Love for the Hurt Person

I’ve been tempted to believe I am one of those people who will be betrayed. People I thought were my friends really weren’t, and those I thought I could trust proved me wrong. I shouldn’t be surprised. We live in a fallen world with a fallen nature. But after you’ve given so much to something or someone, often at no cost, and those you have come alongside burn you, it’s hard to not feel hurt. I’m sure I am not alone. Many have felt the pain of turning in trust and then being stabbed in the back.

It’s easy for me to take on the identity of a hurt person, but I find that only leads to more turmoil. When hurting, my shoulders slump as I physically try to protect myself from these emotional wounds. I withdraw, shying away from social events and finding myself unable to trust even those I rationally know I can trust. I find myself overwhelmed by paranoia and anxiety.

Recently, while driving around town, I was thinking over the last year and touching on some of the hurts I had experienced. I don’t want to be this bitter, walled-off person, but it’s hard when you feel like you’re being scared over and over.

I think of Jesus and the ways in which He was betrayed. His disciples, his 12 closest friends, wouldn’t even admit they knew him when stuff went down. One of his disciples, a friend of several years (Judas), sold him out to the Pharisees for money.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last couple years, it’s that some people will cross lines they never thought they would for money. I doubt Judas started following Jesus knowing he would betray him. But when Jesus became an obstacle to potential riches, Judas did just that.

Judas, the great betrayer, wasn’t just an acquaintance. He was a disciple of Jesus who sat at his feet and KNEW Jesus was the Messiah. He sold out Jesus for about $600 (the modern-day equivalent of 30 pieces of silver).

It’s important to remember that even if Judas didn’t know he would be the betrayer, Jesus did. He KNEW, and He loved him anyway.

When it comes down to it, this is what separates Christ-followers from everyone else. It’s loving anyway, over and over again. Love is the first quality listed in Galatians when Paul talks about the fruit that should overflow out of believers.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love…” Galatians 5:22

I have been hurt. And I have felt betrayed.  Those feelings don’t magically go away. I don’t have to live the rest of my life hurt. Instead, I can choose love. I will love anyway, in spite of it all, because loving with the kind of love Jesus is all about is what brings freedom to the betrayed, change to a broken world, and hope to those who have been hurt.

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Readers, Where can you choose love today?

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Sarah Clews loves being the wife of Carson and mother to three little girls. She received her degree in English from Corban University and still loves the craft of writing. She also helps her husband run a martial arts school. In her free time, Sarah enjoys talking with grown-ups (!), finding new authors, doing online research, and reading her favorite childhood stories to her girls.