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God says of us before we are even born, yet Jesus says that many who believe will come to Him:

There is a quiet tragedy that unfolds in wounded hearts." - Matthew 7:23

Shame sits at the very beginning of the human story after the Fall. It precedes hiding. It precedes pride. Pride often presents as strength, yet it is usually rooted in insecurity and fear. It is a shield fashioned to protect what feels fragile within.

Control functions in a similar way. For many, it becomes a false refuge. When life once felt chaotic or unsafe, control offers the illusion of stability. Obsessive or compulsive behaviours, anger, and rigidity often serve as self‑medication. They provide a momentary sense of comfort when the heart feels out of control.

Much of this is shaped early in life. In the first years, children learn emotional regulation through presence, attunement, and safety. When those needs are unmet, the child learns to self‑regulate without the tools required. That learning follows us into adulthood. In moments of stress, the body remembers what the heart learned long ago.

In our pain and our shame, we begin to judge ourselves as unworthy. We decide, often without words, that who we truly are is unacceptable, unsafe, or too costly to reveal. From that place, we slowly become who we believe others need us to be. We shape-shift for survival. We edit our joy. We bury the truest parts of ourselves and call it wisdom.

Over time, we end up living somebody else’s life.

None of this is condemnation. It is an invitation.

That truth reminds me of a moment from The Lion King, when Mufasa says to Simba, “You’ve forgotten who you are.” Beneath the familiar story lies a deeper echo of the Gospel. We forget who God created us to be, and in doing so, we forget who God is. When identity fractures, relationship follows.

This is the easiest way I know to describe the human condition. We spend our lives trying to be everything for everyone else, while quietly burying the woman or man God originally designed. In our woundedness, we decide that this true self should not be allowed to exist. So we hide her. We silence him. We become a carefully constructed version that feels safer in the world. We live behind a mask.

Yet safety bought at the cost of truth always exacts a higher price.

The question then becomes deeply personal. Where is Jesus in the car of your life?🤔 For many, He sits in the back seat. For others, He is a polite passenger. The invitation of the Gospel is far more confronting. Jesus belongs in the driver’s seat.

At the heart of this question lies another. Who is truly on the throne of my heart?🤔

Scripture and the wisdom of inner-healing ministry remind us that God does not intend to simply fix us. Everything that does not belong to our original design must go to the Cross. That sounds severe until we realise what is being preserved. God is fiercely committed to the person He first imagined, before trauma, before fear, before self-protection rewrote the script.

In prayer ministry, we often ask God to restore us to our original design. We ask Him to restore the body, the heart, and the soul to what He intended at creation. Who we are now is often the result of a lifetime of wounding, habits, and buried grief. Redemption is not about improvement alone. It is about resurrection.

Sanctification begins at conversion, yet it does not end there. Too often, we stop at the Cross. We die there, but we forget to rise. Jesus did not only come so that we might be forgiven. He came that we might walk in resurrection life and abundance.

At salvation, God gives us a new heart. The work that follows is learning how to live from that new heart.

When we are triggered, we often default to the old heart’s responses. God knows this. Transformation is not instant. It is a journey. Each moment offers a choice. Will I respond from my old, unredeemed heart, or from my new, redeemed heart?🤔

The fruit reveals the root. The fruit of the flesh exposes places where the old heart still governs. The fruit of the Spirit becomes evident as we learn to live yielded to the Holy Spirit. These fruits cannot be grown through effort. They are cultivated through surrender.

The Good Shepherd calls His sheep not into shame, but into trust. Surrender is frightening when control once felt like survival. Yet Jesus speaks plainly.

Authentic living flows from yielding our lives back to the One who designed them. Transformation unfolds as we repeatedly choose the new heart over the old, truth over fear, surrender over self‑protection.

🌱 What was buried does not remain lost forever. In Christ, it is being gently unearthed and restored.

💡Reflection

• Where have I learned to become who others needed, rather than who God created me to be 🤔

• When I feel triggered, which heart do I tend to respond from 🤔

• What does surrender to the Good Shepherd look like for me right now 🤔

🎺Affirmation

I am being restored to God’s original design. I choose to live from my new heart, trusting Jesus to lead me into truth, freedom, and abundant life.

🙌 Prayer

Lord Jesus, I yield the throne of my heart to You. Heal what has been wounded, restore what has been buried, and teach me to live from the new heart You have given me. I choose surrender over fear and trust You with every step of this journey.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.