The False Gospel of Perpetual Suffering

I was three years old, standing at our storm glass door, watching my father leave. It's a memory that surfaced every few years throughout my life—always without much emotion attached, just this persistent image that seemed insignificant compared to the actual divorce that happened when I was nine.

For decades, I wondered why that particular moment kept resurfacing. Then, in my first inner healing session, Holy Spirit revealed the lie that little Susan had believed: If she had been a good little girl, he wouldn't have left.

That lie became a computer program running in the background of my subconscious for forty years: If you're not good enough, bad things will happen. If you're not perfect, people will leave.

But here's what religion had taught me about that wound: it was God's will. That trauma was somehow part of His plan to teach me lessons. That healing and wholeness were selfish pursuits—that true faith meant accepting brokenness as evidence of humility.

This is one of the most destructive lies the enemy has planted in the Church.

The Heresy of Divine Abuse

Many Christians wrestle with this twisted theology: if they went through something evil, then either God permitted it because they deserved it, or He allowed it to teach them a lesson. Both perspectives are absolutely herrendous heresies.

As I often tell people: if you wouldn't permit suffering to happen to your own child to teach them a lesson, then God—who loves infinitely more than we do—certainly wouldn't either. Jesus said, "If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more your Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:11, NKJV).

God would never sin against us, and we would put people in jail if they did to their children what some claim God does to His children. Our theology gets twisted when we try to make God sovereign over evil rather than understanding that He's sovereign over evil's defeat.

The Truth About Inner Healing

Here's what inner healing really is: it's partnering with Holy Spirit to find the lies we've believed and replace them with His truth. It's not about taking inventory of everything wrong with us—that would be overwhelming. Instead, we simply ask: "Lord, what do You want to do today?"

In my case, Holy Spirit showed me that little girl who believed she wasn't good enough. He revealed where Jesus was in that memory—He was there the whole time, grieving with me, never leaving me nor forsaking me. The lie that created decades of performance anxiety was exposed, and truth was planted in its place.

This wasn't just knowledge—it was Holy Spirit actually re-knitting something inside me. He introduced a "truth virus" into that program that had been running for forty years. Suddenly, I had capacity I'd never had before to recognize when that old lie was driving me and choose different thoughts instead.

This is the renewing of the mind in real time.

Why Wholeness Isn't Selfish

The enemy comes to us—particularly as children, but at any stage of life—and twists something so we believe lies about ourselves and about God. These lies become so normal that we don't even recognize them as untruths. The problem with deception is you don't know you're deceived.

Satan is called Beelzebub—"Lord of the Flies." A fly can take down the largest beast on earth if it has an open wound. It lays poison in that small spot, and the whole animal becomes disabled or dies.

That's what unhealed wounds do to us. They create openings where the enemy can inject lies that infect our entire lives.

Getting whole isn't about self-improvement or selfishness—it's about stewardship. God created you as His beloved child, and He wants you free from every lie, every wound, every broken place that hinders you from reflecting His nature.

When we pursue healing, we're not being self-focused—we're being God-focused. We're saying, "Lord, I want to be so whole that what I unleash on the earth is a pure reflection of You."

Breaking Free from Religious Bondage

Religion will tell you to manage your brokenness, to find ways to cope with your wounds, to accept dysfunction as God's will. But Jesus came to "heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed" (Luke 4:18, NKJV).

He didn't come to manage your prison—He came to unlock it.

The lies we believe can open doors to the enemy's influence. Whether that's subtle spirits of depression, addiction, rejection, or offense—or more obvious manifestations—all of it needs to be addressed. We've made these things normal in Christian life, but they're not God's design for His children.

Only when Holy Spirit brings revelation, healing, and solution do we find true freedom. And here's the beautiful part: He doesn't force us to change. He doesn't demand we "earn" the healing by perfect behavior afterward. He simply reveals truth and invites us into the abundant life He's always intended.

The Kingdom Within

Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21, NKJV). The Greek word "within" (entos) is only used one other time in the New Testament—to describe the difference between the inside and outside of a cup.

God's Kingdom is literally inside you. It was established 2,000 years ago when Jesus walked the earth. It's been working its way out ever since. The Kingdom is at hand, available right now, and it's your responsibility to unleash it from the inside out.

This is why inner healing matters so much. When we become whole, what we release into the world is Him—not our brokenness, not our wounds, not religious performance, but the pure love and power of God Himself.

You don't have to stay broken. You were never meant to carry those wounds forever. The healing Jesus purchased on the cross includes every trauma, every lie, every broken place in your heart.

It's time to partner with Holy Spirit and discover the truth that will set you free.

Blessings,
Susan 😊