PrintHurt people hurt people.
Sometimes we have to read a statement 2 or 3 times before the truth sinks in. I didn't get this one the first time I read it. Hurt people hurt people. No, it's not a mistake. It's a very real truth. Hurt people hurt people. In other words people who are themselves hurting & in pain seem to hurt and cause pain to other people.
In some ways this ought not to come as a surprise to us. In the animal kingdom it can be the wounded animal that is most likely to attack. The same can be true in human relationships, too. Emotional pain is very powerful. I guess you, like me, have had experiences when you were wounded by the sharp and cutting words of another person. And maybe you, like me, have to own the fact that sometimes we have wounded others by our words or actions.
When we are wounded, we can be so busy "licking our wounds" that we fail to see the hurt in the life of the other person; hurt that has energised their words and actions that have impacted us. Hurt people hurt people. Are you experiencing that kind of heartache at the moment? The pain is multiplied when the person who has hurt you is a friend - someone whom you trusted - and now you feel so betrayed.
In the midst of your own pain and disappointment, are you able to pause long enough to consider the possible degree of pain and wounding that has caused them to lash out in the way they have done towards you? Then again, if you are the person who is attacking another person because you are blinded by your own emotional pain, it becomes vital for you to seek help and healing before you isolate yourself from every friend you have.
When Jesus Christ was executed on a Cross, He did not retaliate. In the midst of the unbearable pain inflicted on Him by others, He cried out to God for their forgiveness. Such a response in the midst of our own pain is anything but natural. Our human tendency is to retaliate.
I would feel that this article has served a very worthwhile purpose today if just one person paused and re-considered why it is that a friend or neighbour has slandered them or gossipped about them. If such a consideration helped them understand that hurt people hurt people, then maybe some healing of relationships can take place.
Forgiveness is a wonderful healing ointment.
