How Hurting People Help Others: A Biblical Perspective on Healing Through Service by Linda Buxa

by Rachael Adams | Dec 12, 2024 | The Love Offering Guest Blog Series

Hurt people hurt people. I’ve heard that demotivational phrase a number of times as people discuss that struggles can be generational, that trauma can be passed along, and that people who are victims of abuse might abuse others.

What if people who believe in Jesus challenge themselves to break the pattern of passing along hurt, pain, and anxiety? By putting thought and attention into our behavior and having the Holy Spirit work powerfully in us, we can change that phrase to a more motivational message: Hurting people helps people.

The apostle Paul is an ideal example of this. Before he knew that Jesus was the Messiah, Paul had been a member of a religious group called the Pharisees, and he had watched happily as Christians were stoned to death. After Jesus appeared to Paul personally, Paul’s heart changed, and he went from persecuting Christians to being persecuted for following Jesus. That came with a cost.

In between the time Paul converted and the time he wrote a letter called Philippians (you can find it in the Bible’s New Testament), he received 39 lashes, 5 times, was stoned, shipwrecked 3 times, was beaten with rods 3 times, and was adrift at sea (and that’s not even a full list). At this point in his life, Paul was not some brash 24-year-old man. He was old, bearing scars and pains from injuries that probably didn’t heal properly. He knew anguish, sorrow, dread, troubles, anxiety, and a bad reputation from past behavior. He knew what it was like to be hurt.

Yet this was the man who called on believers to “serve one another humbly in love” (Galatians 5:13) and “carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). He’s the one who said confidently, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we receive from God” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4).

After hearing his encouragement and putting it into practice in our lives, maybe we could change that phrase again to God helps hurting people . . . then hurting people help people.

God comforts your anxious heart. He stands guard at your mind, and now you get to pass along the hope you have to others. You pray with and for them, help them clean up after a natural disaster, drive them to the doctor, remember the birthday of their child who died young, or meet them for a walk. (If you need more ideas, the Bible has many ways Christians can “one another” the people in their lives.) As a leper who has found a treasure (like the ones in 2 Kings 7), you look around for people who may be hurting, struggling, and needing help—and then do something about it. Then you’ll feel better, too.

That’s because following God’s design for your life leaves you feeling less isolated, less alone, and less anxious. You feel better because you have fulfilled his purpose for your life. Maybe that phrase should change one more time to helped people help people.

About the Author:

Linda Buxa is a regular blogger and contributor to the multimedia ministry Time of Grace. In addition to her latest book, How to Fight Anxiety With Joy, Linda is the author of many devotions and other books on parenting and living faithfully. She and her husband, Greg, have lived in Alaska, Washington D.C., and California.