Healing for the WoundedSculpture of the Good Shepherd
who leaves the 99 for the one stray lamb

We are often too quick to judge others. Even when at first we feel so completely justified in doing so. I mean, they might even seem venemous in the way they lash out at you. They seem arrogant and angry. The truth is that underneath all that tough exterior is a hurting soul. Eveywhere I turn of late, I am seeing people who have been spiritually wounded. Then the enemy of our souls comes and builds a fortress around that wound. For some reason people think that if they just don't let anyone get near that soreness, that it can't hurt them anymore. The truth is that it continues to eat away like a cancer of the soul. Hebrews 12:15 records it this way.

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

Job even wrote about people dying in bitterness of soul in Job 21:25.

Another man dies in bitterness of soul,
never having enjoyed anything good.

This morning, perhaps you've been afraid to deal with that hurt from the past. Maybe you fear that it would open an old wound and would just hurt too much. Your first response may be, "No, don't go there!" Well, I want to encourage you, please don't let that wound spirit destroy you. Cry out for help. Do it now, while you have the courage to act. God is ready to heal you and forgive you. Yes, He is even ready to help you begin to forgive others. This can be a day of wonderful new beginnings!