Church wounds
No one is perfect. Believers do make mistakes that hurt their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. To thrive in authentic godly church communities, we need draw healthy boundaries and be shrewd about whom we allow into our inner circles. Additionally, we must ensure that Satan does not use our wounds and hurts to drive us away from God’s people. Let us be quick to forgive others and keep our consciences clear.
(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 基督徒的创伤 | 繁體中文 > 基督徒的創傷)
Jude 1:18-19 ESV They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.
Ephesians 4:32 ESV Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
A prayer to forgive believers at church who have wounded us
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I’m sorry for letting people get in the way of my relationship with You and for holding onto these grievances. Please forgive me that my thoughts, words and actions have grieved the Holy Spirit. Your Spirit only brings peace, not conflict and offence.
Ephesians 4:2-3 NIV Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
I don’t know how to let go of my pain and hurt without Your help. Please help me as I pray today.
Jesus, I choose to put down the past and leave it in Your good hands because You are my Redeemer and Judge. Today, I choose to forgive (name the church-goer/s or church leader/s) in the name of Jesus Christ. Please remove my offence as well as the effects of other people’s sins from me as far as the east is from the west. Soften the sting of the memory as I invite you to please heal my emotional wounds.
Psalm 103:11-12 ESV For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
Please search my heart and test my mind for anything that is still impure, and show me what else I need to confess and release to You, my gentle loving Saviour. Is this showing me some hidden pain from my past that makes me more easily offended, that I need Your emotional healing for?
Jeremiah 17:10 ESV “I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”
I am sorry for allowing these offences to poison the purity of my heart and taint my view of other believers and church. Please soften my heart and teach me how to love You above all else, so that I will learn to respond towards other sinful people (like me) in a way that pleases You.
Ezekiel 36:26 ESV And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
In the name of Jesus, I renounce all unloving words that have been exchanged and any ungodly spiritual ties with those who had drawn me further away from You.
Please give me the wisdom to extend grace while not allowing other people’s sinful ways to tempt me to sin as well. Help me to always stay true to You in all circumstances, good or bad, and not to allow Satan to use ungodly people to draw me away from You. Your love is too precious for me to forsake.
Most of all, God, please use this experience and turn it into a praise and testimony for Your glory.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.“