Calling on the Triple GGG to Heal a Broken or Wounded Heart
By David E. McFadden
The words “story” and “narrative” are known as synonyms. However, I want to make a distinction because the bright future God has for you may depend on it.
Your story is your past—the myriads of influences and life events that have shaped you, as well as the memories and emotions attached to them. On the other hand, your narrative is what you say about your past—it is how you relate to what has happened to you. Here is how and why this distinction is so important. As a Christian, you have been given a new life. God has set you on a new path so that your future is disconnected from your past. This means that your old story is dead and, therefore, ought not to be reflected by your current narrative. Jesus came to give you a new story and a new narrative.
When you were born again, you became a new creation in Christ. Your story has a new beginning; you have a new future that is removed from the past. 2 Corinthians 5:17- 18 says it this way,
“…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (NKJV)
We have all heard the saying, “We shouldn’t allow our past to define our future.” This is a hard saying for people who have been traumatically wounded because the past does indeed encroach on the present and seemingly threatens the future. For some people, this feels like being hopelessly stuck. However, if we cling to the past by continuing to verbalize a dead narrative that no longer applies, we putrefy what God has done for us. Dead things stink!
Our words are powerful. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the tongue can bring death or life. What you say about yourself and others has the power to destroy or build up. The point is that God has given you new hope and a bright future, and your narrative, your spoken words, can drag your dead past into your bright and living future, only to diminish it.
In Subchapter 4.4d, we read, “One way we please God is to walk in the full potential that He has reserved for us. Choosing to walk in our full potential is a response to God’s love. God paid a very high price to redeem us, to restore us and to heal our wounded hearts. He did this so that we can walk in His glory. This means that when we make the choice to walk in the wholeness God has provided, He is glorified.”
God wants to heal your wounded heart and give you a new narrative. Your past is your past, and no one can change that. However, the Bible explains how God rewrites your future when you come to Him and give Him your wounded and broken heart. This is good news for anyone, especially a person who suffers brokenness and the relentless pain that engenders hopelessness. You have a choice. You can continue to bring your past story into the present by your narrative, or your narrative can tell your new story that God has created for you. The words you speak can, and will, keep you imprisoned or have the power to set you free.
Taking God’s Word Back to Him in Prayer:
“Heavenly Father, thank You for the bright future I have in Jesus! Thank You for redeeming me from the miscues and failures of my past—the brokenness that often tormented me. Thank you for the new story You have written for me and that my old story is dead, buried in the grave with my “old nature” through water baptism. Thank You that my past has no bearing on my new future and my new narrative. You are a God of miracles! LORD, continue to help me release the past and the pain and emotions connected with it—I don’t want to putrefy what You have done for me. Help me speak of the hope and purpose You have in store for me and not drag my dead past into my bright and living future. LORD, I so much want to glorify You, so today, I choose to walk in the full potential that You have reserved for me. I praise You and ask these petitions in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.”
By David E. McFadden
Excepted from ‘Having the Mind of Christ’
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