The Hard Steps to Take When Someone Hurts Us
Share
One cleansing breath at a time, I forced my feet to move forward. After being hurt, it’s hard to return to the scene. I have grown to dread the environments when relationships are fractured beyond repair. It happens when only one side is willing to step into the light, and the other prefers to camp out in the darkness of dismissal.
Hard work. Jesus is asking us to completely forgive without receiving an apology. He’s suggesting it’s better to humbly accept the situation instead of arguing for our side. Jesus is telling us to be nice to the people who are mean to us. I love Jesus, but I am not Him, so I need these reminders, and I need His Holy Spirit to help me obey what He is saying.
Revenge isn’t the answer. Revenge in reverse is love. Jesus was clear: Love people. Love the hard people and the easy people. Love the right people and the wrong people. Love the people who love you well and love the people who hurt you. When we obey God, He blesses us. Not rewards – blessing might just be reward in reverse! It’s not a bribe, it’s the favor of the almighty God, growing us into people who look and act and point to the Savior of the world – Jesus.
God isn’t calling us to be a doormat in this life. Healthy boundaries are essential, especially in the world of easy access. But to make sure we are forming boundaries and not building walls, take Jesus’ words into consideration. Obey them, apply them, and try living them out. It’s going to feel clunky, dreadful, and wimpy at first. It’s just not the way the world tells us to react, nor is it the way our selfish nature wants to react. However, we are children of God, and it’s the way our Father commands us to live. His wisdom is for our good. He is good, and His plans for our lives are good. Instead of revenge, let’s trust Him and obey.
Father,
Praise, glory, and honor for who You are, God. Thank You for the wisdom You give us, and the forgiveness we have in Christ Jesus for the times we do seek revenge. We all have times in life when we have argued our side instead of embraced humility. Serving people who are mean to us is probably something a lot of us have refused to do at some point in our lives. Generously giving, even forgiveness to those who have stepped on and betrayed us, is really hard, and probably not something a lot of us are good at.
Father, we know we don’t have to execute and obey these things perfectly in our lives, and for that we are extremely thankful! Help us to at least aim to obey You, God, with pure and genuine hearts seeking You with all we are to love others the way You say we are supposed to. The hard people and the easy people. Because we know, we all tend to be both at one time or another. Help us to forgive forward, giving what we would hope to receive when we seek it one day, God. Lord, we pray for miraculous forgiveness and reconciliation, where relationships have been broken apart in our lives. Please, soften hearts on all sides, and piece us back together as You intended us to live.
In Jesus’ name I pray,
Amen.
Additional Reading:
Exodus 21:24
Luke 6:27-28
More from this author
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Your Anger
5 Ways Jesus Is Always with Us in the Storms
The Benefit of Confessing Our Desire for Control
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/PeopleImages
