There has been a movement in recent years toward healing of the heart, healing of the mind and emotions, healing of the body, etc. As long as it’s done with the Holy Spirit (and not some weird demonic stuff), it’s a great thing. For the first time in many people’s lives, they’re living in freedom they’ve never known and often didn’t know was possible. In this world, there is pain, and it can affect us far more than we realize (John 16:33)

After the moment of healing or the revelation of freedom, we often feel on top of the world. However, if we want to keep this healing and freedom, we need to learn how to live with this revelation and healing in our lives.

I could wax eloquent and write volumes about this topic, but today I want to tackle just one: Wholeness. Just because one part of us has been healed doesn’t mean that we are suddenly perfect. There are often layers to work through. And on top of this, there are typically other parts of our life that haven’t caught up with the healing (yet!)

If we want to live (as I say) “wild and free,” we will need to live in wholeness in every part of our lives, not just the ones that were broken and are now healed, delivered, and set free. This includes body, mind, spirit, emotions, relationships, and memories. Beyond these, there is also the responsibility to feed and care for the various parts of ourselves. I’ll give some examples:

Eating and exercising to keep ourselves healthy (this includes not overexercising or overdieting as well as choosing healthy foods and exercising regularly).

Refusing to look at media, social media, or entertainment that disturbs our emotions (often by making us angry, sad, or scared – what is “disturbing to our emotions” will differ for each person).

Choosing an inner narrative that values ourselves and love over hatred, as well as cultivating a positive outlook on life

Finding healthy outlets for all emotions, including “negative” emotions (many people do this through journaling or chatting with friends – just make sure this is a healthy relationship)

Spending time in the Bible and cultivating a relationship with Jesus (which includes but is much more than just serving in ministry roles)

These are pretty typical in self-help books. However, sometimes we overlook the less tangible needs in our lives because they’re different for each person, and how each of us responds to not getting these needs met is individual. A few examples:

A need for success. This can be met through creating art, performing or speaking publicly, or being in a job or position that has challenging goals, among other things.

A need for creative expression. Many people possess this, and while some get the itch scratched by their job, most end up having hobbies like music, art, writing, etc.

A need for mental challenge. I get bored if I don’t think deeply and stretch my brain. Some people find they can fill this need with puzzles, a work environment such as engineering or problem-solving, or reading or continuing learning.

A need to give. We were made to be generous, and it’s not uncommon to need an outlet for this generosity that goes beyond giving money. We want to give a part of ourselves – our time, our energy, our creativity, our skillset, etc.

A need to nurture. It’s fairly common for teenage girls to want a pet to nurture. But it also extends to both genders and all ages, and comes out in things like loving gardening, caring for pets, teaching Sunday school, babysitting, etc.

I could go on and on, as there are needs in everyone’s lives that go beyond the realm of my imagination. These needs are real and vital to our overall health – without filling these needs, we will always feel a little lost and unfulfilled. One of the challenges of these needs is that our society doesn’t consider them necessary. So we deprive ourselves of them in pursuit of the stuff others feel is “necessary” or even “vital” or at least “more important.”

When wholeness includes all of us, it includes these less-tangible needs. I challenge you too look at your life. What makes you feel alive? What about this is a need that’s either not being met or could be met in a better way? When you’re whole, you’re in a much better position to be able to overcome pain and live a whole, abundant life (John 10:1).