💔 Healing the Broken Heart – Part 4: How Does Someone Get a Broken Heart?
A broken heart doesn’t happen overnight. It forms through painful life events—abuse, rejection, betrayal, trauma, or words that pierced the soul. These experiences become wounds in the spirit, often buried deep and left untreated, making way for demonic strongholds and emotional torment.
“Scorn has broken my heart and has left me helpless. I looked for sympathy, but there was none, for comforters, but I found none.” – Psalm 69:20
Let’s look at the most common sources that shatter the heart—and how Jesus is the answer to every wound.
🚨 Causes of a Broken Heart
1. Abuse
Abuse can be physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual, or psychological. Each form leaves lasting scars that open the heart to deep trauma and oppression.
⚔️ Physical Abuse:
Includes beatings, slaps, or any act causing injury—especially when delivered as so-called discipline. Repeated abuse tells the victim, “You are worthless,” which becomes a stronghold unless uprooted.
⚔️ Sexual Abuse:
Whether through incest, rape, molestation, or other perverse acts, sexual abuse distorts identity and deeply wounds the soul. Victims often carry shame, self-hatred, or dissociation. Without healing, they may struggle with intimacy, boundaries, and identity.
⚔️ Emotional and Psychological Abuse:
Includes constant criticism, conditional love, rejection, smothering, and using a child as a pawn between warring parents. These actions damage emotional development and make children feel invisible or unloved.
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“The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.” – Proverbs 15:4
⚔️ Spiritual Abuse:
Spiritual abuse can happen in families or churches. It includes manipulating others using guilt, fear, or rigid legalism in the name of God. When religious leaders demand obedience without love, people become spiritually enslaved and confused about God’s character.
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” – Jeremiah 23:1
2. Unkind Words and Word Curses
Words carry spiritual power. Many children grow up under the weight of word curses like: “You’ll never amount to anything,” or “You’re a mistake.” These lies become embedded in the soul and need to be renounced.
“The tongue has the power of life and death.” – Proverbs 18:21
“A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.” – Proverbs 26:28
If these words are not broken in Jesus’ name, they become filters by which a person views themselves, others, and God—distorting identity and inviting demonic oppression.
3. Rejection and Abandonment
Being left behind, unwanted, or replaced by someone else can break a person’s heart. Parental abandonment—whether through divorce, death, or neglect—can be devastating, often leading to a fear of intimacy or need for approval.
4. Sorrow and Unforgiveness
“A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.” – Proverbs 15:13
Sorrow from loss, disappointment, or unmet expectations weighs heavily on the heart. Often, people idolize relationships, careers, or dreams. When those fail, it leads to heartache. Add unforgiveness to the mix, and bitterness poisons the soul.
“So also my heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” – Matthew 18:35
5. Betrayal
Betrayal is one of the most painful heart wounds. To trust someone and be let down—whether a friend, parent, or spiritual leader—can shake the foundation of a person’s sense of safety.
“Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.” – Psalm 41:9
“Many will be offended, betray one another, and hate one another.” – Matthew 24:10
Jesus Himself was betrayed—and He understands that pain. The worst betrayals often come from those closest to us: family, best friends, or even church leaders. These wounds require deep healing and forgiveness through Christ.
🧠 The Spiritual Consequences of a Broken Heart
A broken heart opens the door to:
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Bitterness and unforgiveness
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Fear and rejection
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Chronic diseases and emotional disorders
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Addictions and compulsions
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Self-sabotage and shame cycles
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Difficulty receiving love—from God or others
Many times, believers try to press on, ignoring the wound—but a wounded spirit can’t walk in wholeness.
“A man's spirit will endure sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?” – Proverbs 18:14
✝️ Jesus Heals the Brokenhearted
Healing begins by inviting Jesus into the wound and renouncing every lie. The same Jesus who healed the blind, raised the dead, and delivered the tormented can also heal the deep sorrows of your heart.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” – Psalm 147:3
