“The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”Psalm 34:18 (KJV)
For those wounded by people who should have cared for them, and who now find a church building hard to walk into.
We will not use this message to attack any church, pastor, or denomination. Many congregations are doing faithful and costly work, and criticising them wholesale would be both unfair and unhelpful to you.
But it must be said plainly that people have been hurt in churches: controlled, shamed, ignored when they disclosed something serious, or made to feel that their attendance record was their standing before God. If that is your history, it was not your imagination and it was not your fault.
Here is the distinction worth holding on to. The failure of a Christian, even a leader, is not evidence against Christ. He is not the one who did that to you, and He is not asking you to pretend it did not happen before you come to Him.
When you are ready, we would gladly help you find a healthy local church. There is no timetable on that, and nobody here will pressure you toward it.
Lord, You know exactly what happened and who it was. Heal what was done, keep me from bitterness, and help me not to confuse people's failure with Your character. Amen.
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Related
People assess you on what they can see. God assesses something they cannot reach.
“For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 (KJV)
When nothing has changed for a long time, it is easy to conclude that God has moved on. Scripture answers that fear with an image no one could invent.
“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not…”
Isaiah 49:15-16 (KJV)
The most famous homecoming in Scripture, and the detail most people miss: the father was already running before a word of apology was spoken.
“And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his…”
Luke 15:20 (KJV)
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