Hurting, healing, and loving

Originally posted August 13, 2020

Hurt people hurt people.  Healed people heal people.  I’m not sure where I first came across that saying but I do know it is true.  Think about the last time you were hurt by another person. What did you “do” with your hurt?  Do you react and hurt them back (or even just think about doing it for a little bit)? Did you stuff it down so that it manifested itself physically in you? Or let multiple hurts accumulate and blow up at something or someone else?  (Be patient, we will get to the “this is supposed to make me feel better” part soon,  I promise.)  Now, if your own hurt caused you to hurt another (or in stuffing it, yourself), think about what might have happened to the person who hurt you that lead to their behavior. 

How do we move from our own hurt to healing so that we can help others heal?  We are all hurting in one way or another, to one degree or another.  And, we all need to be able to name our hurt to be able to manage it rather than letting the hurt manage us.  Even the strongest of us are hurting.  How are you hurting? How do you react to being hurt? Before we can help others heal from hurting, we have to acknowledge our own need for healing. Put your own oxygen mask on first before assisting others.

Jesus tells us that we are as valuable as a hidden treasure and as a priceless pearl.  Each of us in infinitely valuable to God and together, collectively, we are so amazing that we can with God’s help reveal heaven on earth.  The first step in our own healing is to know that we are deeply, immeasurably loved by God.  No exceptions, no caveats, no conditions.  You, yes, you, are deeply and infinitely loved by the God who created you in the divine image.  No one and no thing is more valuable to God than you.  

I invite you to make time each day, several times a day and say this: “no one and no thing is more valuable to God than I am.”  For those of you who shy away because it feels selfish and self-centered, let me assure you it is not.  It is scriptural. It is true. And the first step in finding infinite value in others is to first know it about ourselves.  Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength, and the second is to love our neighbor AS OURSELVES.  What keeps it from being self-centered and self-serving is that we learn to love ourselves so that we can love our neighbor and love God.  God finds you worth loving. Love yourself.