Have you ever used the phrase, 'Part of my wants to this, but part of me wants that?' Or, 'Part of me feels this way, but part of me feels that way?' We tend to speak in this type of 'parts language' in our daily lives. 'Parts language' is typically a more accurate representation of our feelings, moods and struggles than suggesting we are 100% this way or that. Often we have a strong inclination towards a certain goal but we can struggle with attaining it because part of us sabotages our progress. This is commonly what happens with diets and New Years Resolutions. We do not need to continue to live victim to our own inward parts warring for dominance of our thoughts and actions. This warring is what the Apostle Paul refers to in Romans 7:15-25 when he expresses the struggle of sin that wars against one's mind which delights in God's Word and ways. Paul said he "delights in the law of God according to the inward man"(Romans 7:23). Psalm 51:6 states that God "desires truth in our inward parts" and that "in the hidden part, He will make us to know wisdom." God's solution for our struggles is to get His Truth into our inward parts so that the internal thoughts, wishes, and desires, that conflict with each other can be reconciled to His Truth. To reconcile means to restore to friendship or harmony, to make consistent or congruent. God's Truth can bring peace to our inward parts by filling them with His Word and ways, creating harmony between the parts of us that would sabotage our own best efforts towards good and Godly living. God is a God of wholeness. He explains the first great commandment in Mark 12:30 as "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength." Loving Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength suggest loving Him wholly instead of partly. He has solutions to combat our struggles that keep us from wholeheartedly loving Him. Therapy offers opportunities to identify the various parts that war within us, blocking us from being who we are called to be and living the life we long to live. Through identifying these various parts and infusing them with God's Truth and healing, we can experience the true peace that results when He reconciles these parts and integrates them into a consistent and wholehearted whole.
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