15. My spiritual journey has led to a greater awareness and healing of the diseases of my soul—my need for approval, control, security, and pleasure.
Which of the four diseases listed in this statement are you most vulnerable to?
Do you feel like your need for love is being met? If so, is it met by others? By God? Speak to Jesus about this.
Do you feel safe in this world? Why? What role does God play in you feeling safe?
Do you have behaviors that you wish you could change? What disease might be causing them?
We are born with a fallen nature, with defects and diseases that begin to manifest themselves soon after birth. I believe that there are essentially four core diseases that we are vulnerable to: an excessive need for approval, control, security, and pleasure. In our brokenness we feel unloved, powerless, unsafe, and missing out on life. To compensate for this, our diseases cause us to adopt behaviors that we believe will make us feel loved, powerful, safe, and alive.
The behaviors manifested by each of these diseases are often unhealthy and destructive. We manipulate to gain approval, oppress to gain control, hoard things for security, and abuse people and resources for pleasure.
Corresponding to each of these diseases are behaviors that may seem good and right, but they are actually being generated out of our disease. We may choose a vocation in Christian ministry to help satisfy our need for approval or control; we may even believe that it will provide us with God’s approval.
Some leaders in Christian vocations may seem noble and self-sacrificing but at the core, they are motivated by a need for approval or control. Our need for security may cause us to choose beliefs that satisfies this need—perhaps to be sure of our future or of our “rightness” with God.
We might think that our devotion to God will cause Him to bless us with material things and pleasures, hoping to satisfy that disease. In these examples, the behavior may not be wrong, but the disease that creates it is unhealthy.
In our spiritual journey the Spirit can make us aware of our diseases and provide healing. This healing process is typically long and includes several stages:
Becoming aware of inappropriate behaviors and substituting good behaviors for destructive ones—without healing the disease itself.
Becoming aware of the disease (the cause) behind the behaviors.
Addressing the disease itself, surrendering to God as the true source of security, and pleasure, accepting His approval as enough, and letting Him be in control of our lives.
Hopefully, we will come to realize that we truly are safe with God and that His love is enough. This healing work of the Spirit can be a significant part of our spiritual journey. Not everyone will experience healing in the same way, and none of us will be fully healed in this life.
The human soul that God created has immense value and potential for good, but it needs healing from the diseases that attack its health.