intention, He wanted them to know only good and not
evil.
Of course, God also knew from the beginning— because He
is all- knowing— that Satan, who appeared to Eve as a serpent,
would deceive her and that she and Adam would eat of the one
tree He had forbidden. That one wrong action opened the door
for all the pain and dysfunction that exists on our planet today.
You might ask, Well, if God knew His perfect plan would fail, then
why not make it impossible to ruin it? The answer is very simple:
God created man with free will because He wanted to have people
to fellowship with who would choose Him, not merely those
who had no choice. He wanted people to partner with in life, not
puppets that had no choice but to do His bidding.
It is easy to get angry with Adam and Eve and think, How
dumb can you be? But not one of us would have done any better.
Although God created them with free choice, meaning they had
the ability to disobey Him, He also from the beginning had a plan
for the complete restoration and wholeness of men and women.
That plan, simply stated, is Jesus.
God loves us so much that He planned from the beginning
of time to let His only Son pay for our sins and bring us full
salvation. Salvation means life, but the life that God offers us
is not merely an ability to breathe and walk around— He offers
us “life” as only God knows it. We can be filled with the life of
God. That life is so powerful that no matter what has happened
to us in the past that has damaged our souls, we can be healed
and totally restored. All death is swallowed up in life, and darkness
is swallowed up in light. Jesus is both Life and Light. That’s
why John 1:4 says, “In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light
of men.”
I can assure you that God is never without a plan. And no
The History of Women 3
matter what has happened to you, God has a plan for you, and it
is a good plan.
After Satan successfully deceived Eve, tempting her to be disobedient,
God made a statement to him that leads us to understand
why women, by and large throughout history, have been so
marginalized, disrespected, and devalued. Genesis 3: 14– 15 says:
And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have
done this, you are cursed above all [domestic] animals
and above everything [wild] living thing of the field;
upon your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust [and
what it contains] all the days of your life.
And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will
bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in
wait and bruise His heel.
Please notice that the “Offspring” of Eve is capitalized in this
verse, but the offspring of the serpent is not. That is because the
offspring of Eve is Jesus Christ. She is the mother of all living
beings and is directly in the ancestral line of Jesus. God was letting
Satan know that Eve’s Offspring would bruise his head, or
take his authority away from him and defeat him. Satan would,
for a time, bruise the heel of God’s children, referring to how he
attacks us in our daily walk.
This same type of attack was perpetrated against Jesus during
His time on earth, but the end of the story is that Jesus died in
our place, took our pain and sorrow, suffered beyond anything we
can imagine, and paid for our sins. But thankfully that isn’t the
end of the story. If it were, it would have given Satan the victory
he always hoped to have. He had indeed bruised the heel of our
4 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
Savior. But Jesus was in the grave three days, during which time
He took possession of “the keys of death and Hades (the realm of
the dead)” (Revelation 1:18), and then He rose from the dead, and
He is alive forevermore! Through the Offspring of Eve (Jesus), God
bruised Satan’s head (authority).
Satan has been stripped of the authority that Adam and Eve gave
to him through their disobedience, but if we don’t know that he is
defeated, we will continue to let his wicked and evil plan rule in
our lives. Satan is defeated, and a life filled with healing and abundance
is available to you! All you need to do in order to receive it is
to receive Jesus as your Savior by faith and believe that the promises
in God’s Word are for you. As you do, you will step out into a
lifetime journey with Jesus, who will guide you along your path.
No matter how deep a pit you may feel you are in, God’s arm is
not too short to reach in and lift you out. He will set you on high
places and give you peace that passes all understanding and joy
that you cannot describe. God will meet you where you are and
help you get to where you need to be.
Satanic Attack on Women
The cruel and unjust treatment of women down through the ages
can only be attributed to a demonic attack. I will give you a few
statistics that I am aware of just to make my point. (See appendix
I for more statistics.)
