Let's take a closer look at the chain which binds us and makes us slaves to our old nature. This chain keeps us tied to unhealthy emotions so I call it "The Chain of Emotional Bondage." There are 3 giant links in this chain that must be broken if one is to come to emotional freedom.

The three links are:
-physical illnesses of thought control (chemical imbalances),
-the harassment of Satan (demonization)
-personality injury (woundedness).

Physical illnesses of thought control refer to the medical conditions doctors refer to as "mood and psychotic disorders." The most common disorders or "chemical imbalances" are Depression, Manic Depression and Schizophrenia. In these conditions, one loses the ability to control one's thoughts due to brain chemistry deficiencies. These conditions require medical treatment and divine healing.

Emotionally Free
Have your own Christian guide to emotional health!

• view details

Moods
What Christians should know about depression, anxiety and mood swings.

• view details

Demonization refers to the specific harassment of an individual by demonic forces. This can be experienced in a very general or in a very specific way depending on the degree of bondage a person is in.

Woundedness refers to every negative or damaging experience in a person's life that has hurt them and left a scar on their personality which restricts their emotional freedom.

In the secular world, the treatment of emotional bondage is primarily with the use of medications to improve thought control and "cognitive therapy" which helps a person adjust his way of thinking to avoid painful and disturbing thought patterns. This method certainly helps a significant number of people.

In the Christian world, we have access to God's supernatural power to break us free of emotional bondage as well as the methods available to the general public. One would then think that our success rate in emotional recovery should be much higher than in the secular world. Sadly, it has been my observation that it is not the case. Why is that so?

Next month we will look at how the Church has misunderstood the treatment of emotional bondage.

This article is excerpted from "Emotionally Free" by Dr. Grant Mullen

For more information visit Answers to common mental health questions.

Copyright Dr. Grant Mullen. No part of this website can be reproduced without the written permission of the author and publisher.