When wounded people come to church, we often do one of two things, with the best of intentions:
1. We minimize or discount their pain.
2. We try to "fix" them by being the therapist.
Both just cause more damage. And the worst part is, we don't know we're causing damage. We want to help. We have the right heart. We've just never been trained how to receive wounded people effectively. By doing it wrong we make it clear we don't understand their pain, and they keep it secret for their own protection. Because we aren't safe.
But what if there's another way?
At the end of the day, whether we are Jesus to wounded people or unintentionally cause more damage depends on how well we steward wounded hearts.
This book shows you:
- How to validate people's pain instead of unintentionally shaming them for their pain.How to receive someone's story as a twofold witness -- that they are seen and that they have value. What spiritual bypassing is and how to avoid it.The difference between cheap forgiveness and real forgiveness.Why real forgiveness is about grieving a loss, and how to walk with someone through it.How to honor someone's story by recognizing and avoiding Christian peer pressure.Practically what to say and what not to say.
And much more. All in less than two hours reading time.
Because if they can't go to the people of God when they're hurting, where can they go?