VOTING RIGHTS:
• Ratified on August 18, 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to
the US Constitution granted American women the right to
vote— a right known as women’s suffrage. At the time the
The History of Women 5
US was founded, its female citizens did not share all of the
same rights as men, including the right to vote.1
EQUAL PAY AND PROPERTY RIGHTS:
• On average, women employed f ull- time in the United States
lose a combined total of more than $840 billion every year
due to the wage gap.2
EDUCATION:
• Globally, 65 million girls are not in school.3
• Two- thirds of the 774 million illiterate people in the world
are female.4
• If all women had a primary education, there would be 15
percent fewer child deaths. If all women had a secondary
education, child deaths would be cut in half, saving 3 million
lives. Mothers’ education improves child nutrition. If all
women had a primary education, 1.7 million children would
be saved from stunting growth due to malnutrition.5
GENDERCIDE:
• Demographers estimate that 126 million women are missing
due to gendercide (the murder of someone based on their
sex, also called femicide). That is as many deaths as those
caused by World Wars I and II and AIDS combined. Every
year, we lose 2 million baby girls to sex- selective abortion
and infanticide. That’s four girls per minute. In China alone,
62 million women are missing. That amounts to 9.5 percent
of its female population.6
6 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
• Gendercide affects women of all ages but bears down especially
hard on the youngest. In the last twenty years, sexselective
abortion has displaced infanticide as the primary
method for eliminating baby girls.7
VIOLENCE AND ABUSE AGAINST WOMEN:
• It is estimated that 35 percent of women worldwide have
experienced either physical or sexual violence by an intimate
partner or sexual violence by a nonpartner at some
point in their lives. However, some national studies show
that up to 70 percent of women have experienced physical or
sexual violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.8
• Adult women account for almost half of all human trafficking
victims detected globally. Women and girls together
account for about 70 percent, with girls representing two
out of every three child- trafficking victims.9
HUMAN TRAFFICKING:
• Women and girls make up 98 percent of victims of trafficking
for sexual exploitation.10
• The average age a teen enters the sex trade in the US is twelve
to fourteen years old. Many victims are runaway girls who
were sexually abused as children.11
• According to the US State Department, human trafficking is
one of the greatest human rights challenges of this century,
both in the US and around the world.12
Thankfully, women have made some progress, especially in
the Western world, but women are still abused even there. And
The History of Women 7
in many other parts of the world a lot of the things I described
on the previous pages are still taking place daily. The battle for
the freedom and restoration of women is ongoing, but I am glad
I know that healing can occur through faith in God, and I am
glad that our ministry is part of helping to bring this freedom to
women worldwide.
Because of a long history of being devalued and dishonored,
many women today, even in places where a lot of progress has
been made, still don’t see their true worth and value. They doubt
their abilities, and in many instances won’t even try to do great
things with their life simply because of a wrong mindset that is
ingrained in them. “I’m just a woman” is a statement that I dislike
hearing. That very statement is telling in itself.
I remember that when God called me to the ministry, I began
experiencing a lot of rejection, for no reason other than I was
a woman, and women didn’t teach God’s Word. I heard things
like, “Women can teach Sunday school, but they are not permitted
to teach in the main church service.” This made no sense,
because if it was improper for them to teach, then it would be just
as improper to teach Sunday school as it would be to teach in the
main church service, or to be a pastor or an evangelist, or to hold
any other type of office in the church world.
I was judged, criticized, asked to leave my church, and ostracized
by family and friends to the point where I went to God in
prayer and reminded Him that I was a woman and therefore, I
could not do the things I felt in my heart I was to do. I distinctly
remember hearing God whisper to my heart, “Joyce, I know you
are a woman!” He wanted me to continue doing what He was
leading me to do no matter how much opposition I got. Thankfully,
over the years many people’s minds have changed, but not
all of them. Hopefully, we will still see the day when women
8 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
are permitted to take their rightful place in all of society and be
respected, valued, and appreciated.
Some women who have decided to fight for their rights have
become rebellious and have attitudes that are not healthy for
them or the world we live in. It is understandable why the women’s
liberation movement was started. Women were so tired of
being oppressed that they finally decided to blast their way out of
bondage. However, in the process many women are now in danger
of having an attitude that is excessive and not in agreement
with God’s will.
God did clearly give Adam (men) authority over Eve (women),
but not to rule her. It was for her protection. Women have an
innate desire to be taken care of, to be treasured, and to feel safe,
and men should provide that. Since that did not occur, at least
not in many cases, women have begun to take over and do what
in many instances men should be doing. Had things worked
properly from the beginning of time, this imbalance would not
exist, but it didn’t work properly, and, sadly, the beautiful relationship
between men and women that God intended has been
lost. We dare not look to the world to teach us in these areas, but
we can look to God’s Word; by obeying godly principles in Scripture,
we can experience a healthy balance that will be a blessing
to everyone.
