Hurt People, the Choice to Choose

Hurt people hurt people. Why do hurt people hurt people? They hurt others because they themselves have been hurt. It is the effects of the fallen broken world…the effects of sin. Our words and actions stem from our feelings and or our woundedness. There comes a point where we ourselves have to make a decision. God has given us free will, the choice to choose.

1. Will I continue to live out of my woundedness, my pain, and my fear?

2. Will I chose to love, follow and serve the Lord?

3. Will I choose to love others?

There is something I want to share with us that I believe would bring complete transformation and healing into our lives if we choose. It comes from Proverbs 9:10 NKJV, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” When I share this scripture and it talks of fear, I am not speaking of a fear where we fall down trembling and anxious of what God will do next. When the word fear is used here, it is in reference to having awe and reverence for the Lord. This is something I myself am praying about and seeking. I want a deeper understanding of the Holy One and His promises that He makes to me. I feel that with this understanding, there will be, for a lack of better terms, a fire and passion burning within me for the Word and to serve the Lord! This is my desire for you as well! To read the word of God and be so filled with joy and feeling the love of God embedded within your soul that nothing can shake you and nothing can take that joy within you!

Isaiah 6:1-7 NKJV says, “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said:

‘Holy, holy holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said:

‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.’

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said:

‘Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away and your sin purged.’

In this scripture, Isaiah beheld the Lord and realized in that instant the glory of the Lord and how he wasn’t even worthy to be in His presence. By the grace and mercy of the Lord, Isaiah was cleansed of his iniquities and sins. Because of this cleansing, Isaiah was able to go forth and fulfill the calling God had on his life. He had an awe and reverence for the Lord that cut clear to the heart! There was no doubt that God was who He said He was. There was no doubt that God could do what He said He could do.

I fully believe that this awe and reverence of the Lord is necessary in our own relationship with God. In our awe and reverence for Him I believe:

1. We won’t live out of our woundedness because the word of God will be so deeply embedded into our hearts that we will believe every word! It will stir passion and fire within us!

2. God’s character will be so strongly built up within us that we will love God and will love others with the love of God.

Why do I believe this? Because when this happens, we are no longer chasing after the flesh, but we are chasing after the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-17 NKJV says, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

As Isaiah, from his guilt and sins was cleansed and forgiven, so are we if we are truly born again believers) by the work that was perfectly finished on the cross by Jesus, our Savior. Instead of walking /living in our woundedness, let us walk with God. For God is love.

1 Peter 4:8 NKJV, And above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins.’”

© 2022 Leslie Wittenmyer—All rights reserved