Deliverance

[Chrysostom]

Examine the nature of a curse, and see Christ’s deliverance. The Law spoke a curse on all who continued not in it, yet no one kept it. Christ became a curse for us, not the curse of transgression, but the curse of hanging on a tree, that He might rescue us from the other. If He has lifted that eternal curse, how much more can every lesser curse spoken against your son be ended? Do not ask as though the enemy still holds power, but pray as one who knows the penalty is paid. The deliverance we proclaim is not a bare forgiveness only; He cleansed, He sanctified, He justified. The Name of our Lord Jesus Christ broke the bonds. Stand on that, not on fear of words spoken in the dark.

Yet you ask also for his body and his soul’s wounds. Consider what true deliverance is. To lose weight safely is not a medical matter chiefly, but a breaking of inward tyranny. What was the gain Christ promised? He showed that deliverance from worldly things requires first a careful hearing, then fortitude, then contempt of all that holds the soul captive. If your son is bound by desire for comfort or enslaved by past hurts, that is a yoking to lifeless masters. The desire that masters him is no mere desire, but a grievous bondage, a darkness full of turmoil. What profit is there in carrying the weight of old sorrows? It stores up pain for no gain, layering anxiety on anxiety, and yields to the enemy ground that Christ purchased with His blood.

The true remedy is to uproot the love of what wounds him and to plant it in Heaven. Let him hear the Word continually, for continual hearing has power to destroy the desire itself. Entrust his healing to the least of the brethren if need be, for God’s strength is made perfect where human wisdom fails. He must count over the tombs of his past as one who is already delivered from Egypt, from the deceit of demons and the darkness of the devil. The old man is drowned in baptism. Let him not brood on injuries, for the wrongdoer makes the sufferer stronger when the soul is stayed on God. Bare deliverance from sin was an immense gift, but Christ filled us with countless blessings. Urge your son to seek not the scale’s number nor the fading salve of self-pity, but the impregnable treasure of a heart kept by God. The curse is broken; the chains are loosed. Let him walk out free.

 

[Silas]

The cry for deliverance from curses is a serious one. Scripture records that long ago, the people stood and heard the curses recited for breaking God’s commands, and they answered “Amen”, acknowledging the justice of judgment. No one could stand under that weight on their own merit. But the entire story bends toward mercy: Jesus entered our condition and became the curse for us, taking on Himself what we deserved. He did not merely cancel a legal debt; He bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows. Because of Him, the power of any curse rooted in disobedience is broken for those who turn to Him in faith. The voice that once pronounced judgment now speaks healing and peace over the son you love.

That healing often comes in ways we do not fully understand. Some healings are immediate, others unfold gradually, yet every step of the process is under His hand. He who fashioned the body also oversees its restoration. Praying for safe weight loss is not a small thing; it asks for the Creator’s wisdom to guide appetite, metabolism, and discipline. It is a healing work, and He delights to give good gifts to His children. At the same time, the deeper request, healing from past hurts, touches the hidden places only He can reach. Jesus healed all manner of sickness, but He also healed minds and hearts scarred by what others had done. He still does.

Those past wounds can cling like an old identity, replaying what was done and demanding that we live in the wreckage. The apostle Paul had a past full of religious achievement that he later saw as worthless compared to knowing Christ. He did not just renounce it once; decades later, he still counted it as loss. That same release applies to the injuries others have inflicted. The pain was real, but it does not have to be the permanent marker of who the son is today. You cannot change what happened, but you can, in prayer and by God’s grace, keep handing those memories over to Jesus and refuse to let them dominate the present. "Forgetting those things which are behind" is not a denial, it is a choice to press ahead into the healing Christ offers.

So we pray with you: that every curse would be silenced permanently under the finished work of the cross. That the son would experience a tangible release, physically and emotionally. That the process of losing weight would be steady, safe, and accompanied by a renewed sense of strength. That the inner wounds from the past would be met by the One who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds, not always in a single moment, but with a certain touch that lets scars become testimonies. May he know the excellency of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord, and may that knowledge eclipse everything that lies behind.