Soul wounds are injuries to the soul. If you are like me, you probably faced painful experiences that left you feeling trapped, unloved, and most of all unsafe. These experiences leave a lasting impression on your thoughts, will, and EMOTIONS.
Soul Wounds
Signs of Soul Wounds in Your Life
- You have a difficult time facing rejection in your work and personal life
- You may think that you are never good enough
- It is difficult for you to set boundaries with family and friends
- When someone rejects your ideas you might feel undervalued
- You may have experienced abandonment in your childhood or rejection from your mother’s womb
- You might have a difficult time forming your own opinion or speaking up for yourself due to others controlling you
- You fear losing loved ones
- It scares you to be yourself in front of others
- Rejection thoughts play in your mind like a broken record
- You often look for others approval
Types of Soul Wounds
1. Abandonment Soul Wounds
Abandonment wounds usually starts in childhood when a parent leaves a child. The feeling of abandonment is similar to being lost in a store and the fear creeps into your stomach that you might not ever see your parent again. Abandonment wounds can cause trust issues later in life and cause you to sabotage your relationships.
Related post: Emotional Abandonment: When a Mother’s Love Abandons You
God Says:
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you”
Deuteronomy 31:6
He will never leave you or forsake you. This means that He is always with you. When you feel lonely and you think that you are far from God, just know that He is closer to you than you might think. He is waiting for you to acknowledge His presence in your life. He also says that he came to the earth to save lost souls like you. He wants to restore your soul so that you can realize that you are found by Him.
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.
Psalm 27:10
God encourages His children that even if you were abandoned by your mother or father, He will father you. He will keep you safe in His arms by holding you close.
2. Rejection Soul Wounds
Rejection wounds are wounds that make you feel forgotten. Have you ever felt annoyed when someone you know very well forgets your name? Rejection wounds usually begin in early childhood in the womb of a mother ( rejection in the womb). The mother may say things to completely erase their child’s existence from their lives. These are often hurtful words that can cause scars in your heart and manifest later into adulthood.
God says:
“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.”
1 Peter 2:4
God has chosen you to be His child and like a great Father, He has great plans for you. There may be times when you may get rejected by people for your ideas or opinions. But take heart, because God considers you precious. You have great value on this earth.
3. Attachment Soul Wounds
Attachment wounds ( a.k.a. mother wounds) are injuries from your mother. Mother wounds are passed on from generation to generation. The mother passes down these trauma wounds to her daughter. If your mother was a narcissist, this may have caused big wounds in your sense of identity and your ability to use your unique voice.
Related post: How To Spot A Narcissistic Mother- Signs to overcome
God says:
“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
Isaiah 49:15
God plays the role of being a nurturing mother that is careful to meet the needs of His child. He will not forget you and will nurse your mother wounds. The Holy Spirit also takes on the role of a mother by comforting you when you are feeling unsafe about your future or the next steps to take in life.
Learn more about the characteristics of God by reading the first chapter for FREE:
4. Sexual Soul Wounds
Sexual wounds are painful experiences surrounding our sexual identity and how we perceive sex. In my childhood, I experienced molestation several times, and each time I felt tremendous pressure to subject myself to disgusting acts. I was afraid to speak up about what happened to me to my mother because I was often told to keep those experiences a “secret.” When you are pressured to keep painful sexual encounters a secret, it causes you to feel powerless and worthless. Sexual wounds left unhealed are an open doorway to living life to prove that you are powerful ( e.g., being promiscuous, prostitution, etc.) or the other extreme; repressing your sexual feelings because the memories make you feel dirty.
God says:
“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Psalm 23:3
God is in the business of restoring your soul: your emotions, body, and heart. If your abusers changed the way that you see sex from God’s divine plan, then God will restore what was broken and redeem the parts of you that were lost in the sea of sexual pain.
5. Emotional Soul Wounds
Emotional wounds are scars in the core of the heart. Words can prick the heart and cause it to be hard as stone or broken into shattered pieces. If you have gone through emotional trauma, you might not be able to understand who you are. You might have identified so much with the heart ache that it wears you like a glove. Situations like a death in the family or emotional neglect can cause deep seated wounds. Our emotions were meant to be nurtured by loving and caring experiences.
God says:
The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalms 34:18 NIV
The Lord is a loving Father that will not forsake you when your heart is broken. He is the doctor that makes repairs inside of your heart. Broken hearts are crushed from bruising or neglect. But God will remove the pain through His goodness and faithfulness towards mending your heart.
The best part is that He gives His children new hearts that are pliable and ready to receive more of God’s love.
Related post:How To Overcome Emotional Pain
How God releases emotional trauma from the body and soul
He does it in layers
God heals you in layers. Similarly to peeling an onion, he will reveal layer by layer, characteristics that you have adopted through your emotional pain. God works in mysteries. He will prompt you to search him out for answers. This might happen in dreams, a friend, or a stranger.
He shows you where the trauma is trapped
I remember early in my healing journey how I screamed or sobbed incessantly when people would pray over my belly. I did not realize at the time that so much pain was trapped there. I also cried when I saw myself naked in the mirror. I hated my naked parts and contemplated mutilating myself with a knife to erase the past. I kept telling myself, ” this is the part that I hate the most” ( vagina). The vagina is the most sacred part of being a woman because it brings life into the world but the pain stopped me from seeing how beautiful God made me.
God will not let you replay the trauma
I remember one morning, there was a thought that triggered memories of my sexual trauma. As I tried to replay the scenes in my head, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say ” Don’t!, this is not the way.” I know that traditional therapy will tell you to replay the scenes of trauma as a therapeutic technique but the Holy Spirit as a the great counselor, will tell you to keep your eyes on Him and not on fear-inducing thoughts.
Replaying the trauma, reopens emotional wounds. Trust God to do it His way.
God will show you generational wounds
In my healing journey, God showed me some of the generational wounds that I inherited in my blood line. He also showed me the wounds of all the women in my family that were experiencing trauma wounds.
God will also do the same for you too because He wants to heal not only your wounds but also the wounds of other people in your family. But it all starts with YOU.
God will have intercessors to stand in the gap for you
It is so important to remain in the community of like-minded believers in the christian faith. My best friend was able to help me to identify my mother’s lies and interceded on my behalf ( she cried as she felt the emotional impact of the lies). She also led a prayer on rejecting the lies that I believed in for so long.
Healing soul wounds prayer
Prayer is so important when healing from soul wounds. Here is a simple prayer for healing soul wounds:
Dear Heavenly Father,
I ask Lord that you would heal my soul wounds. I forgive those who have hurt me and I let them go. They do not owe me anything. You paid the debts for the sins of people. I thank you God that your blood is enough to cover my soul wounds. I also reject any lies from those in my generational line. I accept the truth that I am a child of God. I receive your love and the spirit of adoption.
In Jesus name, Amen
