Some of our favorite stories from the Gospels involve Jesus and women. The woman with the issue of blood who had the courage to reach out and touch his garment—Jesus gladly healed her. The mother who lost her only child—"his heart went out to her” and he healed her boy. The woman caught in adultery—Jesus rescued her from a terrible death. And of course, Mary Magdalene—Jesus chose her above all others to appear to first on Easter morning.

Jesus has a special place in his heart for women. For you—and for your restoration.

I have come, Jesus said, to heal your broken heart and set you free from your bondage (Isaiah 61). “Salvation” means much more than “heaven when you die.” It also includes your restoration as a human being—as a woman. 

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. (Romans 8:29, The Message)

The healing of your feminine heart is not only available, it is central to Jesus’ mission. Notice that it requires restoration. “The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored.” That’s the purpose of Christianity.

In love, Jesus has to thwart our self-redemptive plans—our controlling and our hiding, all the ways we are seeking to fill the ache within us apart from him. Otherwise, we would never fully turn to him for our rescue. Oh, we might turn to him for our salvation, for a ticket to heaven when we die. We might turn to him even in the form of Christian service, regular church attendance, a moral life. But inside, our hearts remain broken and captive and far from the One who can help us.

To enter the journey toward the healing of your feminine heart, all it requires is a simple turning of the heart. We let desire speak to us again; we let our hearts have a voice, and what the voice usually says is, This isn’t working. My life is a disaster. Jesus—I’m sorry. Forgive me. Please come for me. We begin to cooperate with God in our restoration. We seek out those things we need to do in order to receive it. There is a process, and the results are breathtaking.

Apart from that, Christianity is just…religion.