I remember one time I messed up in a big way. My goal in life was to have everyone laugh and think I was funny. So to be funny, I decided to write a note to a guy in the class who got teased a lot. I wrote him a note, and called him some pretty funny names. I wasn’t really trying to hurt his feelings, I just wanted my friends to think I was funny.
The teacher found the note being passed around the class. She also figured out that I wrote the note. It was then I started to feel bad, and realized that my actions had really hurt someone else.
I’m sure you’ve probably made a mistake where you’ve really hurt someone else. How do you handle things after you’ve hurt someone? How do you make things right?
- Ask Forgiveness – This is really hard to do. It takes a lot of courage to tell someone what you did was wrong and ask them to forgive you. However, if you do, it will make you feel better, and start the healing process between you and the person affected by your mistake.
“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.” – Eph 4:32 (NLT) - Make Things Right – In some situations, someone’s property might have gotten damaged or hurt by your actions. For example, if you got mad at your brother, and threw his XBOX game across the room and it broke, you would need to buy him a new game. If someone’s property was damaged or destroyed by your actions, its your responsibility to make it right. The Bible talks about restoring property in Leviticus 24:18.
“Anyone who kills another person’s animal must pay for it in full—a live animal for the animal that was killed.” – Lev 24:18 (NLT) - Give it time – Sometimes, it takes time for a relationship to heal. It might take you some time before your relationship is back to normal between you and the person you hurt. Don’t get discouraged if it takes awhile.
When you mess up, it can be really hard on both you and the person that was hurt by your actions. But remember, don’t be too hard on yourself. We all make mistakes and sometimes others are hurt in the process. Choose to turn your mistake into an opportunity to learn and grow.
Have you ever wondered who to pray to? Or who you should address when you pray? Should you start out your prayer by saying, “Our Father”? Or should you be directing your prayers to Mary? There are so many questions about what is the “right” way to pray. How do you decide who you should pray to and what you should call that person?
Have you ever looked in the mirror and hated what you saw? Maybe you felt like the person staring back at you in the mirror was too fat or too skinny. Maybe you don’t mind how you look, but you can’t stand the way you act. You try to be funny, but no one seems to get your jokes. You just wish you could say the right thing at the right time. Sometimes, one of the hardest things to do in life is to like yourself. This dis-like of yourself if not checked can lead you to do destructive things, hang out with the wrong people, and maybe even attempt to harm yourself. So what should you do when you feel like you just don’t like yourself?
by Joyce Meyer
Its really easy sometimes to get wrapped up in all the things going on around us. With all the things in our life screaming for our time and attention, its pretty easy to leave God out of our lives. Most of the time, we don’t intend on leaving God out, it just happens with all we have going on. We simply forget to include God in our decision making.