What to Do When We've Been Wronged

A betrayal. 

A sin.
 
 A crime. 

Our hearts are crushed. Our emotions—raw. Our trust? Destroyed. 

What do we do when we’ve been wronged? 

We’ve read the verses: 

“Forgive as you’ve been forgiven.” 

“Turn the other cheek.” 

And we believe them in our heads. Sometimes we even choose to extend forgiveness, because we know God’s Word is true. We want to be obedient, but our hearts continue to bleed, and our souls continue to ache. What are we to do? 

Hebrews 12:15 holds the key.

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God. . .”

The grace of God—offered freely. Almost tangible in its beauty. 

Grace feels like sunshine and warm breezes as it washes over our broken and hurting souls. When we turn our faces toward God instead of away, grace meets us there. It meets us in the broken moments, and the healing process begins.

 If we let it. 

“Let no bitter root grow up to cause trouble and defile many.”

Bitterness is the opposite of grace. Bitterness is swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to die. Bitterness is hurt gone septic. 

Grace or bitterness? 

Bitterness or grace? 

Choosing grace doesn’t deny the hurt, the pain, the sin. Instead, it lances the festering sore and allows the poison to drain. It allows healing to begin. 

Here are three ways we can apply grace: 

1.  We choose to forgive. “Forgiveness is not a feeling; it is a promise. Forgiveness is the promise that is reflected in the statement, ‘I will no longer hold that against you,’” Dr. Gary Chapman writes, in The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted. 

2.  When we remember the hurt, we acknowledge it and give it to God. “When memory brings back the pain and hurt,” Chapman writes, “I can take the emotions to God and thank him that even though I still feel this pain, that sin is now forgiven.” 

3.  We can choose to respond in love toward the one who has wronged us. “I ask (the Lord) to help me do something loving. In time, the memory and the pain will diminish as we build new positive memories,” Chapman says. 
 
Bitterness or grace? 

Grace or bitterness?

What to do when we’ve been wronged? 

 Let's choose grace. 







Lori Hatcher is the author of the blog, Hungry for God; Starving for Time, where she provides twice-weekly doses of spiritual nutrition for busy people. Like a spiritual power bar, Lori's devotions will nourish your soul when you don't have time for a spiritual meal. To subscribe, click here.


Did you know that Lori has a devotional book for homeschooling moms called Joy in the Journey?

With a devotional for every week of the school year, JITJ has application questions, an action step, and a prayer. It's suitable for your own devotional reading or for use by a support group for meeting ideas.

  No school year is complete without it!

For more information and to read what other homeschooling moms are saying about Joy in the Journey, click here. 

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