When You Were Saved, But Still Needed to Be Free

Join us every second Tuesday of the month as we create a safe space for honest conversations, healing, and transformation.

In this candid conversation with Prophet Johnnie Mae Mattison on June 6, 2026 @10:00, we talked about what happens when life takes your voice, childhood wounds follow you into adulthood, and you find yourself trying to survive instead of truly living.

This conversation was honest, layered, and powerful. It opened up the truth that many people are saved, love GOD, go to church, pray, and still have areas in their soul that need healing and deliverance.

Sometimes we know how to shout, but we do not know how to feel.

Sometimes we know how to serve, but we do not know how to rest.

Sometimes we know how to pray, but we have never learned how to speak the truth about what really happened to us.

And that is why conversations like this matter.

When Your Voice Has Been Taken

One of the most powerful parts of this conversation was the honesty around losing your voice.

Not just physically, but emotionally.

There are things that can happen in childhood that teach you to be quiet. Things that make you feel like your feelings do not matter, your pain is too much, or your questions are not welcome. When a child is violated, overlooked, or left to figure life out alone, it can create deep insecurity, abandonment issues, and rejection wounds.

And when those wounds are not addressed, they do not just disappear.

They grow with you.

They show up in how you love.
They show up in how you communicate.
They show up in how you protect yourself.
They show up in how you respond when you feel unseen.

Sometimes what people call “hardheaded” is really a wounded person trying to protect themselves the only way they know how.

When a child does not have the guidance they need, the world will start teaching them. The streets will teach them. Pain will teach them. Relationships will teach them. And sometimes survival becomes the only language they know.

Becoming an Adult Before Being a Child

Another powerful truth shared was the reality of becoming an adult too early.

There are some people who never really got to be children. They had adult experiences, adult responsibilities, and adult pain long before they were emotionally ready to carry it.

When innocence is taken too soon, it can create a mindset that says, “I have to handle everything myself.”

You learn how to survive.
You learn how to take care of everybody.
You learn how to suppress your emotions.
You learn how to keep moving even when you are breaking inside.

But surviving is not the same as healing.

You can be strong and still be wounded.
You can be responsible and still be tired.
You can take care of everybody else and still not know how to care for yourself.

At some point, GOD begins to call us back to the places we skipped over. Sometimes healing means going back and allowing Him to touch the little girl or little boy who had to grow up too fast.

When Independence Becomes a Wall

We also talked about independence.

Many of us were taught to be independent. We were taught to handle it, carry it, figure it out, and not need anybody. On the outside, that can look strong. But on the inside, it can become a wall.

There is a difference between being responsible and being guarded.

There is a difference between being strong and refusing help.

There is a difference between wisdom and fear.

The Lord had to deal with the idea of independence and reveal that being independent can sometimes mean depending only on yourself. But GOD does not call us to depend on ourselves more than Him. He calls us to be strong in Him.

That is a different kind of strength.

Strength in GOD does not have to prove itself.
Strength in GOD can receive help.
Strength in GOD can be soft and still powerful.
Strength in GOD can let go of control.

Learning How to Be a Wife After Surviving Like a Man

This conversation also touched on marriage and how childhood survival can follow a person into the role of being a wife.

When a woman has had to carry responsibility too early, protect herself, take care of others, and operate out of survival, it can be hard to release control when marriage comes.

You may know you are called to be a wife, but that does not mean you automatically know how to be one.

That was such a powerful truth.

Just because you are something does not mean you have learned how to walk in it in a healthy way.

Marriage can expose what survival helped you hide. It can reveal where you do not trust. It can reveal where you do not know how to communicate. It can reveal where you are still leading from fear instead of love.

And that does not mean you are a bad person.

It means there are places that still need to be processed, healed, and surrendered to GOD.

Saved, But Still Bound

One of the strongest parts of the conversation came through the story of Lazarus.

When JESUS called Lazarus out of the grave, Lazarus came forth, but he was still wrapped in grave clothes. He was alive, but still bound.

That was a picture of what many people experience spiritually.

You can be saved and still bound.
You can be filled with the HOLY GHOST and still need deliverance.
You can love JESUS and still have wounds that need to be unwrapped.
You can be called by name and still need someone to help remove what has been covering your voice, your eyes, your hands, and your movement.

That does not take away from salvation.

It shows us that freedom is a process.

GOD can call you out, and then He can begin unwrapping everything that tried to keep death attached to your life.

When Prayer Is Necessary, But Truth Must Also Be Spoken

We talked about how prayer is powerful. Fasting is powerful. Worship is powerful.

But sometimes there are things that also need to be spoken.

Some pain has been hidden for so long that silence has become part of the bondage. Some wounds need language. Some cycles need to be named. Some generational patterns need to be confronted out loud.

The truth is not just something we read. The truth is something we must be willing to face.

There are people sitting in church who are praying, fasting, serving, and still hurting because nobody has created a safe space for them to say, “This happened to me.”

And when we do not make room for truth, people learn how to be spiritual and silent at the same time.

But JESUS did not come just so we could look delivered.

He came so we could be free.

Healing Requires Honesty

Healing requires truth.

Not just the pretty truth.
Not just the churchy truth.
Not just the truth that makes everybody comfortable.

Real truth.

The truth about abandonment.
The truth about rejection.
The truth about anger.
The truth about lust.
The truth about insecurity.
The truth about marriage struggles.
The truth about being saved but still fighting in your mind.

When truth is spoken, freedom has room to enter.

This conversation reminded us that GOD is not afraid of what happened to us. He is not intimidated by our pain. He is not shocked by our emotions. He already knows the places we have buried, hidden, and suppressed.

But healing begins when we stop pretending those places are not there. FREE Healing resources below.

Journal Prompts to Help You Process

1. Where in my life did I lose my voice?
2. What parts of my childhood did I have to grow up too fast in?
3. Have I been calling myself independent when I am really guarded?
4. What emotions have I been suppressing because I felt I had to stay strong?
5. Am I saved, but still bound in certain areas of my mind, emotions, or behavior?
6. What truth have I been afraid to speak out loud?
7. What does freedom look like for me beyond just surviving?
8. Where do I need GOD to help me feel again?
9. What role has silence played in my pain?
10. What grave clothes do I need GOD to unwrap from my life?

Scripture and Truth Points

John 11:43-44
JESUS called Lazarus out of the grave, but Lazarus still had to be loosed from what bound him. This reminds us that life and freedom are connected, but they are not always the same step.

John 8:32
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Truth has the power to unlock places that pretending cannot touch.

Romans 12:2
Transformation requires the renewing of the mind. Some of our healing must happen in how we think, process, respond, and see ourselves.

Psalm 147:3
GOD heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He does not ignore the wound. He tends to it.

Galatians 5:1
Stand fast in the liberty where CHRIST has made you free. Freedom must be walked in, guarded, and lived out.

Takeaways for Healing

You can be saved and still need deliverance.

You can love GOD and still need healing.

Your voice matters.

Silence can protect pain, but truth helps break it.

Independence can become a wall when it is rooted in fear.

Being strong in GOD is not the same as carrying everything alone.

Marriage exposes what survival hid.

Healing is not weakness. It is obedience.

Freedom is not just coming out of the grave. Freedom is letting GOD remove the grave clothes.

Watch the Replay

If this conversation spoke to your heart, go back and watch the replay.

Facebook Replay

Share Your Thoughts

What part of this conversation helped you see yourself more clearly?

Have you ever felt saved, but still bound in certain areas?

Share your thoughts or encouragement in the comments. Your honesty may help someone else find the courage to tell the truth, begin healing, and walk into freedom.