Hurt People Hurt People

Have you ever heard the phrase “hurt people hurt people”? It took me a minute to understand what it means. I often wonder how as humans we can hurt other human beings. How can people be so cruel? How can people be so evil? I certainly understand that we are sinful, and without God, we are capable on unspeakable things.

However, the phrase “hurt people hurt people” is an interesting premise. You see, people that have been hurt, and haven’t healed, tend to repeat patterns. People that have been hurt are prone to hurting others. It can certainly be a defense mechanism. We lash out like a feral cat who’s never encountered human touch. Many times we hurt others without even intending to. We are walking around hurting people oblivious to the damage we are leaving behind.

Does it ever happen to you that you react in a certain way towards those close to you—maybe your spouse or your children. After the fact, you feel terrible. You wonder why you act or react the way that you do. Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe there are things in you, wounds that haven’t healed. And those reactions are often a result of that lack of healing.

If we are not careful, this lacking of healing can destroy relationships with those closest to us.

Jesus is in the business of healing people. He gave himself so that you and I don’t have to be broken any longer. He gave his life so that we could run to him in search of healing. He showed this time and time again during his time here on earth.

If you’ve watched The Chosen, they so powerfully show the interaction between Jesus and the paralytic man at the Bethesda Pool. For years this man had been expecting a miracle. Year after year he hoped that his healing would come. It was believed at that time that when the pool waters stirred, the first person to reach the waters was healed. Yet this man had spent most of his life in expectancy and likely close to believing that his miracle would never come.

Many times we look for healing in other places—in relationships, in religion, etc. But Jesus offered this man what he’d been wanting all his life—healing. Jesus makes that same offer to you.

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:4