February 27, 2023
Church Wounds
Wendy Speake
Today’s Truth
He sent out his word and healed them (Psalm 107:20 ESV).
Friend to Friend
My earliest memories of being taught from the Bible include Ruth Gosting. Her flannel board stories were the building blocks of my young faith. Ruth was the director of the children’s ministry at Bel Air Presbyterian Church in the late seventies. On Sunday mornings my friends and I played games, sang the books of the Bible, and listened to Ruth’s Bible stories. She had an animated, high-pitched voice that was full of inflection and wonder. Her eyes were always wide open, as if she were perpetually surprised. Every time she saw me, she exclaimed, “Oh, Wendy, I’m so glad you’re here!” And she was. And so was I.
I loved church because I was loved at church, and the people who loved me well loved their Bibles too. I wonder if that has anything to do with the tender affection I had for my own Bible as a young girl. I’ve heard it said that people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. My heart was wide open to receive Ruth’s words because her arms were wide open to receive me, Sunday after Sunday.
Were you loved well by the Bible-believing people in your life? Did you go to church and experience a sincere love there? Or did legalistic leaders at church and a fear-based religion at home negatively impact your view of God and His Word? I’ve heard many people say that they simply never felt welcome, whether in the children’s ministry or in “big church,” so they stopped showing up and stopped opening their Bibles up too.
If you had a negative experience with those who claimed to love God but didn’t love you, I’m sorry. Perhaps, as a result, you have “Church Wounds.” Unfortunately, in the hands of humanity, God’s Word has sometimes been used as a club to beat people rather than a balm to bring them healing. Today, I want to invite you to let the Word, which may have undone your heart in the hands of others, be the instrument God uses to bind it up again.
God’s desire has always been to bind up and heal broken hearts (Psalm 147:3). He is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18). As a matter of fact, when Jesus stood up in the synagogue and read from the scroll of Isaiah, He took this job description as His own when He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me . . . He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted (Luke 4:18 NKJV).
Many within our churches and around the world have broken hearts, broken relationships with others, and a broken relationship with God. Men and women are held captive by age-old wounds. Today, let’s invite God to do His job—to bring healing to our lives.
Some heart wounds are deep, hard to perceive, and much more difficult to heal than physical abrasions. Cuts to the heart require the tenderness of a God who knows our frailties and cares about our humanity. Jesus, who is fully God, was also fully man, and He can identify with us in our afflictions. He understands our pain because He, too, was physically and emotionally battered and bruised.
[Jesus] 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 53:5 NIV).
Jesus’s wounds have the power to heal our wounds. His Word was sent to heal us too — not hurt us. If your parents, peers, or pastors wounded you over the years, bring those deep cuts to Jesus. Ask His Holy Spirit to lead you to health and wholeness as you open up His Word.
Let’s Pray
Jesus, thank You for preaching this good news to my heart today. You came to heal me — I believe that’s true. Use Your Word to bind up my broken heart today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Were you loved well by the Bible-believing people in your life? Did you go to church and experience a sincere love there? Or did legalistic leaders at church and a fear-based religion at home negatively impact your view of God and His Word?
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© 2023 by Wendy Speake. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Monday, 27 February 2023.
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