A Spiritual Breakdown

By Michael Griego on October 9, 2026 • ( 0 )

Broken with guilt? Real healing and restoration comes not from therapists, medication, and good intentions, but rather from depths of one’s spirit. How do you do that? ♦

We all know the feelings and impact of guilt, in ourselves and in others.

A friend approached me about an old friend of his, another Christian, caught up in sexual sin that was destroying his marriage, friends, and life. My friend conveyed that the broken man acknowledged his sad plight and knew the damage being done to himself and other parties, yet seemed resigned to continued failure in turning around his situation.

“I know, I know,” he apparently said. “But it’s just what it is and it’s not getting better.”

He had given up, or at least had given in to his own sin and was not willing to change things.

My friend likened it to one caught in the web of pornography who could not or would not pull themselves out of their addiction. For that matter, it’s like anyone caught in any addiction, be it alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, or destructive vice. The intent to heal may be real, but the real will and commitment to change is much more complicated and difficult.

Is that difficulty compounded if one is a Christian?

Yes. Certainly the guilt will wear one down. But real healing and restoration does not come from therapists, medication, and good intentions, but rather from the depths of one’s spirit.

And how do you do that?

It takes a spiritual breakdown. To be precise, I call it a Holy Spirit Breakdown.

The Spirit of Christian Guilt
Let’s first address sin and guilt. There’s a common reference that people make to so-called “Catholic guilt.” It’s usually made by current or recovering Catholics who were raised with the strong and constant reminder of guilt for their sins, for their thoughts, for their need for repentance, or for their failure to confess their sins.

Just guilt all around.

Protestants or evangelicals don’t have this problem as much. Many think that once you “accept Jesus” you’re forgiven and so now have a ticket to heaven. They don’t get caught up in the need for repeated confession. They know that Jesus loves them and will forgive them, and that this actually gives them some latitude with occasional sin.

Then we wonder why “religion” gets such a bad name.

But, of course, the truth is that we all have a problem. We are guilty of sin. Seriously. We’re born into it and cannot escape the judgment of Holy God, whether murderers, slanderers, or gossips (see Romans 1). And with Jesus, the point is that we are forgiven. We can be made whole and right.

But it’s all in how we take in that forgiveness and move forward.

If we believe and surrender our life to Christ, we have been given a helper, an advocate, the oft-times misunderstood Holy Spirit. The term “Holy Ghost” term does not do Him justice:

“…for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:17)

So What is a Holy Spirit Breakdown?
I told my friend that his broken friend needed a Holy Spirit Breakdown. “What does that mean?” my friend asked.

Here’s what I told him:

We as believers in the death and resurrection of Christ, the Son of God who died in our place and thus atoned for our sins now and forevermore, have been given access to the living Holy Spirit of God, like a comforter/counselor/helper/intercessor, to guide and direct us in tangible ways.

As believers we’re given access to the Holy Spirit, also known as the Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Strengthener, etc. Jesus specifically does not leave us alone. (John 14:14-18, 26; Acts 2:38; Psalm 51:11;1 Corinthians 2:13; Romans 8:26-27, Nehemiah 9:20; Acts 20:28)
The Holy Spirit can and should be like an intimate friend to us. (1 Corinthians 6:19; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Romans 8:9, Acts 5:32; 1 John 2:27; Galatians 5:25)
He is available to us directly – in tangible and discernible ways. (Acts 1:8, Romans 5:5; John 15:26; Romans 8:14; 2 Timothy 1:7; Galatians 5:16; Titus 3:5; Psalm 143:10).

Therefore, we, like his broken and sinful friend mentioned earlier, can be freed, changed, and restored to wholeness.

Here are the following practical steps I laid out for him to have a Holy Spirit Breakdown:

Get on one’s knees (actually literally as a physical act of submission).
In prayer, invite the Holy Spirit into one’s immediate presence and purge any surrounding spiritual evil. (“Lord, may your Holy Spirit come into this room and dwell within me right now. Now through the power of your Holy Spirit, and in the name of Jesus, through the blood of Christ, purge and remove any spiritual evil or dark forces around me.”)
Admit our sin to God in humble confession. No, we don’t need a priest for this. We now ourselves have direct access to God the Father by way of the Holy Spirit. (“Lord, I am so sorry. Through your Holy Spirit within me, I confess and ask for your forgiveness from this sin.”)
Admit and submit the full relinquishing of our addiction and burden to God, surrendering all authority to God through the power of the Holy Spirit to transform and restore us to wholeness. (“Lord, I give you full authority and surrender my heart, mind, and will to you alone, that through the power of the Holy Spirit in me, you transform and restore me to full freedom and wholeness over this sin. Amen”)

Do know and believe that the power of God is greater than the power of any force or evil in this world. And that any transformation is over time and comes with continued abiding and development of your relationship with the Spirit of God.

Yes, we need to break our own will. We need the breakdown, done by the power of the Living God whose Spirit resides in us and is available to come alive upon the releasing of our own control, authority, and direction. When we have a Holy Spirit Breakdown with a new vision of a life submitted to God, He is able to rebuild, restore and resurrect the broken rubble of our lives.

Have you had a Holy Spirit Breakdown?
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“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever — the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” – John 14:16-18