Was it Really “Church Hurt”?

The term “church hurt” is all too common today to describe how people have been wronged.

***Disclaimer- if you were abused by people who were an authority you were once submitted to, I do not discredit your pain one bit. People in authority in ANY organization must be held accountable for their actions.

And sadly, while we hear much about church members being “hurt” by those in trusted leadership positions, less commonly heard about is the truth that members are also guilty at times of causing “hurt” to their leaders.

And while members can choose to go elsewhere, it is not as easy for those who feel called to leadership over a specific flock.

But what I do know for certain, is that it was PEOPLE who acted in a hurtful way toward other PEOPLE.

For some reason, we expect more from “church people”. But each person is on a journey with the Lord of growing into the full stature of Christ and we will never be perfect this side of heaven. (Again, I make no provisions for gross injustices people have had to endure)

But the reason people can’t seem to get OVER a hurt experienced, is because we’re not meant to get OVER something but rather to get THROUGH it, and the fastest way THROUGH is THROUGH.

In others words, our emotions must be PROCESSED THROUGH. We don’t just forgive and immediately expect the sour feelings to disappear.

Forgiveness is a process but the wonderful thing is that it is a process that is NOT DEPENDENT on ANYONE ELSE CHANGING FIRST!

We don’t have to be bound by something longer than we want to, because the power of forgiveness is that when someone hurts us, they have only done it once (if they continue then YOU need to put some boundaries in place) WE are the ones who continue to HURT OURSELVES by replaying the memory of that hurt. It can no longer hurt us!

This truth can SET YOU FREE if you can become skilled at it! Want help becoming emotionally resilient? Hit the Coach with Me link and let’s chat about how I can help. We have too many great things in store for us to remain bound by pain. ~Be Blessed, Jenny xoxo