Mark 2:16-18 (New International Version)

When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but the sinners.”

Do you need help with emotional pain?

Do you have a lot of emotional pain and do not know what to do with it. Do you ever feel you do not fit in? Do you ever feel or think that you are really having a difficult time connecting to people emotionally? Do you find at times you are just angry but do not know why? Do you stay busy to stay busy? Or are you staying busy to avoid relationships or to avoid facing emotional hurts.

I believe God gave us emotions and expressing them is very important. God wants to help us learn how to express them.

So why do we have the emotional pain and what can we do about it?

In Mark 2:16-18, when reading the whole account, the religious leaders are basically giving Our Lord Jesus a hard time because of the kind of people he is hanging around. Now the people who were giving him a hard time were the religious leaders. If anybody should know what is wrong with people it should be them, right? Our Lord’s answer is interesting. It is sick people that need help and he has come to call sinners. The answer to why we have emotional pain is that we are sick. We are not well. Biblically, when the fall of mankind took place in the Garden of Eden the ripple effects were great! From Adam and Eve up to the day of Jesus and then to our time we can see the effects of sin on mankind. When we treat others wrongly and do not care, others will treat us the same way. It is a real vicious cycle. One that needs to stop; but how do you stop it.

I grew up with a co-dependent relative and relatives for over 20 years. The home environment was anything but normal. I am not sure I know what normal is but I believe the home life should be peaceful and strive to maintain that in my current home. When you grow up in a house hold where people are sick it affects the way you understand relationships and how to deal with your own emotions. I am also not blaming anyone; I am just stating the facts. After being a Christian for about four years I finally met someone who introduced me to the term co-dependent and explained it to me. It was an eye opening moment. I had no idea other people like me existed. What a wonderful answer to prayer, by the way, it was an Army Chaplain that gave me the resource. I believe Jesus led me to him. I also think support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and Adult Children of Alcoholics are great resources for effecting change. The important point is that Jesus can help you deal with your emotional issues and lead you to the right resources to help you understand why you act like you do and help you change.

So how can Jesus help you deal with emotional pain?

First, you have to realize there is a problem. I am a sinner. I have been wronged but yes I have also wronged others. In other words I have been sinned against but have also sinned against others knowingly or un-knowingly.

Second, you have to realize the answer is not within yourself or your own abilities to fix. I cannot effect change within myself.

Third, just ask Jesus for his resources and go where he leads you for help.

Romans 5: 6-11 speaks to this: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Do you need help with emotional pain? We are all powerless to do anything about it! Jesus is all powerful and can and will do something about it if you ask Him.