Emotional Amputees and Forgiveness

Another aspect of hurt and forgiveness.
Written and posted by Jean-Louis

Note: I am not a doctor or a professional counselor. My reflections on the subject of pain and hurt stem from meditating on the Word of God and my own observations and experiences.
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Our physical senses are designed in such a way that the signals they provide help us in gathering information to apprehend the world around us and to function in it.
At the physiological and neurological level, if a limb or a finger is amputated, the amputee can feel physical pain where there is no more limb.

Could the same be said of the emotional level? Sometimes the same thing can happen in the loss a loved one or the dissolution of a marriage relationship through separation or divorce. Or it could be the end of a long friendship in which we have been betrayed. The pain we feel is real because so much of ourselves had been invested in that person at different levels of intimacy.

The association between the person, the intimacy and the pain is present because of the chemical/electrical impulses in our brain that stimulates the cerebral cortex every time we think of the person or an event associated with the person. The Lord can heal the physical part if physical harm has taken place through prayer or the intervention of a doctor, we can grieve and time lessens the pain, but if the person has not learned to dissociate the memory in the past triggering the painful reaction in the present, emotional bondage can occur.

Is it possible to be free of our guilt feelings, of our sense of not being forgiven or unforgiving and of any of the other tricks Satan uses to keep us in emotional and spiritual bondage? This is why it's so important to keep the helmet of salvation on. Salvation in Hebrew or Greek means more than just being born again, it means health, being made whole, being unfragmented, being one in mind, body, Spirit and soul. This is the way I felt for the first time in my life when I was 22 and the Holy Spirit came and literally washed me clean of my sin with His Light and His Word.
 

It is my opinion that the invisible parts that have been cut out from us through the breaking off a relationship are similar to the physical amputation. But one must resist the temptation of continuing placing blame on the offending party for our having been cut up and having been robbed emotionally once we have forgiven. If not, we just lock ourselves into a jail of our own making with the key inside the cell ready for our use whenever we desire to be free from the bondage of unforgiveness more than our desire to see the other person suffering as a just retribution so they can understand and feel what we are going through.

Jesus commanded us to forgive. Do you remember that He also said to pluck our eye out if it offends us or to cut our hand off if it offends us? I believe He was talking about a spiritual operation performed by the Holy Spirit when we recognize our inability to do God's will without His strength and help. 

Notice that He said "one eye" and "one hand". We have two eyes and two hands, but one heart which to me means that when our heart is focused on the Lord, our eye (singular) will be full of light. Matthew 6:22. " the light of the body is the eye, if therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light".

Is it possible to exercise faith and live in unbelief at the same time, thus denying the power of the Word and the blood covenant and negating the blessing of freedom that comes as part and parcel of our inheritance? 

Our eyes can focus only on one thing at a time. James illustrates the need to warn us against being divided by the use of our tongue in James 3:10: "Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing.... Can both fresh water and salt water come from the same spring? ...Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

Psalm 18: 28 declares: "You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning,my God turns my darkness into light". Same Psalm verse 27: "You save the humble, but bring low those whose eyes are haughty."

If we humble ourselves, stop being proud, (haughty eyes), self-sufficient and independent and focus our eyes on the Lord, by the power of His Holy Spirit, He will answer our humble request and give us a pure, undivided heart, one that will be attentive to His voice. Psalm 43: 3 says: "Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me". The truth of the Word without the Spirit to illuminate it is without effect upon the human hearts and minds. Both go together, just like truth and love.

I love this passage in Isaiah, it describes so well the one who in his ignorant condition seeks the light of God and the other one who seeks his own enlightenment because he is proud and independent.
In Isaiah chapter 50: 10- 11 the LORD says:
"Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant,
Let him who walks in the dark who has no light, trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.But now all you who light fires and provide yourselves with flaming torches,
Go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze,

this is what you shall receive from my hand; you will lie down in torment".

Following the parallel with emotional pain, I believe that it is possible to remember the person, the memories of the time spent together, good and bad, constructive and destructive without feelings of rancor, resentment or bitterness and unforgiveness. It is as if we were observing a situation without being negatively emotionally involved. And at other times, when we find ourselves dwelling on our past and anger and indignation rise in us, it is possible at that time to stop bitterness from growing again by choosing to ask God’s forgiveness and blessing on that person’s life. We have released once again that person and used the key that God provided to keep us out of a jail of our own making. 
 

Jean-Louis.

PS: By the way, after I had already written this reflection, the testimony of a friend of mine, amputee, who lost both his legs from the hips down confirmed what I surmised in the case of physical loss of a limb. As I talked with him, I was able to get a clearer picture and distinguish between two aspects of the real although invisible presence of the cut off limb. He explained that he is aware of his limb being still attached to his body and its feelings.
However at other times, the limbs hurt and the pain is real, not imagined as we would think.