WORDS THAT WOUND

By Shirley Wiggins and  Hallie Gipson

 Spoken words that wound…they strike us hard – they wound us internally.

 On the outside, the tears coming from our eyes look like water, but they are tears of heart-blood.

If you have experienced the wounding of words that hit like blows to the face, you know those blows strike deep into the heart, as if making an imprint in the soul and spirit.

A physical body, when beaten, bears outward evidence of the trauma inflicted upon it, whether bruises or gaping gashes.  We know how to treat these external injuries and when to seek medical attention.

 When words wound us, they wound deeply and invisibly.  The anguish inflicted upon the bruised heart will not go away without appropriate attention.

Where do we take this internal wounding?  Who can understand this pain and bring healing wholeness to our lives?

We must take our wounded hearts, minds and souls to the One who created us.  He is also the One who suffered indescribable anguish for us, both physically and emotionally.

To become healthy and whole, we must allow our hearts and minds to be exposed to the Light of God for He is the One who breathed the first breath of life into the first human.  He knows us as no one else knows us – better than we even know ourselves.

 Because He knows exactly how we feel in our wounded hearts, and how we think in our minds, and the depth of the resulting effect on our bodies and souls, He alone knows what is needed for our healing.

 His desire is that we be healed and made whole in body, mind, and soul, for this is His plan and purpose for us.

       

No matter the source of our hurts, the Lord Jesus Christ is our Source for healing:  spiritual, emotional, physical – the Great Physician is the Specialist in every area.

 “The Lord is near the brokenhearted; He delivers those who are discouraged.” Psalm 34:18 (New English Translation NET).

“Praise the Lord … He heals the brokenhearted, and bandages their wounds.”   Psalm 147:3 (NET).

 He loves us as no one else loves us.  How could He love like this, since it was for us that He suffered?

Jesus suffered horribly and awfully in His body until He died, hanging on a cross of shame, exposed to the jeers and mocking taunts of the crowds demanding his death.

 He suffered emotionally in His mind and in His heart and in His soul -- for us.  For each and every one of us, He suffered an indescribable anguish we cannot comprehend. Even as He hung on the cross waiting to die, wounded for our transgressions, these words were a portion of Jesus’ prayers to His Father on that day:

 “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23: 34 (NKJV).

 “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him.  And by His stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every- one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 

He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. … He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.”  Isaiah 54: 5-7,9b (NKJV).

 Sinful disobedience came through deception into the Garden of Eden by one woman and one man, whose sins are described as “failing to hear, heedlessness, and carelessness.”

We know that we each have, in our own individual and unique ways, continued to perpetrate the sin of disobedience to God’s Word and His ways.

 And, the wounded can also be the offender who severely wounds another:

“The words were stinging and seemed to be coming from another’s mouth –

but it was my mouth that was uttering hurtful and bitter words that were unfounded!

Why would I do that?!

 The issue is mine, but I’ve passed it on, trying to make someone else responsible for working it out for me. I have been telling myself that the issue is settled, but the recent argument revealed the lack of truth in that wishful thinking.

My sin is against God, my heavenly Father, and lies in the things not utterly surrendered into His hands that have the potential to enslave and control me – when I least expect it.

 My sin is also against the one I argued with – hurtful, bitter words that lingered in the air long after I had spoken them.  The wounded one bears the burden of the ‘wound’ and the offender, the regret of causing it.

What heaviness of heart, mind, and spirit this conflict of emotions has brought into our lives!”

 Words, once spoken, cannot be taken back.

 “Where there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”  Proverbs 10:19.

 Words are wonderful, opening the doors of communication.

 But “words are powerful; take them seriously.  Words can be your salvation.  Words can also be your damnation.”  See Matthew 12:34-37 (The Message).

 Our careless and heedless ways have led to great distress for us as individuals, nations, and peoples.  And, still:

 “In all their affliction He was afflicted…”  Isaiah 63:9a.

 There is One who understands and who has provided for the healing of the whole world.  He is the one who suffered the penalty of all sin for all mankind.¹

 The sinless Son of Man: 

"He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.  He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised and we did not esteem Him.  Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”  Isaiah 53:2b -4 (NKJV).

 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.  When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days. And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.”  Isaiah 53:10,11.

 Each of us has felt the pain of the wounding words aimed at us by others, and, no doubt, we each have been guilty of being the one who shot the arrow of harmful words into the heart of another, quite probably one whom we loved dearly.

Each one of us requires the forgiveness of God, the heavenly Father by the blood of Jesus Christ, and each one of is to put away all unwholesome words from our mouths.

“You must let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but only what is beneficial for the building up of the one in need, that it may give grace to those  who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  You must put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, quarreling, and slanderous talk – indeed all malice.  Instead, be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.”  Ephesians 4:29-32 (NET).

Holy Father,

             “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

             be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

                                                                                                                                    Psalm 19:14

 

 

¹ To be a child of God, you must first have a relationship with Christ. 

 John 3:16 says:

            “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever

            believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 If you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord of your life, you are invited to pray a simple prayer confessing your sin and asking Jesus to cleanse you of that sin.   If you repent and turn from your sin to Christ, and “confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved”. (Romans 10:9.)    If you have just prayed to receive Christ, tell someone, and go to church!