Bullets Don’t Have To Kill

“Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14

On July 2nd, 1881, the President of the United States, James Garfield, was shot in the back by an assassin. For the next three months, while he was still conscious, the doctors tried and tried to get the bullet out. They would poke their fingers into the wound and try to dig it out to no avail. After three months, the President died. Somebody found out later that the cause of his death was not the bullet but rather an infection that came from the doctors who kept digging into the wound. Had they left it alone, he probably would have survived.

In the same way, when we dig into past hurts, we make things worse. The enemy wants to destroy and divide your family. Decide today to stop living in the past and let God do a new thing in your life. Digging into old wounds can only do more harm. Leave old wounds alone. Don’t relive them over and over again. Don’t dissect them and talk about them. Stop giving the enemy so much glory. Someone may have wronged you, but that doesn’t mean you have to internalize and hold on to the pain. You can choose to forgive and move on. You can decide to stop giving it power over your life. Stop allowing people who hurt you to live rent-free in your head every day. 

If you forgive someone, does that mean you have to resume hanging around with them? No, it does not. You have to use wisdom. If a relationship is bringing you down or if someone is abusing you, you certainly aren’t expected to keep hanging around them. You can forgive someone in your heart while also protecting yourself. 

Maybe you were sexually or physically abused. Perhaps you have a child who is now a drug addict or who is living a gay lifestyle. If you are harboring bitterness towards anyone today, pray: “Lord Jesus, please help me love this person like I’ve never been hurt. I’m tired of digging at the wounds of the past. I want to move forward into the new thing that you have for my life. I want to live free from the heaviness of unforgiveness. Lord, what they did was wrong. It hurt me, but I have chosen to release them now. Please heal my family and do a miracle of reconciliation in our home. Help me make that first phone call? They may not change right now, but I will love them back into the kingdom. Help me to love like you love because love never fails. Amen.”

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