Healing 101, Part #3

Scripture gives us patterns, and good psychology often confirms them.

• Name → Reframe → Practice. Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) gives simple tools: notice automatic thoughts, test them, replace them with truer ones, then practice new behaviors. Meta-analyses show CBT is effective for many anxiety and depressive disorders. This isn’t “mind over matter;” it’s training your mind to tell the truth and act on it. Pair prayer with practice.

• Confession and forgiveness. James says, “Confess your sins to one another and pray… that you may be healed” (Jas. 5:16). Confession integrates us—no more hiding. Forgiveness unclenches our hands so we can heal. Desmond Tutu taught that reconciliation is costly because it tells the truth and then forgives; South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission modeled national healing through hard truth and grace.

• Community restores dignity. In Mark 5, Jesus doesn’t whisper a miracle and walk away. He sees her. He speaks “Daughter.” In Ubuntu language, “I am because we are.” We heal as persons-in-community; isolation keeps us sick.

• God suffers with us. Japanese theologian Kazoh Kitamori wrote about “the pain of God”—a God whose love bears pain with and for us in Christ. A suffering-with-us God is not indifferent; God’s solidarity becomes our healing hope.

• Liberation and healing belong together. Latin American theologian Gustavo Gutiérrez speaks of salvation as integral liberation—God’s work in history to set people free into fuller life with God and neighbor. Healing includes freedom from systems and stories that crush us.

• Whole-person practices matter. Scripture affirms oil, prayer, and elders (Jas. 5:14–15). We can add meds, therapy, sleep, nutrition, movement, boundaries, gratitude, and breath prayers. These are not “less spiritual”—they are part of loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

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