What the Bible says about Forgiveness in the Face of Hurt
In grappling with hurt, the Bible extensively discusses the importance of forgiveness. It elucidates on the importance of not harboring grudges or seeking revenge when one has been hurt. Forgiveness is painted as a liberation from the cloying grips of resentment, and a major step towards healing. The Bible espouses an approach where the aggrieved person lets go of the emotional burden and pardons their offenders. This act of grace is demonstrated in numerous narratives and verses, emphasizing its role as a critical tool in dealing with hurt.
Where Does God Stand in Our Hurt?
The Bible conveys that God is particularly close to the broken-hearted and crushed in spirit. It affirms that God isn’t impassive or aloof to human hurt. He perceives every tear and hears every cry. The narrative presents God as a sanctuary where the hurt can seek refuge. The Bible assures that God’s comforting presence is a foundation for inner peace, even in the thick of pain. It underlines that God is a source of strength and help when humans are in situations of hurt and suffering.
Who Heals the Hurt?
The Bible attributes the healing of hurt to God. Repeatedly, the Bible declares that God heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. This healing isn’t merely physical—it extends to emotional and mental hurts. By promising healing, the Bible offers hope to those grappling with deep-seated pain and hurt. It promises a divine touch that mends the broken pieces, turning emotional turmoil into tranquility. The Bible thus identifies God as the definitive Healer of all forms of hurt.
Why Does God Allow Hurt?
One recurring question about hurt is why God allows it to happen. While the Bible does not explicitly provide a reason for every specific hurt, it does say that living in a fallen world means there will be pain and struggle. The Bible, however, ensures that hurt is not meaningless or without purpose. It conveys that in the midst of these adversities, God works things out for the good of those who love Him. Even in the most disheartening circumstances, the Bible presents God as using pain and hurt for purposes beyond human comprehension. It further encourages the belief that the experiences of hurt are temporary compared to the glory that awaits in eternity.
When Does Healing from Hurt Happen?
On the matter of when healing happens, the Bible frames it as a process that unfolds in God’s perfect timing. While it affirms God’s ability to provide instant healing, it also acknowledges that sometimes healing comes gradually. The Bible puts forth the idea that healing is a journey, not merely a destination. It may come in different phases and different forms, but assuredly, it does come. The narrative emphasizes the importance of patience, trusting in God’s timing and process, even when the hurt appears overwhelming.
Below is our full list of bible verses on hurt (King James Version – KJV) provided in ranked order.
Most Popular Bible Verses About Hurt
Luke 6:27
“27 But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you,”
Related Themes: Forgiveness Enemies Morality Prayer Morals
Romans 3:23-27
“23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.”
Related Themes: Sin Trespassing Forgiveness Lust Holiness
Mark 15:34
“34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Related Themes: Holy Spirit Lust Health Holiness Omnipresence
Romans 3:23
“23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”
Related Themes: Sin Trespassing Forgiveness Lust Holiness
Hebrews 12:1-3
“1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”
Related Themes: Perseverance Patience Bitterness Perseverance Quitting
1 John 3:16-18
“16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.”
Related Themes: Homelessness Love Money Love Redemption
Luke 22:42-44
“42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.43 And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.44 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.”
Related Themes: Humility Suffering Pleasing God Sacrifice
Hebrews 3:16-19
“16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses.17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness?18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”
Genesis 6:5-6
“5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.”
John 3:16
“16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Related Themes: Trespassing Life Love Money Omnipotence
Philippians 2:4-8
“4 Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Related Themes: Selfishness Selflessness Dating Serving Others Sacrifice
Romans 3:19-20
“19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
Related Themes: Trespassing
Matthew 21:12-13
“12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.”
Mark 14:72
“72 And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.”
1 Peter 4:1
“1 Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;”
Mark 14:18
“18 And as they sat and did eat, Jesus said, Verily I say unto you, One of you which eateth with me shall betray me.”
Genesis 3:9-11
“9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?”
Hebrews 13:12-13
“12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”
Related Themes: Glorification
Luke 15:12-13
“12 And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he divided unto them his living.13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.”
Matthew 23:37-38
“37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”
John 10:10
“10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
Luke 22:61
“61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.”
John 15:24-25
“24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.”
Hebrews 12:11
“11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”
Related Themes: Discipline Self Discipline Suffering Children Procrastination
John 16:33
“33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Related Themes: Frustration Suffering Peace Homelessness Bitterness
Galatians 5:15-24
“15 But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
Related Themes: Criticism Drama Fighting Strife Complaining
Romans 12:15-16
“15 Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.16 Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.”
Related Themes: Joy Empathy Emotions Friendship Kindness
Ephesians 4:29-31
“29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”
Related Themes: Gossip Criticism Complaining Judging Others Cursing
