People hurt people. Most hurting people don’t end the cycle, they hurt others.

My heart is hurting today. It’s hurting for friends who are on the receiving end of mean words and actions at the hands of people they love.

Am I imagining it or is it the same poison at the base of every painful situation? Doesn’t it all come down to ignoring God and choosing to go against His direction?

I hear all kinds of rationalizations for sin. I hear people say that I don’t understand all the details and that if I just knew how unhappy they were I’d understand their choices better.

I hear husbands say that their wives just don’t understand them. I hear women tell me that they deserve “love” even when it means going against God’s instructions. I hear people say it “just feels so right.”

And then comes the crash. Shattered pieces litter the floor, tears flow, marriages fail and children become the victims in “broken” families. Pain.

I wish I could do something to get people to listen. I wish I could get them to forgive early and often. I wish we could trust God enough to know that when we go against His design, we are choosing pain.

The Bible says that wounds from a friend can be trusted. Before you start shutting out the people who love you and know you best, consider their words carefully.

Godly friends sharpen each other. Friends confront. Friends dare to say the things you don’t want to hear. True friends will do all they can to see you obey God.

Before you lash out at them and tell them you have a right to make your own choices, you might want to consider their words.

Ignore them and I promise you that more pain lies around the corner. It will be paired with regret.

My mom once told me, “You’ve made your bed, now you have to lie in it.”

I think I am just now beginning to fully understand her words. So many people have really messy beds. From what I see, all of them are hurting.

Galatians 6:7-8
Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others– ignoring God!– harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.