Inside the Hurt

Mother Teresa said, “If we really want to love, we must learn how to forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”

Big or small, most days it’s all relative. Hurt people hurt people. Whether it is complex in life or simple in our everyday, whether we are an open book or pretend we don’t see it, the hurt hurts. Mother Teresa’s words are wise, and if we want to truly love, we must learn how to forgive.

Forgiving is simply acknowledging that we’ve been hurt and allowing ourselves to move on. The only way it can take the joy away, is if we let it. We must take our time and recognize gently, that yes, we have hurt people too. Love when it’s hard, forgive when it’s harder helps us move past whatever has happened, let go of grudges and focus on building strong relationships. It takes a will of prayer and practicing mindfulness so that we can be more intentional about how we respond to situations. Sounds easy but it’s not.

Sr. Miriam from SOLT recently shared this in her Abiding Together podcast, “what we do to others is a mirror of what we do to ourselves.” Profound yet so true. How we treat others reflects how we treat ourselves. If we are kind, respectful, and understanding to others, then we are likely to treat ourselves in the same way. Conversely, the opposite is true.

I remember a time when I was amongst a group of friends, I felt really hurt by the way someone was acting towards me. I wanted to get up and leave the room but what kept me there is thinking of all the times that maybe I have left somebody feeling the same way, so I powered through, prayed for God’s grace, and asked for forgiveness for the times that I had. It is when we look inside the hurt, that it is easier to forgive because we realize how we have hurt others too. Thank you, Jesus, for the virtue of humility! I need to do this more often.

We choose to sin out of the fabric of our pain and no matter how much shame we carry, God doesn’t look at our sin, He looks at what is hurting underneath us to cause us to act that way. When the hurt is too deep and the pain is surreal and no one understands, Jesus gets it! He reaches in, grabs our heart, and holds us gently, lovingly and heals us. God is on either side of the pain and carries us back into the light of joy. He never leaves, He never blames, He only loves. Jesus never hurt anyone yet taught us the greatest example of forgiveness we could ever know. Profound? Yes! A gift? Most definitely! Peace be with you.

My prayer for you today is that you love hard, forgive when it’s harder and stay in the moment of joy with God. May you feel God inside your hurt, embrace Him through His forgiveness of those you love, hold, and treasure. May the race to His love never end and may you feel the love He has for you from the starting line.

Together in prayer. Hand in hand.

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