It’s pure joy to walk alongside a man who is emotionally waking up. It’s like he’s been lost in a long fog and today he starts to see clearly. After several months you can ask him to look back, “What were you thinking before you started your journey?” Here are some of his answers.

• “I didn’t know I was supposed to be working on myself.”
• “I’ve run from struggles all my life. I didn’t know I should be learning from them.”
• “I hate thinking I’m defective. So, I don’t. It’s so much easier to just think you’re the problem.”
• “There are plenty of fun thoughts in my head. I’d rather think about those than learn from difficult interactions.”
• “I didn’t know that I was relationally stunted, and I didn’t know that I didn’t know.”
• “I have failed lots of times. And I’ve been embarrassed every time. I hate failing.”
• “I was trained to ignore emotions and struggles. No one in my family ever talked about emotions or growth.”
• “I thought the past was just the past and it should stay there.”
• “I’ve been scared to face myself. What good can come from looking at your own weaknesses?”
• “Why be sad? How does it help? It fixes nothing. And it makes everything messier.”
• “I have lived in fear all my life. What if I look inside and discover it’s true; I am a loser.”

Prayer

Father, thank you for pursing and loving me. Thank you for your never-ending love. I have messed up a lot. And you have forgiven me even more. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, please lead me on this mission of emotional growth. Amen.

Bible Connection

Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: He put upon himself our weaknesses, and he carried away our diseases and made us well. – Mathew 8:17 (TPT)