Slip Your Sock Down
Against his parents strict orders, a little boy was sliding on his wood floors at home without his socks. A splinter lodged in his foot. He tried to ignore it, butafter several days of hobbling his mother demanded he slip his sock off. There, she saw the truth. She gingerly pulled the splinter out and he began his healing process. Do you have a splinter in your foot? You may be walking around with a “splinter in your foot.” A relationship wound can come through many avenues: rejection, sexual abuse, manipulation, or deception. The question is, will you continue to act as though it’s not there? Or, will you let God shine His light on that wound and put it on the road to healing?
Here are some ways I have seen people deal wrongly with a wound:
1. They get bitter
Cain got bitter at Abel when he felt rejected by God. Saul got bitter at David when people began to celebrate him more than Saul.
2. They open a door
God told Cain that “sin is crouching at the DOOR.” Like a lion, Satan wants you to get bitter so he can have access to your heart. Bitterness is your choice!
3. They make a vow
Cain made an inward vow that he was going to get even with Abel. A vow is when you come up with a plan to get even. Saul planned to kill David for ELEVEN chapters of the Bible.
When a door becomes a vow the wound has moved from your heart to your head. You will fixate on it, obsess with it, and ultimately accomplish it.
4. They come under a curse
Cain killed his brother and God cursed the ground for the rest of his life. Saul came under a curse for pursuing David to kill him. Judas came under a curse for carrying out his insane plan against Jesus.
“Like a lion, Satan wants you to get bitter so he can have access to your heart. Bitterness is your choice.”
How do you reverse the curse? The same steps you took to walk into this mess, you can use to climb back out:
1. Accept those who wounded you.
If they wounded you with rejection, act in the opposite spirit toward them. Include them, reach out to them, and refuse to get on their level.
2. Forgive them at the cross.
Joseph had to forgive his brothers who rejected him, abused him, and sold him into years of miserable slavery. Bring that terrible wound to the place where Jesus died as “wounded for our transgressions.”
3. Reject every vow.
Whatever plan, thought, or purpose you have made must be destroyed in your mind. Paul said, “Cast down imaginations.” Speak OUT LOUD when you are tempted to target them, “I release them in Jesus’ name.”
4. Bless instead of curse.
Speak a blessing upon the person who wounded you. As difficult as it is, you are removing the poison and the power that wound has over you when you bless them.
SLIP YOUR SOCK DOWN. Jesus loves you and knows your pain. Ask for His forgiveness, release your offender, and walk without hobbling the rest of your life!