Where does emotional healing for pastors begin?

It first begins with the realization that those who have set themselves against a pastor are actually setting themselves against God. The battle, though physical in form, is actually a spiritual battle between the forces of good and evil.

Emotional healing for pastors begins by not taking the attack personally. This is hard to do since our ministry is an appendage of our body. The part of us being attacked hurts deeply as if one was cutting off or attacking an arm.

When the attacks come, our bodies, by nature, want to go into a defensive mode. We want to talk to others about what has happened to gain sympathy and emotional healing for pastors.

However, when we do this, we are taking God’s battle and placing it squarely on our shoulders. We cannot handle this, so our emotional psyche is damaged.

The saying "an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure" applies here. Our healing starts by not letting ourselves get hurt emotionally when the battle comes because it is not us who is being attacked but God. Through prayer and fasting we let God fight the battle.

Sometimes emotional healing for pastors is needed because we feel betrayed by our own denominational leaders when they fail to stand with us during the attack. Denominational leaders are generally more concerned about the financial health of the church than they are the spiritual. They have failed to realize that if the spiritual welfare of a church is healthy, then the financial will also be healthy. They go hand in hand.

Denominations usually have well written policies to make sure the church stays spiritual. However, in reality, these policies are not worth the paper they are written on because the denominational leaders will side not with the righteous, but with money and this leaves pastors in a state of needing emotional healing.

This type of healing for pastors cannot be found in Gossip Revenge, or trying to Win Sympathy. Emotional healing does not come by resigning or suing. We are hurting. We want to strike back. Our pride especially comes in to play. When our pride is hurt we really want to reach out and hurt someone back.

This is not the way to gain healing for pastors. This will leave us out of God’s will and we will be empty and shallow. No matter what, we must follow the Biblical principles that God has laid out for us.

I still pray for those who have wronged me, at least the ones who are still alive since some have departed this earth. My hope and prayer is that they did repent. This is the goal as we search for emotional healing for pastors.

Emotional healing for pastors begins with not getting our emotions all twisted up in the battle to begin with. The battle belongs to God.