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"It's impossible to be spiritually mature, while remaining emotionally immature." This is the quote from the front of Peter Scazzero's book, "Emotionally Healthy Spirituality."

Peter is the pastor of New Life Fellowship Church in Queens, New York. He has discovered in his own life and in the lives of his congregants that Christians can be saved and yet not live very healthy spiritual lives. He says that many Christians invite Jesus into their lives, learn about discipleship and begin serving without ever addressing their own personal inward transformation.

He says that often we ignore our own feelings, such as anger, sadness and fear; we avoid conflict; we run from God; we die to the wrong things and we live without boundaries. He says the one big mistake that we make is denying the impact that the past has on the present. Our family of origins has a huge influence on our emotional health. If we do not address these root causes of emotional pain, we inhibit our ability to love others and live a healthy spiritual life. We need to break free of the destructive patterns that we have unconsciously learned from our families. Also, he points out the enormous influence of the world around us that contributes to our choices and not living the spiritual life that God has designed us to live. For exanple:

- Security is found in money, power, status and pleasure.

- Happiness is found in having things.

- God is irrelevant to everyday life.

- There are no moral absolutes; whatever is true for you is what

is true.

- Christianity is just one of many alternative spiritualities.

- I am what I do.

- I am what I have.

- I am what others think.

He says that all Christians need to "Journey Inward", address the emotional pains, discover the lies and false messages that we have been living with and become transformed by Jesus' truth and love. This Inward Journey of "sanctification" is the only way to truly know our True Selves In Christ. Then, we can "Journey Outward" having been transformed by God's profound, deep and accepting love. Peter Scazzero brings emotional health and spiritual health together as he says, "Self-awareness and knowing what is going on inside of us is indispensable to emotional health and loving others well."

I agree with what Peter has written in his book. Agape Healing International's whole ministry has been focused on personal transformation of the mind and emotions as the springboard to "serving and loving others well." The inner healing of the soul frees us to know our True Self In Christ, to know God's "will" more clearly and to be able to love others unconditionally, without judgment and without our pride taking over. If you get a chance, go to article 36 on lovehealstv.com and look at the model showing how Jesus is at the center of the transformation process. Jesus came to set the captives free. Let us all journey inwards with Jesus' help to know the truth that will set us free from past painful memories, current thinking that we struggle with and future imaginations of fear, anxiety and worry.

Daniel J Vassell Sr. in his book, "The Love Factor In Marriage" states on page 14: "It is the love we give that heals our partner, and the love that we receive from our partner that heals us." This concept that love heals is important and I believe true. As a Christian counselor, I have observed over the years how love really does heal the human soul. The most significant love is the divine love that God has for us. When we receive God's love and gracious truth, our lives are transformed. The key to the healing process is actually receiving the love.

The next most significant source of love comes from those people who are immediately around us: mother, father, siblings and marriage partners. Their acceptance, forgiveness, respect, care and encouragement contribute to our healthy self-image and our growth, self-confidence and self-esteem.

Then, comes the love of others with whom we relate: friends, teachers, associates and acquaintances. Their love adds to and strengthens our souls. Wherever the love comes from, it is like gold. It never tarnishes or deteriorates.

The other side of the equation is the love that you give to others. Just as receiving love helps to heal our souls, our gift of love for others helps to heal their souls. No matter who it is, our unconditional, selfless, sacrificial love will bless them and contribute to their mental and emotional health. As we accept, forgive, upbuild and speak life into others, the spiritual quality of love produces a positive transformation. We are truly fortunate that God, who is love, helps this circle of love to go around, so that we can all experience healing!

The human condition involves two equally important journeys.

1) the psycho-therapeutic

2) the spiritual

The psycho-therapeutic journey is about knowing your true self, strengthening your ego and gaining self-confidence & independence.

The spiritual journey is about knowing God, realizing that life is much bigger than "self" and choosing to humbly "serve others in love."

It is interesting to see that both journeys are intertwined. We live in a fallen world. Life is tough and as a result our souls become wounded. Healing the wounded soul is central to the psycho-therapeutic journey. Thankfully, the spiritual journey can help in this transformation.

Knowing God's truths can banish the lies and false images of self. Receiving God's forgiveness frees the soul from guilt, blame and shame. Personally knowing God's love solidifies one's sense of significance and self-worth.

The transformation of the soul is important because "You cannot give away what you do not have." If you don't feel loved, it is difficult to love others. The psycho-therapeutic and spiritual journeys help you to not only love yourself, but help you to transcend your "self" and join God in unconditionally loving others.

The Bible never says that God is justice, or power, or wisdom, or anger. All these are characteristics of God that must not be confused with his nature. God loves justice, he reveals his power, he governs the world with wisdom and he demonstartes his anger. But, he is love. God's nature is love. From his love flows his justice, his power, his wisdom, and even his anger.

When God expresses his love towards us, he doesn't just give us something, he gives Himself. God is Spirit and the Bible says that love is a fruit of the Spirit. So, when God says, "Love one another" he is only asking us to do what he has done for us when he gave his Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice for us. God loved us first. Love is his nature. Our challenge now is to love others the way he has loved us -unconditionally, sacrificially and without judgement.

Forgiveness means, "to let go." When we do not let go, we hold on to the pain and the hurts that began the whole process in the first place. What causes us to not forgive? It is the pain. That is the trap! God says that his job is revenge and our job is forgiveness. He should know what is good for us because he designed us. God's truth is that the only way to get rid of the pain is to forgive and let go. With each time that you choose to forgive, the pain goes down. That is why the Bible refers to 7 x 70. Sometimes you need to forgive the same offense more than once before all the pain goes away. The fruit of unforgiveness and revenge is anger. The fruit of forgiveness is emotional freedom and eventually frredom from pain. Don't let Satan trick you into thinking that you need to hold onto the pain until the person who hurt you is punished. Forgive now, which is God's plan, and live in freedom. Trust God to take care of the revenge.