Heal Your Hurt with Grace
By Rick Warren
"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you." Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)
How do you let go of the hurt in your life? You heal it with grace.
When you heal a hurt with grace, it doesn’t just mean you let someone off the hook. You forgive the person who hurt you, but you also change the way you talk to them. You stop being so judgmental and start being more gracious in your speech.
As a Christian, everything you say should be kind. This is getting harder and harder in the world that we live in today. But it applies to everyone—even that person with a different political opinion.
"Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out" (Colossians 4:6 The Message).
Often the person who hurts you is carrying a lot of guilt. Hurt people hurt people. If you want to stop the cycle of hurt, then you’ve got to be willing to show some grace. Ephesians 4:32 says, "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (NIV).
You will never have to forgive anybody more than God has already forgiven you. One of the reasons why so many people have a hard time letting go and forgiving is because they've never really felt fully forgiven themselves.
When you remember how much God has forgiven you, it makes forgiving other people a whole lot easier. You may be thinking that it sure doesn’t feel easy. Maybe you feel like you don’t have the strength, energy, or power to forgive someone that hurt you deeply. You think you’re too weak.
As long as you are trying to do something on your own power, you are going to fail. But once you realize you're weak and you can't do it on your own, you're going to depend on God. God says, “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak" (2 Corinthians 12:9 GNT).
It’s okay to admit that you don’t think you can forgive or let something go. Sometimes you won’t have the strength to forgive on your own. All you have to do is humble yourself and ask for God’s grace.
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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