Freedom Friday (Emotional Freedom Pt. 1)

 First of all, I want to make sure you know I am not a therapist, nor do I pretend to be. I do however know a few good ones that I am happy to refer you to if you need their guidance.

(If you have suffered abuse and have experienced any form of trauma, I encourage you to seek out a good therapist to help you process and heal. Please don’t try to do this alone.)

What I am going to share here is what I understood the Holy Spirit wanted to communicate when I asked Him about this subject.
I would say this is a spiritual response to the question.

Emotional freedom has a lot to do with sin. Our own sin and the sins of others.

What is sin? In my own words I would say,

“sin is when we come out of alignment with God’s desires for our own good and the good of others and act in that misaligned manner.”

Philippians 4:8&9 gives us an example of how God wants us to act.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you.
 
Notice the last sentence of that scripture, “Then the God of peace will be with you.” The operative word there is, “then.” This is NOT saying that unless we behave in this way God won’t be with us. It’s saying we won’t be able to access God’s peace, which is supernatural.
Why, you ask? Because doing the opposite of these things creates a web that tangles us in the bondage of lies, judgments, selfishness, anger (lashing out at those closest to us), lust (disordered passions), laziness, and mediocrity.
We will never find peace and emotional freedom among these.

If we look at emotional freedom from this perspective, we see that it is also a choice and that there is work to be done on our part.
This work requires a re-training of the mind and the will. Romans 12:2 tells us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. The rest of the chapter details what this transformation is. I encourage you to read all of Romans 12 in the Bible. 
( I included the scripture below. I encourage you to read it.)


Sacrifice of Body and Mind. 1 [I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship. 2 Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.
Many Parts in One Body. 3 For by the grace given to me I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than one ought to think, but to think soberly, each according to the measure of faith that God has apportioned. 4 For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another. 6 Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us exercise them:[ if prophecy, in proportion to the faith; 7 if ministry, in ministering; if one is a teacher, in teaching; 8 if one exhorts, in exhortation; if one contributes, in generosity; if one is over others] with diligence; if one does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.
Mutual Love. 9 Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. 11 Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. 14 [Bless those who persecute [you], bless and do not curse them. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16 Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. 18 If possible, on your part, live at peace with all. 19 Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 Rather, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” 21 Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.

There are different methods used to re-train the mind but the one that has helped me has been to find the scriptures on what it is I want to transform my mind on and then spend weeks speaking them out loud until I believe them. Google works great for finding specific scriptures.
Here’s a website that can help you. https://www.openbible.info/topics/who_i_am 
 
Re-training the will is another story. This takes active choices and God’s grace (help). 
It is also necessary to be gentle and kind to ourselves when we make mistakes. Forgiving ourselves and getting back up and trying again.
Keep choosing what is right and good and keep asking the Holy Spirit to help you. I promise, He will.
 
Other people’s sins affect our emotional freedom because they can incite the wrong reactions in us (anger, fear, pain, confusion etc.). Unfortunately, we don’t have much power over other people’s choices, but we do have the power to change our negative reactions into responses that are filled with wisdom, kindness, and love through the process of transforming ourselves.

It is not easy but the more we work on ourselves the better we can handle everything that’s thrown at us.

Please leave your questions and comments below.