The Letter We Nee to Write PART 5 “A Letter…To Those Who Hurt Us” (THRIVE Service)
It doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, young or old, religious or not. We all have one thing in common; We’ve all been hurt.
The hurt we experience comes from a variety of places, the betrayal of a friend, the pain inflicted from our own family, bullies and enemies, disappointment with business partners and colleagues, and the inevitable pain that comes with life in general. Sadly, sometimes church is the place where people are hurt, and that kind of hurt cuts deep.
If you’re human at all, when someone hurts you, the first reaction is to get even, hurt the person who hurt you, get revenge, make them pay for what they did. That works for a while, until it doesn’t. So, how do you break the chain? How do you stop the pain you still feel even years after the person hurt you? \\
To be honest. Jesus has an answer. Of course, Jesus is the answer, just not always the answer we want to hear. I’ll give you a hint, “It’s the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do?” But if you want to get rid of the pain, if you really want to stop hurting inside. If you really want to stop being so angry and so bitter about what happened to you, there’s a way out.
And here’s what we call a tease, a small hint designed to pique your interest and hook you into the message this Sunday.
- Who is Alexander the Coppersmith and what did he do that was so bad that Paul warned people to stay away from him?
- What is Lex Talionis and why does Jesus believe no matter how many times we all do it, it only makes things worse?
