Monday, August 31, 2015

The Connection Between Salvation & Wholeness

Several weeks ago I shared with you that I have discovered my passion, "To equip and come alongside people as they journey toward greater spiritual, emotional and physical wholeness." For me the key word in this statement of passion is wholeness. I think that all of us long for wholeness. 

Wholeness can mean different things to different people. For me at it's core wholeness is being restored to our true or authentic selves. Our authentic or true self is who God intended and created us to be. It is the unwounded, unhurt, and innocent self. It is my belief that we come into this world pure and whole. It is only when we begin to experience life that we become broken and only a shadow of our authentic self.

Living in this world means experiencing sin, brokenness, woundedness, shame, fear, and suffering. These experiences draw us away from our authentic selves and create in an "unclean heart". It is only through God's unconditional love shown in Jesus that we can be truly restored to wholeness. For me this is the essence of salvation. Salvation is not about the what happens after we die but rather salvation is about being saved from our "shadow selves" (think inauthentic selves).  Jesus' life, death and resurrection not only showed us how much God loves us but also how to love. Jesus showed us the messiness of love and that love is hard. Jesus also showed us that God's love overcomes death gives restored life to each of us. In reality wholeness is about restoring ourselves to the love that God revealed in Jesus Christ. 

The good news is that we are all on a journey toward wholeness and God has given us a vast array of tools that we can tap into to find spiritual, emotional, and physical wholeness! What are some tools you have? What types of tools would you like to learn more about?


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