Healing of Inner Wounds: Restore Your Soul

Introduction

You have been coming to church for years. You pray, you serve, you give. And yet something still feels stuck inside. A grudge you keep justifying. A thought that torments you the moment you close your eyes. A reaction that betrays you in the same place every time. Pastor Malu BIALUTA opens a new series at ICC Montreal's "7 to 9" on a subject that touches nearly every child of God: the healing of inner wounds.

The message is clear: as long as your soul is not restored, you remain a spiritual baby. You cannot inherit. Whoever controls your soul controls your life. This is not just another teaching, but deep work God wants to do in you to give you the shape He needs in order to send you out.

This sermon lays the foundation. It establishes the preliminary truths, the two laws of healing, and the image of the balloon that God breathes into you. Prepare your heart: this is not a theory class, it is the starting point of a season of restoration.

Outline of the Message

1. Why God created you: to dominate

The pastor returns to Genesis 1:26-28. God creates man in His image, in His likeness, with a clear mandate: to dominate. "If you are not dominating, you are not doing what you were created for. It's a bit like building a car that never drives."

Dominating is not first about conquering. It is about occupying a domain where you become a reference point. There are domains where the Church must dominate: the restoration of the soul, the restoration of marriages, the healing of psychosomatic and "spirituo-somatic" illnesses. "People will think of us before they think of psychologists, because in addition to knowledge, we carry the anointing."

But to dominate, you must first grow spiritually. And to grow spiritually, the soul must be restored.

2. Three preliminary truths about your soul

Truth #1: as long as your soul is not restored, you remain a spiritual baby. The number of years spent at church changes nothing. It is the fruit you display that determines where you actually stand. "You can have been in church for 30 years; if you are someone who loves quarrels, jealousy, anger, disputes, impurity, you are still a baby."

Truth #2: as long as your soul is not restored, you are not mature, and you cannot access your inheritance. Growth and maturity are not the same thing. The fig tree in the parable had experienced growth but not maturity, because it bore no fruit. Galatians 4:1 puts it this way: as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave.

Truth #3: whoever controls your soul controls your life. Romans 6:16 says you are a slave to whoever you obey. The works of the flesh are conceived by the seed of the lie in you. When they show up, it is a way of saying that someone else has a hand on your soul.

3. The two laws of healing

First law: the law of responsibility. When God comes looking for Adam after the fall, He asks, "Adam, where are you?" He knew perfectly well. He was after Adam's responsibility. And Adam failed the test: he blamed Eve. That is what we do every day with our wounds. It's always dad, mom, an aunt, an ex.

Pastor BIALUTA puts it this way: "I am not responsible for what was done to me, but I am responsible for the state of my heart." Without this shift, the work of healing cannot begin.

Second law: the law of accepting the truth. Hearing the truth is not enough. Understanding it is not enough either. What transforms you is the truth you accept, even when everything you see says the opposite. When God says, "Let the weak say, I am strong" (Joel 3:10), He is asking you to live according to what He declares, not according to what you feel.

4. The lie, matrix of the flesh

Sin entered through a lie. But be careful: "The lie is not first of all what you do. It is first of all your way of functioning, your reflexes, your strategies, your method of self-protection."

The devil does not present evil head on. In the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there was good, but a good that God had forbidden. When he tempts Jesus, everything he says is biblical. And yet it is a lie. It is the deceptive truths that lead you astray the most. That is why you must first decide to follow Christ, and consult the person you have chosen to follow.

5. The image of the balloon

Pastor BIALUTA offers a striking image. God breathes His life into the balloon that you are. That breath gives the balloon the shape it needs to fulfill its mission. A book, a sermon, a song: these are the shapes a thought that God has communicated can take.

But untreated wounds and sins are like pins that puncture the balloon. It deflates. You lose your shape. You can no longer do what He called you to do. Worse still, you take on other shapes. Whoever loves fighting takes the shape of an animal. Whoever slanders takes the shape of the serpent that shoots out venom.

