Therapeutic

There was an Andy Griffin episode where Andy went to his girlfriend's house to pick her up for their date. He was surprised to find that she was entertaining (feeding) an old classmate of hers who stopped on his way through town. As you might imagine, Andy was upset that their date was ruined and she got defensive, saying that she couldn’t just tell her old friend to hit the road.

In the episode, Andy went to the sheriff’s office to pick up a magazine and Barney, seeing that Andy was distraught, offered to listen if he wanted to share his feelings. Barney told him it would be “therapedic” (therapeutic) for him to talk it out.

I need to do something like that with this devotion. Someone I care for said something to me that hurt me very much. I know you want the deets but that really isn’t important. The reality is that the person said something and my feelings were hurt.

“When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,” - Psalm‬ ‭73‬:‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Do I think this person intentionally tried to hurt me? Absolutely not. This person explained that they didn’t mean to hurt me and I have no reason to think they were insincere.

“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God.” - 2 Corinthians‬ ‭7‬:‭10‬-‭12‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

I know, KNOW, that I need to forgive this person but it’s hard. I’ve asked God to help me forgive this person but, so far, I haven’t experienced the peace of letting the hurt go.

“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” - Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭25‬-‭32‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬

“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” - Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭21‬-‭22‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬

The purpose of this devotion is to force me to put this down in a way to explain my struggle to you. My hope is this, with prayer, will push me to fully let go of my hurt and see where the relationship stands. I’ve found that as I write a devotion on a topic I struggle with, the writing forces me to think through the issue.

I don’t know if my strategy will work, but I know I don’t want to carry this hurt any longer than I must. If you are dealing with a hurt, you might want to consider writing it out to help you to define it. Another strategy (or maybe a parallel path) is to share your feelings with a willing brother or sister in Christ.

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” - Proverbs‬ ‭27‬:‭17