Don Colbert - Deadly Emotions

This book is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice and treatment from your personal physician. Readers are advised to consult their own doctors or other qualified health professionals regarding the treatment of their medical problems. Neither the publisher nor the author takes any responsibility for any possible consequences from any treatment, actions, or application of medicine, supplement, herb, or preparation to any person reading or following the information in this book. If readers are taking prescription medications, they should consult with their physicians and not take themselves off of medicines to start supplementation without the proper supervision of a physician.

In order to protect the privacy of the doctors clients, stories recorded in this book are composite illustrations from the case histories of several individuals. Stories with identifiable people have been used with permission.

Copyright 2003 by Don Colbert

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Emanate Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Emanate Books and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

All Scripture references are from the NEW KING JAMES VERSION of the Bible unless otherwise designated. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted TLB are from The Living Bible, copyright 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations noted NASB are from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version. Public domain.

Epub Edition August 2020 9780785234616

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Colbert, Don.

Deadly emotions : understand the mind-body-spirit connection that can heal or destroy you / Don Colbert.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-7852-8808-2 (tp)

ISBN 0-7852-6743-3 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-7852-3460-9 (softcover)

ISBN 978-0-7852-3461-6 (ebook)

ISBN 978-0-310-33204-6 (audiobook)

1. EmotionsHealth aspects. 2. EmotionsReligious aspects. 3. Mind and body. I. Title.

RC455.4.E46C64 2003

613dc22

2003016083

Printed in the United States of America

20 21 22 23 24 LSC 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Please note that the endnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication

To my partner in life, my wife Mary.
A very special thank you for your valuable insight and
participation in all of my work,
and for your love and continued support.
You are simply wonderful!

And to my parents,
who walked with me through my early years
sharing their wisdom and love.
Thanks for helping me to discover and
work on my own emotions.
I will be forever grateful to you both.

CONTENTS

1. PART I
   THE DIAGNOSIS:
   UNDERSTANDING DAMAGING EMOTIONS
2. PART II
   THE PRESCRIPTION:
   CLAIMING HEALTHY EMOTIONS

D r. Don Colbert is one of the most remarkable men I know. He is a skilled medical doctor, but hes more than that. He is a strong believer in and follower of Christ Jesus. He knows medicine, but he also knows the Lordand very importantly, he understands people. He understands that God created us as whole human beingsbody, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Dr. Colberts basic message is one we all need to hear, and especially hear in the Christian community: What we feel emotionally often becomes HOW we feel physically.

I have talked with and counseled hundreds of people through the years, and I am keenly aware of the devastating consequences of dis-ease in the human heart. Dis-ease is emotional and spiritual discomfort. It is disharmony of the soul. It is often related to plaguing doubts, painful memories, hurtful stress, unforgiveness towards others, and unforgiven sins. Literally millions of people in our world today are suffering from dis-ease.

What I have also come to see is that dis-ease seems to produce disease in the body. When the mind, heart, and spirit arent fully whole, how can the body be fully well?

Not all disease is caused by dis-ease of the soul and spirit, but a good percentage of it is. We need to recognize this truth so we can deal with the emotions that damage usand in some cases, destroy usas human beings.

As a physician, Dr. Colbert approaches this subject from a slightly different perspective than a pastor or spiritual counselor. He begins, as most physicians do, with the diagnosis of the problem. Its tough to hear a diagnosis, especially one with potentially grave consequences. Its tough for some people to face the reality of the mind-body connection. In fact, it can be discouraging or depressinga real downerto hear a diagnosis that puts some of the responsibility for wholeness on the individual, rather than on a virus, bacteria, or genetic predisposition. As difficult as a diagnosis may be to hear, an accurate and full diagnosis is critical if a person, and his or her physician, is going to get to the root of a problem so it can be remedied!

The of Dr. Colberts book is a diagnosis. The last part is a prescription. The prescription holds out the hope of a positive, health-producing approach to a joyful and healthy life. Dr. Colbert challenges us individually to make serious choicesto choose to think and feel differently, to choose to forgive, to choose love, and throughout, to choose to trust God, who created us and desires to heal us.

I strongly encourage you to read all of this book, and to take it to heart. Do what it says to do, and dont delay in it. What you read here could extend your life and increase your quality of life. It could even save your life.

Always bear in mind that Gods desire for you is wholeness. The phrase used repeatedly by Jesus was, Be thou made whole. Wholeness encompasses all that we are as human beingsit includes our mind and emotions as well as our spirit and physical body as we surrender our will to do the will of God.

Seek wholeness. Ask God for it. Pursue it diligently.

What you seek... the Bible promises you will find.

What you ask God for... the Bible promises He will grant.

What you pursue diligently... the Bible promises you will have.

BILL BRIGHT

Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ, International

M y wife, Mary, and I recently had dinner with a longtime friend and surgeon. Clark is a rising star in the medical profession, good-looking, wealthy, and a great deal of fun to be around. He has been searching for a wife for nearly twenty years. Since my wife and I agree that most women would classify Clark as quite a catch, I asked why he hadnt found someone. Clarks response astonished me.

He told us that he dates women frequently, but the relationships always seem to end the same way. He said, All the women I meet dont just have emotional baggagethey have cargo!

Clark, who loves to laugh and enjoy life to the fullest, seems to find himself repeatedly in relationships with women whose lives are entrenched in deeply toxic emotions: resentment and bitterness (often in the aftermath of a divorce), anxiety and fear owing to past experiences, depression, grief, gloom, and despair. After Clark had told us of several experiences, he held his arms up over his black curly hair and boomed out in his deep voice, Isnt anyone happy anymore? Wow. It was a good question.