Already His: Healing Christian CPTSD through Ephesians, Emotional Health, and the Armor of Identity
Introduction: Saved and Still Shattered
It’s a strange thing to be a Christian and still feel broken. To know in your mind that you are saved, chosen, sealed—and yet feel inside like a fraud, a failure, or a frightened child. For many believers who suffer from Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)—especially those raised in chaos, neglect, spiritual abuse, or emotionally unsafe homes—the gospel message is hard to believe not because it’s intellectually confusing, but because it’s emotionally incompatible with how we were wired to survive.
We hear “You are chosen” but feel rejected.
We read “You are a new creation” but still feel haunted.
We are told “God is a good Father” but tremble at the word “Father.”
This is the invisible collision between faith and trauma. Between salvation and suffering. Between theology and the nervous system. And this is where the Book of Ephesians, combined with trauma wisdom from The Body Keeps the Score (van der Kolk, 2014), Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving (Walker, 2013), Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Scazzero, 2006), and The Armor of God (Shirer, 2015), can shine a gospel light into the fractured soul.
This is the story of Christian CPTSD: the long, patient process of learning to live as someone who is already healed, even while your body, emotions, and relationships are still catching up.
Introduction: Saved and Still Shattered
It’s a strange thing to be a Christian and still feel broken. To know in your mind that you are saved, chosen, sealed—and yet feel inside like a fraud, a failure, or a frightened child. For many believers who suffer from Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)—especially those raised in chaos, neglect, spiritual abuse, or emotionally unsafe homes—the gospel message is hard to believe not because it’s intellectually confusing, but because it’s emotionally incompatible with how we were wired to survive.
We hear “You are chosen” but feel rejected.
We read “You are a new creation” but still feel haunted.
We are told “God is a good Father” but tremble at the word “Father.”
This is the invisible collision between faith and trauma. Between salvation and suffering. Between theology and the nervous system. And this is where the Book of Ephesians, combined with trauma wisdom from The Body Keeps the Score (van der Kolk, 2014), Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving (Walker, 2013), Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Scazzero, 2006), and The Armor of God (Shirer, 2015), can shine a gospel light into the fractured soul.
This is the story of Christian CPTSD: the long, patient process of learning to live as someone who is already healed, even while your body, emotions, and relationships are still catching up.
Introduction: Saved and Still Shattered
It’s a strange thing to be a Christian and still feel broken. To know in your mind that you are saved, chosen, sealed—and yet feel inside like a fraud, a failure, or a frightened child. For many believers who suffer from Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD)—especially those raised in chaos, neglect, spiritual abuse, or emotionally unsafe homes—the gospel message is hard to believe not because it’s intellectually confusing, but because it’s emotionally incompatible with how we were wired to survive.
We hear “You are chosen” but feel rejected.
We read “You are a new creation” but still feel haunted.
We are told “God is a good Father” but tremble at the word “Father.”
This is the invisible collision between faith and trauma. Between salvation and suffering. Between theology and the nervous system. And this is where the Book of Ephesians, combined with trauma wisdom from The Body Keeps the Score (van der Kolk, 2014), Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving (Walker, 2013), Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Scazzero, 2006), and The Armor of God (Shirer, 2015), can shine a gospel light into the fractured soul.
This is the story of Christian CPTSD: the long, patient process of learning to live as someone who is already healed, even while your body, emotions, and relationships are still catching up.