I am a woman in ministry, the head of an international ministry,
and yet I am also a woman who respects her husband’s
authority. Dave and I love and respect and submit to one another
as unto the Lord. I have had a lot to learn because of being abused
by a variety of male authority figures on hundreds of occasions,
and it didn’t come easily, but God has helped me see His original
plan for the respectful, peaceful coexistence of men and women,
The History of Women 9
and I pray I might always model that for those I have the privilege
of teaching.
Thankfully, our history does not have to be our destiny. I often
say, “I didn’t have a good start in life, but I am determined to
have a good finish!” If you have
a wounded soul that is in need of
healing, I pray that you will make
that same decision and declaration.
Attitude
Many books have been written about the danger of a bad attitude
and the power of a good one. This section is not intended to be
a deep and thorough study of the subject, but I do want to mention
it. Like most people who have wounded souls, I had a very
bad attitude. In my head it sounded something like this: No man
is ever going to push me around again! Nobody is going to tell me
what to do from now on. I will take care of myself, so I never need
to ask anyone for anything. You cannot trust men because they are
only interested in using you for their own selfish interests. I will never
again be put in a position for anyone to be able to hurt me.
These thoughts and many others like them played over and over
in my mind for years and years. My attitude was hardened and my
mind was set. If this describes you in any way at all, I suggest that
after inviting Jesus into your heart, you invite Him into your attitude.
I won’t tell you that you will never get hurt again if you open
your heart and let people into your life, but I can promise you that
if you do get hurt, Jesus, your Healer, will be with you to help you
once again. If we spend our lives trying to protect ourselves from
ever being hurt, we will also spend our lives lonely.
I didn’t have a good start in life,
but I am determined to have a
good finish!
10 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
The apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians, instructing them to
let the same humble attitude be in them that was in Christ Jesus
(Philippians 2:5-8). The thought of humbling ourselves to anyone
else is frightening because we see it as weakness and assume
that if we show any weakness, we will be taken advantage of. But
actually, meekness and humility are strength under control, not
weakness. When Dave and I have a disagreement about a decision
that needs to be made, I don’t enjoy it if I don’t get my way,
and I will admit that I still need
a lot of help from God in order to
give in with a good attitude. But I
also know if I do what God asks
just because it is the right thing to do, then He will always take
care of me, and He will do the same thing for you.
Part of the restoration that God offers us is to have a healthy
attitude, one that knows when to take a stand against things that
are wrong and when to give in and do what someone else is asking
us to do to. I am so grateful to God that I no longer have to
feel like I am fighting the world, trying to get what is rightfully
mine, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to teach you that
you don’t have to live that way. God wants to fight your battles,
and believe me when I say that when God fights on your side, you
always win!
You always win when God fights
on your side.
C H A P T E R 2 Living the Best Life Available
In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.
— John 1:4
“Ah, the good life!” When we hear that phrase we may think
of lying on a beach day after day, or being able to buy the new
automobile we have admired, or owning a yacht and fishing
off the deck. But that kind of life has proven not to be the best
because many people who do have that kind of life will admit
that they are unhappy, lonely, and miserable. I heard that Jay
Gould, an American millionaire, had plenty of money, but when
he was dying, he said, “I suppose I am the most miserable man
on earth.”
There is nothing wrong with having those things, but they
are not life; they are things. God offers us true life through Jesus
Christ— a real life, the best life that anyone can possibly live. He
offers us a life of being made right with God, and one of peace
and joy (Romans 14:17). Jesus said that He came so that we might
have abundant life, “to the full, till it overflows” (John 10:10).
The best kind of life is only found in God because He is life,
and the life that we call ours is a gift from Him. He is the giver of
life!
12 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
Do You Need an Upgrade?
Many different types of technology are available to us today, two
of them being computers and cell phones. The companies who
sell these devices are regularly offering upgrades, and most of
us rush to get them. We waste no time, we spend money, wait in
lines, whatever it takes to get the newest upgrade. We want the
best equipment that is available.
If we are that aggressive about technology, why wouldn’t we
want the best life available and be equally aggressive in making
sure we have it? Just as you have to learn how to work the new
upgrade you get, we have to learn how to work with God and His
plan for our lives.
