I remember when this truth became real to me. It wasn’t a website that God led me to, but a new church. When I arrived there, my heart was broken into many pieces. I didn’t, however, want anyone to know this. After all, I was suppose to the good Christian, and I was afraid that if people could see who I really was or know some of the things that went on in my head, they would reject me. I had been hurt deeply as a child by someone very close to me, and that hurt not only affected my life in just about every area; but it led to poor choices and other hurts. I became a striver, a people pleaser, a perfectionist, and a very depressed person. To cover who I was on the inside, I wore a mask on the outside. When I walked through the doors of that church I pretended to be the good Christian I knew I was suppose to be and was sure God wanted me to be. My mask was firmly in place, and for a few months no one suspected all of the hurt inside of me that I was so desperately trying to cover up.

What I soon found out, however, was that this wasn’t a church in which I could wear a mask. Relationships were deep and transparency was valued. Soon it became impossible for me to pretend to be someone I wasn’t, and my mask came off. It was at that moment the healing began. It didn’t happen overnight. It was a process, but step by step God began to pick up the broken pieces of my heart and make me whole again.

He can do the same for you. He loves you, and He wants to heal your broken heart. He wants you to know that being a Christian is not too hard and that no hurt is too big for Him to heal or no sin too big for him to forgive. He desires to have a deep, personal, intimate friendship with you, and He will do His part to make it happen. What many Christians don’t realize is that we have to do our part as well. In James 1:22 we are told that we are not just to be hearers of God’s word, but we need to do what it says. And in Philippians 4:9 we are told to put these truths into practice. If you want to be healed, if you want to be whole again, if you want to live out the abundant Christian life that you never thought was possible, then you have to do your part. You have to take action!

As God led me through the process of healing in my own life, He taught me the importance of living an active Christianity. I used to pray and pray that God would change me and heal me, and then get furious and frustrated that nothing ever changed. I began to question God’s love for me, because I didn’t understand how He could love me and not change me. Then, one day, God showed me I had it all backwards. I began to realize that if I wanted my heart to be whole, I was going to have to do something about it. This is when God began to reveal to me the principles for living an active Christianity. These principles changed my life, and I know that they can change your life as well. On this website I have provided you with a brief description of each one.

Joyce Ray
Founder of Whole Hearts Ministry