"Shooting" The Wounded

There is an old saying that states: “Only Christians shoot their wounded.”

Have you ever been “shot” by a fellow Christian? The interesting thing about this is that when we get “shot” by someone outside of the four walls of the church we can brush it off and justify it by saying “since they don’t know Christ, they don’t know any better.” It seems to be easier to forgive and move on. But when we are “shot” by a fellow brother or sister in Christ brushing it off proves to be a bit more challenging. We have a tendency to hold our brothers and sisters in Christ to a higher standard, and rightfully so. But, when we are “shot” by one of them it can make the pain that much harder to take. I recently had a situation happen in my life that caused such disappointment in my heart I didn’t even know what to do with it. All I wanted to do was justify myself, but the Holy Spirit would not allow me to walk down that path at all, I just needed to keep quiet on the subject matter and allow the Lord to work out “all things for the good” (Romans 8:28). In light of this, I was forced to do some searching. “God, what should I do? How do I respond?” I was reminded of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:39 “to turn the other cheek.” Along with this verse, the Lord reminded me of a previous post I had written entitled “Our Defense Mechanisms.” Yet again, the Lord is bringing me back around to test me at my words. In that post, I had challenged you all to copy that list down, know it and then when a situation arose you would know what to do. I was faced with one of two choices, I could take this list and apply it to my disappointed heart and crushed spirit, or I could throw out all that God had taught me. Somehow, sticking to the word of God seemed like the better of the two choices here. So, I found myself pulling out that list “How to treat those who hurt us” and doing some warfare with it. In light of this particular situation, I found my list was missing one key element that I needed for healing to take place in my heart in this particular situation. Now, I realize that this list was written in light of our enemies, but it really can be applied to any situation in which we are hurt by someone, be it a fellow Christian or not.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

• Respond with forgiveness

Paul is writing this letter to the Christians of the church of Ephesus. He is not addressing how we should treat the nonbeliever. There are many other portions of scripture that address forgiveness where the target of our forgiveness is not so specific, in other words, we are called to forgive the sinner as well as the saint. But in this particular case Paul is clearly addressing Christians so we can see that our responsibility to our brothers and sisters is kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. What a challenge forgiveness can be sometimes, especially when part of us wants the other person to “feel our pain.” Forgiveness can often be a huge exercise in the area of faith. We are called to forgive even in the face of being “shot” by other Christians. We are to forgive in those moments of disappointments. We are to forgive when our brothers and sisters do not act like Christ. We are to forgive when it hurts. We are to forgive in those times when we feel justified for holding onto our grudge. We are to forgive when we want the other person to “pay.” What it all boils down to is this... We can not control the behavior of others, but we can control the way we respond to them, and our response should be the way Christ would respond, with forgiveness.

The other area of forgiveness that we must also take into consideration is not just in the area of forgiving others, but we must also forgive ourselves. We mess up, miss the mark, and fall short of the glory of God each and every day. We can choose to hold those mess-ups over our own heads and allow them to weigh us down or we can choose to lay those things at the foot of the cross and extend the hand of forgiveness to our own heart. I don’t know about you, but I personally find it harder at times to forgive myself than to forgive others. I have a tendency to carry around my shame and guilt and much like a broken record, I keep replaying these moments of mishaps. The Lord desires forgiveness for our hearts just as much as He desires forgiveness for the hearts of others. He wants us to walk around in freedom, not under an umbrella of condemnation. Forgiving ourselves is one of the keys to walking a victorious life in Christ.

I choose this day to rehearse the things on the list, “How to treat those who hurt us,” and I choose to walk in forgiveness both for the one who did the “shooting” and for myself. I do not know the outcome of the situation, but I know that when I do my part the Lord is ALWAYS faithful to fulfill his part at the perfect time. He is never late. And whatever the circumstance He will work all things for the good (Romans 8:28).

Lord, I thank you that you are in control of all things. I thank you that the situations we find ourselves in you knew about long before we ever saw them coming our way. You know how to work out all things for the good. Your word says that you know the plans you have for us. You have plans to give us a hope and a future. I thank you that whatever “wounds” we may acquire on this walk with you that they are not meant for our harm. You desire to work in us a Christ-like character, and in order to become more like Christ, we have to walk through the tough things of life. Help us in this area of forgiveness. It can be so hard at times, but we know that when we walk in forgiveness we are becoming more like Christ. Help us not to rehearse those moments we mess up. Help us to forgive ourselves just as freely as you forgive us. Thank you for being patient with us as we learn to walk in your ways each and every day.  

Related Posts: "Our Defense Mechanism," "Hurts," "Extending The Hand Of Forgiveness," "Testing My Words," and "Echoing The Heartbeat Of God"