Jesus, on the other hand, "grew in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). Working on your soul means acquiring a stature in the spiritual realm that God sees, and to which He can entrust things.

6. The battle is fought in your thoughts

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 sets the scene: our weapons are not carnal, they are mighty through God for tearing down strongholds, reasonings, and lofty opinions. The reasonings are the good excuses that push you to disobey. The lofty opinions are the feelings that make you feel justified against the Word. The one battle of a child of God is to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

When you close your eyes and your thoughts start rebelling, know that a strange seed is being watered. That is what needs to be exposed. That is what needs to be confessed (Proverbs 28:13: "Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.")

7. Restoration comes through communion

Anthropologically speaking, you are a spirit who lives in a body possessing a soul. The soul has three dimensions: the intellect, the emotions, the will. The intersection between soul and spirit is called the conscience, and that is where everything is at stake.

"You can be born again in spirit but have a weak awareness of your identity, and that will choke everything else." The conscience is nourished by the Word (Psalm 119:105) but is strengthened through communion with the Spirit, koinonia. In the word "communion," there is "common" and "union": by becoming one with Him, you receive His capacities.

Restoration is not a moment. It is a whole Christian life. It is not something you will settle on your own: discipleship is "an ongoing, active process of transformation of one person by another, allowing the disciple to reach a stage of maturity they could not reach on their own."

Key Takeaways

• As long as your soul is not restored, you remain a spiritual baby, unable to access your inheritance.
• Whoever controls your soul controls your life: the works of the flesh reveal who has a hand on you.
• Healing begins with two laws: responsibility ("I am responsible for the state of my heart") and acceptance of God's truth, even when what you see says the opposite.
• The lie is first of all your way of functioning. The devil presents good right next to evil.
• God breathes His life into you to give you the shape of your mission; untreated wounds are the pins that deflate your balloon.
• Restoration comes through the Word and koinonia; it requires discipleship, not a one time event.

Personal Application

1. In which areas of your life are you still blaming someone else: a parent, an ex, a leader, society? What would happen if you took responsibility today for the state of your heart?
2. Which works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) keep showing up in you and remind you that you are still a baby on this point?
3. When you close your eyes for a few minutes, what is the quality of the thoughts that rise up? What do you want to expose before God tonight, before it produces fruit?
4. Who do you struggle to forgive because you feel justified in your grudge? Are you willing to prefer obedience to the Word over being right?
5. Are you engaged in real discipleship, with someone walking alongside you, or are you making the journey alone? Who will you call this week?

Verses Cited

• Genesis 1:26-28 - image, likeness, the mandate to dominate
• Luke 2:52 - Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor
• Galatians 5:17-22 - works of the flesh and fruit of the Spirit
• Galatians 4:1 - the child heir is no different from a slave
• Romans 6:16 - slave to whoever you obey
• 1 Corinthians 15:45 - living soul and life giving spirit
• 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 - tearing down reasonings, lofty opinions, taking every thought captive
• Psalm 119:105 - the Word, a lamp to my feet
• Proverbs 28:13 - whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper
• Joel 3:10 - let the weak say, I am strong

FAQ

Isn't inner healing just psychology in disguise?

No. Pastor BIALUTA points out that there are psychosomatic illnesses (which psychology knows how to treat) but also "spirituo-somatic" illnesses whose root is spiritual. Some healings only come through true deliverance. The Church, rich in both knowledge and anointing, is called to be the reference point for the restoration of the soul.

I was badly hurt by someone. Do I really have to be "responsible" for what happened to me?

No, you are not responsible for what was done to you. But you are responsible for the state of your heart today. This is the shift that makes healing possible. As long as you keep attributing to someone else the responsibility for what you carry inside, the work of restoration stays stuck.

How long does the restoration of the soul take?

It is not a moment but a whole Christian life. It rests on the Word (to nourish the conscience), communion with the Spirit (to receive the capacity), and real discipleship, being accompanied by someone who helps you reach a stature you cannot reach on your own.