Have you ever been treated unfairly? Or worse, have you ever had to see your child treated unfairly? Nothing gets a Mama fired up like seeing her child go through the hurt of unfair treatment.
Often when we've been deeply hurt, we find comfort in "nursing the hurt." We nurse it by dwelling on the pain, reliving the mean words said to us, and sometimes by plotting our revenge.
The truth is, all of us have been treated unfairly. All of us have been hurt by the careless words and actions of others. And each time we are hurt we can either let the hurt consume us and dictate our actions, or we can "attack" the hurt by responding like Jesus.
Matthew 5 is one of my favorite passages in the New Testament. It is filled with such deep, spiritual truth that I believe it is one of those passages that should be read slowly, deliberately, prayerfully, and by all means, take notes. In v44 Jesus tells us four things we can do when we're treated unfairly to make sure we don't live our lives "nursing the hurt."
1. Love the one who hurt you. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? Well it isn't. Through much prayer and humility, we can do it. Jesus would never command us to do something that He could not enable us to do. It will be hard, but we can learn to love them.
2. Be a blessing. Again, it won't be easy. Some days may be especially hard, but look for ways to be a blessing, in spite of the pain.
3. Do something good for them, something that goes above the ordinary. A word of encouragement, a kindness to them or their family, an action that says, "I'm trying."
4. Pray for them. Each time you see them, especially, soon after the hurt, you will think about what was said or done to you. You will play it out in your mind and it is at this crucial time in the process that satan will enlarge it in your mind. He will do all he can to keep you from praying for them because he knows when a believer prays for an enemy the Holy Spirit begins to soften our heart. And oh my ladies, he does not want you or me to have a soft heart.
I greatly admire Dr. Adrian Rogers and he said this about these 4 things; "It will be easier to respond in love if we have done the other three things. I know one thing: you'll be better. You see, we are not in the world to please other people. We are here to please Jesus."
When I bless my offender, when I do something good for her, when I pray for them, I am re-building our relationship. It may be much different than it was before the hurtful words, but as I purposely put into action these 3 things I will find that I can say, "I love you."
As long as we are nursing the hurt, we won't heal. We nurse it each time we allow it to consume our thoughts and feelings. Healing will come when we obey God and put into practice these four things. God is faithful. His word is a healing balm for our hurting heart, and He can restore any relationship. Obey Him even when you don't understand what He is asking you to do and trust Him to bring good out of every situation. He will.
I'd love to hear from you.
Penny
