RESTORED — MESSAGE 1

LOVED FIRST

The Healing of the Emotional Soul

OPENING

Today we begin a journey.

Not a behavioral journey.
Not a self-improvement journey.
But a restoration journey.

The restoration of the soul.

Scripture tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:23:

“May your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless…”

We are spirit, soul, and body.

The spirit is born again.
The body is disciplined.
But the soul — the soul must be restored.

David said in Psalm 23:3:

“He restores my soul.”

Today we begin with the first and most tender part of the soul:

The emotional life.

FOUNDATIONAL TEXT

Let us anchor ourselves in the Word.

Romans 5:5 (NKJV):

“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

The love of God has been poured out in our hearts.

Not first into our logic.
Not first into our discipline.
Into our hearts.

God begins restoration with love.

I. THE SOUL FEELS FIRST

The soul consists of:

The mind (how we think)

The will (how we choose)

The emotions (how we feel)

And the emotional life is often the loudest.

Psalm 42:5 says:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul?”

The soul can feel cast down.

The soul can feel anxious.

The soul can feel rejected.

And here is the reality:

Most people are not struggling with theology.
They are struggling with wounds.

Wounds of:

Rejection

Abandonment

Shame

Fear

Unmet expectations

Broken trust

(Emotional wounds corrupt the soul and the soul’s responses)

When the emotional soul is wounded,
it governs how we think and how we choose.

If the emotional life is unstable,
the will becomes defensive,
and the mind becomes distorted.

That is why God begins here.

II. THE FATHER KNOWS OUR FRAME

Psalm 103:13–14:

“As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”

He knows our frame.

He remembers we are dust.

He is not shocked by your emotional fragility.

He is not irritated by your sensitivity.

He is not surprised by your insecurity.

He is Father.

Jesus taught us to pray:

“Our Father in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9)

This is not distant deity language.

This is relational covenant language.

And a healthy father does not shame a child for feeling.

He steadies the child with presence.

God understands your emotional life.

He remembers you are made from dust. Dust is loose and unstable — it cannot retain water, and whatever is poured upon it quickly seeps away. But clay, when shaped and moistened, holds water and becomes moldable in the hands of the potter. When we receive the Holy Spirit, the dust of the old, dry nature is transformed into living clay — able to retain the water of the Word and the Spirit, and usable by the Father to form us into a vessel fit for His purpose.

III. PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR

1 John 4:18:

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear…”

Fear is the root of most emotional instability.

Fear of being left.
Fear of not being enough.
Fear of being exposed.
Fear of losing control.

Fear drives:

Overreaction

Withdrawal

Control behavior

People pleasing

Defensive anger

But perfect love casts out fear.

God does not cast out fear with argument.

He casts it out with love.

Romans 8:15:

“You received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’”

The orphan spirit reacts.
The son rests.

The orphan asks:
“Am I safe?”

The son knows:
“I am loved.”

IV. ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE

Ephesians 3:17–19:

“…that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love… to know the love of Christ… that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

Rooted.

Grounded.

This is stability language.

If love is not the root,
the soul will constantly search for validation.

And if validation is found in people,
your emotional life will rise and fall
based on their approval.

But when love becomes the root,
emotion stabilizes.

You no longer need to chase affirmation.

You receive identity.

V. HOW EMOTIONAL WOUNDS FORM

Let’s speak plainly.

Emotional wounds form when:

Love is withheld.

Trust is broken.

Expectations are crushed.

Words are weaponized.

And when that happens,
the soul forms a belief.

“I’m not enough.”
“I can’t trust.”
“I will always be rejected.”
“I have to perform to be loved.”

And once that belief forms,
emotion begins to interpret everything through it.

A delayed text becomes rejection.
Correction becomes condemnation.
Silence becomes abandonment.

The wound shapes the reaction.

But the Father wants to restore the root.

VI. JESUS AND THE HEALING OF EMOTION

Jesus entered emotional pain.

Isaiah 53:3:

“A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

John 11:35:

“Jesus wept.”

He felt sorrow.
He felt distress.
He felt betrayal.
He felt abandonment.

But He was never governed by fear.

In Gethsemane He said:

“Not My will, but Yours.”

He felt fully.
But He surrendered perfectly.

Jesus models emotional wholeness.

Emotion expressed.
Fear rejected.
Love trusted.

Zero corruption.

VII. THE ORDER OF RESTORATION

Here is the divine order:

Love is revealed.
Emotion is stabilized.
The will responds in faith.
The mind is renewed in truth.

But it begins with love.

Romans 5:5 again:

“The love of God has been poured out in our hearts…”

Not trickled.
Not rationed.
Poured out. King James says “shed abroad in our hearts.” We stand under a waterfall of love.

God interacts with the emotional soul first.

He does not start with:
“Fix your behavior.”

He starts with:
“Receive My love.”

MINISTRY MOMENT — HEALING OF THE EMOTIONAL SOUL

I want you to become aware right now.

What emotion surfaces most easily in you?

Is it anger?
Fear?
Shame?
Insecurity?
Sadness?

Do not judge it.

Just acknowledge it.

Now ask yourself:

Where did this first take root?

And now hear Psalm 103 again:

“He knows our frame…”

He knows.

He understands.

He remembers you are dust.

Now, quietly in your heart, pray:

“Father, pour Your love into the place where fear has lived.”

(Pause. Allow silence. Listen to Holy Spirit.)

If you need to forgive someone, forgive.

If you need to release disappointment, release.

Now say softly:

“I am loved first.”

Say it again:

“I am loved first.”

Zephaniah 3:17:

“He will rejoice over you with gladness…”

The Father rejoices over you.

Not tolerates you.
Not manages you.
Rejoices.

Let that settle.

CONCLUSION

Psalm 42:1–8 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me; Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan, And from the heights of Hermon, From the Hill Mizar. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me. The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life.”

The restoration of the soul does not begin with effort.

It begins with love.

When love stabilizes emotion,
fear loses authority.

When fear loses authority,
the will can trust.

When the will trusts,
the mind can be renewed.

But it starts here.

Loved first.

The Father knows your frame.
The Spirit pours love into your heart.
The Son understands your weakness.

You are not broken beyond repair.

You are being restored.