A Healed Heart: False Help and Hope
Living Free Every Day®
A ministry of LivingFree.org
Scripture
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” Luke 4:18 NKJV
Thoughts for the Day
Abortion is horrible, dark, and ugly. Children die. Women are hobbled spiritually as their God-given identity as mothers is denied. Men are stripped of their masculine dignity as fathers, protectors, and providers. But in the media and popular press you won’t find those truths or any real relief for the troubling spiritual questions abortion raises. You may search in books, movies, or magazines or on radio, television, or the Internet, but you will find only false help there. The network news seldom portrays abortion as harmful, or even as a wrong or mistaken action.
The talk shows and daytime television aimed at empowering women and increasing feminist-style self-esteem are meant to make you feel better, not lead you into truth. However, God never suggests you can overcome pain by trying to minimize the impact of what you’ve done. Rather, Jesus promises to “heal the brokenhearted” through his sacrificial love.
Consider this …
Self-help books offer false hope. In the ten years immediately following my abortion, I lived my life apart from God, placing my faith in the self-help movement. I spent much money and time on books about how to live and take care of emotional wounds. I gobbled pop psychology like candy, looking for a quick fix to relieve my pain and guilt. But self-help doesn’t have the power to change us.
The Bible says it isn’t even possible to help ourselves. We don’t need a remedy. We need a redeemer because we are powerless over sin. Seeking worldly answers in desperate self-reliance is an exercise in futility that can never heal the wounded heart. We all need God’s mercy and grace.
Prayer
Father, I’ve tried every way I can figure out to “fix” myself. To stop feeling guilty and worthless. I realize now I’ve been looking in the wrong places—places that offer me only false help and hope. My only hope is in Jesus. I turn all my confusion and sin over to you and ask for your mercy and grace. In Jesus’ name . . .
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