I’ve had a relationship of some sort with God since I was nine
years old. During that time I’ve had many upgrades. I’ve continued
to learn things and understand more fully what is available to
me through my relationship with Him. So, you may know nothing
at all, or perhaps you are educated in Scripture, but I think
all of us still fall short of fully living the life God has made available
through Christ, and that includes me. That is why we need
to continue growing and learning. It is a process that continues
throughout our lives, and I might add, it is one that I believe is
very exciting. Why not make a commitment right now to spend
the rest of your life learning how to enjoy the best life God has
available to you through Jesus Christ? Ephesians 2:10 talks about
that life when it says:
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship),
recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do
those good works which God predestined (planned
beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead
Living the Best Life Available 13
of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life
which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
Sometimes we have a tendency when reading a book to skim
over the Scriptures that an author uses, so I want to ask you to
stop reading for a moment and go back and slowly read the Scripture
I just quoted and really think about what it is saying to you.
Let me give you my paraphrase: God created us; we are His
workmanship. Because of sin we lived broken lives, but through the
salvation offered in Jesus we are born again, or made new once again.
We get to start over and learn how to do things right. God has always
had a good plan for His people and He always will. It is available to
anyone who will choose it and learn how to walk in it.
I received a major upgrade in 1976. You might even say it was
a complete system overhaul, and it came as a result of crying out
to God for change because I was sick and tired of being so miserable.
He answered my cry by giving me a genuine desire to study
His Word and start learning what was available to me. Before this
time, I had been a Christian for many years, attending church
and trying to be good. Like many people, I had a mistaken idea
about what it meant to be a Christian. We often reduce it to
church attendance, perhaps putting a little money in the offering
basket, saying a prayer when we are desperate, maybe reading
a little Scripture occasionally, and trying to be good. But that
kind of life is never fulfilling; all it does is leave us frustrated. We
become confused because we think we are doing what we should
be doing, but our lives are still quite miserable.
But as I studied God’s Word and applied what I was learning,
amazing changes began to happen in me— in my soul. I will
admit that it was not always quick or easy, and it was often painful,
especially emotionally. For example, I had to admit my faults
14 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
and stop blaming all of my problems on my past and other people,
and that was hard! Because when a person has lived in denial
for a long time, it is not always easy to face truth. It is similar to
getting a new upgrade on your phone. You wanted it, but once
you got it, maybe you didn’t bother to learn all of the new features
because the old way is just easier. At least that is what I do.
I cannot even imagine all I could do with my computer and
phone if I took the time to actually learn all of the features and
practice them until I was good at using them. Once in a while, my
son will need to help me with something that has gotten messed
up on my computer, and when he sees some of the antiquated
methods I am still using even though I have new equipment, he
simply says, “You have no idea how much easier this would be if
you learned the new way.”
A New Way of Living
Jesus said He is the Way (John 14:6). In the very early days of
Christianity, it was often called “the Way.” God’s plan includes
a way to live that will lead us to everything good He offers. This
plan begins with receiving Jesus as our Savior. One may faithfully
attend church and still not be a Christian. Christianity is not
merely belonging to a church and trying to be a good person, but
it is about Jesus and what He has done for us. He offers us Himself
as the sacrifice and payment for our sins and guilt, and when
we receive Him, He actually comes by His Spirit to live, dwell,
and make His home in us. Once you are born again (repent of sin
and receive Jesus as Savior), you no
longer need to be led by rules and
regulations, expecting to get some
reward from God if you keep them
Christianity is not merely
belonging to a church and trying
to be a good person.
Living the Best Life Available 15
all, but you can be led and prompted by the Holy Spirit, who will
guide you into the full plan of God for your life. It truly is a whole
new way of living.
The New Testament book of Hebrews talks about the new
and living way that Jesus had opened up through His death and
resurrection (Hebrews 10:20). There are things to be learned
about the new way of living that will seem uncomfortable or perhaps
a bit unusual, because they are different from anything you
have learned previously. One of those things is God’s instruction
to forgive our enemies, those who abuse and misuse us, and to
actually love and bless them. Wow! That was a hard one for me.
Forgive my father, who had stolen my childhood through using
me as a means to vent his own lust? Forgive my mother? She
knew what my father was doing to me, and instead of rescuing
me, she pretended she knew nothing and treated me as if I were
doing something wrong. Forgiving them seemed totally unreasonable
to me, and it took a long time for me to become willing to
do it, and even then it was painful.
