Hurting People

Hurting people, hurt people.

I know because I’ve done it.  We all have.

Have you ever been shunned, ignored, or treated as if you were insignificant?  Have you been on the receiving end of harsh words?  Been snapped at for no reason?  This can be especially hurtful when done by someone you thought cared about you.  What did I do?  Why is this happening?  It is incredibly hurtful.  In my insecurities I immediately resort to assuming I did something wrong.  Should I confront them?  Should I ask if I have done something wrong?  I’ve asked before and been whip lashed with hurtful words about how everything isn’t always about me.  I know it is just that “people-pleasing” part of myself that wants to be loved and to make things right.  If I’ve done something wrong, I want to rectify it.  But I am learning to examine myself and if I KNOW I did not do anything offensive, I am learning to forgive.  And forgiveness can happen without that other person even knowing about it.

What I have learned in my **almost** 50 years on planet earth,  is that hurting people, hurt people…..often unwittingly.   The Lord is teaching me to just take care of my side of the street.  I cannot control the actions of others.  He is teaching me to have empathy and love despite being rejected.  He is teaching me to react more and more like He did when He walked this earth.  It isn’t easy.  My human nature wants to lash out and hurt back.  But what does that resolve?  That other person is still hurting and I would only be hurting myself in the process.  So I choose to pray for them and love them and be there for them if they ever reach out to me.

I cannot force others to love me.  To value me.  To see me.  But I CAN choose to love them, value them, and see them.

So that’s what I am going to do.

Open your eyes and look around you.  To those you know and those you don’t.  Sometimes hurting people, hurt people and they don’t even know it.  Be kind and see beyond the offense.  And remember, LOVE covers a multitude of sins.