Signs Of Inner Wounds
As I mentioned earlier, inner wounds need inner healing. All of us have inner wounds and only God can heal our inner wounds.
The first thing that we must do is to identify our inner wounds. If we are not careful about the toxicity of these inner wounds, it can seep into your soul and cause us to lead with a wounded spirit.
Soul wounds are the past emotional injuries that manifest pain-based identities. We take painful experiences and begin defining ourselves by the themes, seeing ourselves as victims, broken, or shameful. These soul wound stories limit us to small worlds, small dreams, and unfulfilling relationships.
Our life begins on the inside (heart is the seat of our emotions). What is inside eventually comes out. If our inner life is in order, we will be able to lead a healthy life. Unfortunately, we don't pay close attention to the inner wounds of our heart and its results in our behavior. If we pay attention to the signs of our inner wounds, we can detect the warning signs of leading a life of wounded spirit.
Jesus says in Matthew 15: 11 &18- What goes into a man's mouth doesn't make him unclean but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean. But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean.
Let me explain some of the signs of our inner wounds that destroy our lives. We can notice the wounds in three dimensions of life.
1. How we treat ourselves:
We can notice the signs of inner wounds by the way we treat ourselves. Given below are the signs:
Hard to feel loved - It is hard to clearly see and realize the love of others and God in your life. You may be surrounded by people who love you, but it can be difficult to fully feel and receive that love. There seems to be a wall up that blocks the flow of love into your life.
Self-hate - Many times when a person is hurt from past abuse, they will begin to hate themselves. This may result in their behaviour and attitudes. They will curse themselves. They will think that there is no use in them living in this world and always express a desire to die. They will always compare themselves with others and have a feeling of low self-esteem.
Feelings of hopelessness - Hopelessness is a result of unresolved inner wounds. Since the love of God is blocked in our life, it becomes hard to see why He would love or care for us, and therefore we become an easy target for feelings of hopelessness. We decide that there is no future for us. When we suffer from an emotional wound, it can create a sense of void in our life's meaning.
Always irritated - When we have inner wound, we will it's easy to become irritable with others, even if they aren't doing anything wrong. There is a low tolerance issue with others, where we expect and demand from them.
Always feeling bitter - A strong, unrelenting hostility or resentment toward someone is a sign bitterness has taken root in our soul. Bitterness comes from never fully processing and moving on from a situation that harmed us. The casus for this bitterness could be that we are denied a promotion, blamed unfairly, someone takes credit for our deed etc. Bitterness makes us preoccupied with resentful thoughts about another person.
Easily frustrated - People also give up easily because of the inner turmoil that an inner wound causes. It's easy for them to become easily frustrated with everyday chores and responsibilities. They may not be involved with their full heart and soul in the work they do. If a parent's heart and soul is no longer in the family, it affects the children. When children experience challenges in life, they don't deal with them effectively but get tired and frustrated.
Always being a perfectionist - A person who has an emotional wound may also be performance driven. Perhaps they felt like no matter what they did, they could never please a parent or manager. They are never satisfied and burned out by their efforts.
Escapism - Escapism could be as a result of inner turmoil. It is easy to desire to escape or suppress reality. This can be in the form of overeating, drinking, smoking, watching porn movies, spending lavishly etc. When a person indulges in escapism, addictions can form, and open the door to spirits of addiction. It becomes very difficult to break addiction patterns in their lives.
Irresponsible behavior - Inner pain has a way of consuming a person's mind. Eventually this can take on a careless approach to life. People don't feel good about themselves and it will begin to show in their lifestyle.
2. How we treat others:
Inner wounds also manifest by the way we treat others. Given below are the signs:
Lashing out - When there's an inner wound that has festered, it results in lashing out or have sudden outbursts of anger, hate, resentment, etc. We find it easy to lash out at people we love and have done no harm to us.
Being Sarcastic - Sarcasm is one of the subtler, socially acceptable ways wounded people express themselves. They cover themselves in the form of humor. We see a lot of these in social media like Facebook, twitter and youtube comments. Sarcasm comes from the Greek word sarkázein which means to "rend flesh" - the ripping, pulling, or tearing apart of skin and flesh. Sarcasm cuts someone down and tears their self-esteem. If we examine our thoughts, feelings, and motivations behind the comments we make, we will understand why we choose to express ourselves that way.
Always negative - There are people who see everything negative around them. It doesn't matter how good the idea might be, they will always find something to fault. They are the one who will always find fault, catching people doing something wrong instead of praising what they're doing right, criticizing and questioning.
Hard to forgive others - People with inner wounds find it difficult to love and therefore forgive others. They also find it hard to forgive and love themselves. When we've been wounded, we find it hard to forgive others because we feel like it's letting people free of their transgressions. Choosing to not grant forgiveness is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It does nothing but hurt ourselves and hold us back from healing and moving forward. When we nurture unforgiveness in our heart, it can even be hard to forgive and love God, even though He has done nothing wrong against us.
Retaliation urges - Over a period of built-up hate and anger as a result of unforgiveness, somebody who has a festering inner wound will find it easy to retaliate or snap back at those who offend them or step on their toes.
3. How we treat God:
Inner wounds also manifest by the way we relate and deal with God.
Feelings of anger towards God - People with inner wounds, blame God for their troubles and hardships. They feel that God is responsible for this state of life. This creates a wall in your mind that blocks the healing power of God to operate in our lives.
Please reflect on the inner wounds that you are struggling with in your life that need God's intervention and healing.