Blind

Let’s face it…relationships can be hard. Maybe you and your mom had another fight and you both used harsh words that hurt the other person. Maybe your best friend won’t talk to you and you don’t know why. When relationships are good, life seems to be good, but when relationships go bad, life seems really bad. We don’t usually start our day wanting to hurt people, but sometimes we might say the wrong thing or do something stupid that hurts someone else.

Remember something important when you want to repair that relationship: your foundation in that repair is love. This love is not just the feeling of love, but this type of love recognizes the importance of the other person in the broken relationship. Sometimes you focus on your hurt, your anger, and what that person did to you— and this is an important part of healing. But to love is to recognize other people’s hurt and anger as well.

Jesus exemplified this love perfectly. Romans 5:10 tells us that our sin has made us enemies of God, but He loved us so much that He restored our broken relationship with Him through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. And, if we know Him, He empowers us to extend this love to others through the Holy Spirit.

As you work to heal this relationship, ask yourself: Why did that person lash out at me? What hurts might they be experiencing? Is there something I can do to make things right?

Sometimes a person will hurt you and refuse to admit it. In cases like these, you might need to set up some healthy, loving boundaries. Talk to a trusted adult in your life to figure out what that might look like.

As Christians, Jesus gives us the courage and wisdom to step up and apologize when we are in the wrong, and He helps bring healing to broken relationships. As we work toward forgiveness and reconciliation, we can rest in the secure hope that Jesus will always love us, no matter what. • Doug Velting

• What has caused brokenness in your relationships? How could you bring these hurts to Jesus and follow His wisdom in repairing them?

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:11-12 (NIV)

Read Verses:

1John.1.5|John.9.1-John.9.7