This is only one of many things that God has shown me
about this new way of living, and that is why I say it is a lifetime
journey. I am still learning. But I want to be very clear that
each path the Holy Spirit has led me down on this new way has
always ended up bringing me to a better place than where I was
previously. God will never ask us to do anything difficult unless
it will lead us to a better life. If you can begin your journey
believing that, it may well make your journey shorter than mine
was.
Like our computer programs, learning the new way can be
challenging, and it may be tempting to revert to old ways, but if
we persist in the new way, it will lead us to greater fruitfulness
and ease. Throughout this book I will share many of the new
16 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
ways that God is offering you, and I sincerely pray that you take
advantage of each one of them.
Loving God’s Word
I love my Bible. It is so much more than a mere book; it is filled
with life. It teaches us the new way of living, and in the process
we begin to experience healing for our wounded souls and hope
for the future. Solomon wrote about the healing found in following
God’s instruction when he said:
My son, attend to my words; consent and submit to my
sayings. Let them not depart from your sight; keep them
in the center of your heart. For they are life to those who
find them, healing and health to all their flesh (Proverbs
4: 20– 22).
God’s words are life to us and bring healing to every area of
our life, including our inner life (soul). Our entire being is healed
through the life- giving power of God’s Word. His Word will do
amazing things in our life if we will believe it. God’s Word renews
our mind and teaches us an entirely new way to think about God,
life, ourselves, and other people.
Like many people, I once thought I knew a lot, but most of
what I had learned prior to studying God’s Word was wrong. I
knew what the world had taught me, and I knew what I felt like,
but I knew nothing about the new way of living that God wanted
to teach me. God’s Word is a light for your path (Psalm 119:105).
Study it and do what it says to do, and you will be healed and
made whole.
God’s Word is medicine for our wounded souls. You might ask,
Living the Best Life Available 17
“How can studying a book become medicine for the emotional
wounds from my past?” Let me explain it by using an example.
If you go to the pharmacy and get a prescription filled, you go
home with pills and begin taking them. Inside the pills there is
medicine that promises to heal your infection, stop your pain, or
heal whatever is hurting you. You take the medicine diligently,
and if you are still having problems, you get it refilled and do it
again. God’s Word is also full of life- giving, healing power. It may
look like a book with words on pages, but when it is taken into
your heart diligently and you believe it, it truly does have amazing
healing power.
God’s Word is filled with promises for those who act on what
He says to do, and these promises
are for everyone who believes and
puts their trust in Him.
If Bible study sounds daunting to
you, or if perhaps you think that you could never understand the
Bible, then I suggest that you join a group of godly people who
are on the same path as you are and study together. Find one that
has a good reputation, with a leader who is experienced in the
areas you need help in.
Another way you might receive help is through group therapy,
which has helped many people, and it gives you an opportunity
to be with people who can truly have empathy for what you
have gone through. If you are unable to locate such a group, I
can assure you that the Holy Spirit will lead you Himself, as an
individual, just as He did me. I was made whole through reading
various Bible- based books on the areas I needed help in, as well
as Bible study, sitting under good biblical teaching in my church,
and prayer and fellowship with God.
If you need healing for your soul and you don’t know where to
God’s Word is medicine for your
wounded soul.
18 HEALING THE SOUL OF A WOMAN
go to get help, I suggest that you ask God to lead you down the
healing path He has planned for you. He will lead you just as He
did me, and millions of others. As you follow His guidance, you
will experience the same healing and wholeness that we have.
The goal of every hurting person is to be healed, and a variety
of paths can be taken. It is very important that you choose a
path that is based on God’s Word and His promises; otherwise,
you could end up becoming more and more frustrated as you put
time, effort, and perhaps a lot of money into something that never
produces any good results. I know people who paid hundreds of
thousands of dollars on treatment programs that promised healing
and deliverance, and yet they never got any better until they
let Jesus into their life and began depending on Him and following
His ways.
The important thing is that you make a decision to get the
help you need if you are someone who is living with wounds and
bruises in your soul from past or current situations that need to
be healed. An amazing life is waiting for you, one of peace and
joy, filled with hope and enthusiasm. It is a life you don’t want to
Copyright © 2018 Healing the soul of a woman by Joyce Meyer
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