In Sonja Corbitt’s latest book, “Love Heals”, she begins where God does – with the first and greatest commandment. This is, as she says, something we have known all our lives, but what this book does is define exactly why God considers it to be so important for us.  “God commands that we love him,” she states, “not for his benefit but for ours.  The first and greatest commandment is a template for whole-person healing.”

 

Corbitt knows a great deal about her subject; throughout the book’s six chapters, she not only shares with the reader how to go about this healing process, but she also opens a window into her own experiences of deep woundedness.  With the guidance of the Holy Spirit and God’s “Pop Quizzes”, she maintains, we are able to get to the heart of what is keeping us from experiencing the joy that God desires for us.  Throughout this book, one of the most important things Corbitt emphasizes is that “there is nothing wrong with you.  You do not need to be fixed.  You just need to be healed.”

“Pop Quiz” is a term she has coined for the Holy Spirit trying to draw our attention to something in our lives that needs healing.  Consequently, they are occasions of suffering, because it is often only suffering that makes us sit up and take notice.  As she says, these are not meant as punishment so much as they are practice.  By experiencing them, we learn how to allow God’s love permeate and heal us, through our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength.

 

To work through “Pop Quizzes” in such a way that they produce spiritual fruit, Corbitt proposes a four-step process that she abbreviates with the letters S. T. O. P., which she adapted from Psalm 4:4-5.  In the “S” step, or “sin not”, it is alright to feel emotion in response to these hurtful, anxious situations; what you don’t want to do is get so caught up with the emotion – anger, for instance – that you react in a way that is destructive or sinful.  The “T” step is to “tell God everything in your heart, soul, mind and strength and then, once you’ve had a chance to work through that, you are ready to do the “O” step, which is “offer the right sacrifice.”  In short, you ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern what is the right thing to do in response to the first two steps.  Then finally comes the “P” step, or “put your trust in God.”  Whatever conclusion you have come to and whatever action you have decided to take, “leave the outcome and consequences to Him.”

This book contains a lot, and at times, the writing can seem somewhat dense, so don’t be surprised if you have to go back and reread something a few times to really get what Corbitt is saying.  Because there’s a great deal to unpack here, once through will likely not be enough.

 

If there is a drawback to this book, it would be this:  Corbitt notes that many of our “Pop Quizzes” come from incidents and woundedness that can reach back to our childhood.  Trauma in the present often has its links to trauma in the past and, depending on the severity of the situation, some readers may find themselves walking on emotionally shaky ground.  Corbitt admits as much when she notes that “depending on the nature and circumstances of the wounds, we may also want or need professional help.”  This is very good and sound advice – my issue is that it doesn’t appear until page 100.  With a book that deals with this type of healing, I would have liked to see that disclaimer appear much sooner.

 

For readers who would like to take a deep dive into Biblical healing, this book, along with her many others, could be just what they are looking for.