I was directed to this quote from a friend as we discussed relationships over breakfast. Grace enables you to take risks in love. Even though loving others will bring hurt and disappointment, God's love enables you to go there, to refuse to be self-protective.
If you are going into close relationships, be prepared to be hurt. Don’t count on [getting from them] what you should expect from God alone. If you do, your hurt will damage you permanently. If your trust is in God, you will still be hurt, because God made you with a capacity to love. That capacity includes with it the vulnerability to personal hurt. But the hurt will drive you to God—to bask in His comfort, to lean on His love.
You may continue to be sad. But you will not be broken or bitter. The most important thing about your life is still intact. You are loved by God.
Let me speak directly to you. Have you been deeply hurt? A lover has disappointed you. A person you invested much in has betrayed you. Go to Jesus. He knew what it as like to be betrayed by his close friend. Lean on Him and weep away your bitterness as you release your burdens on Him.
Jesus will not only heal you; He will draw you nearer to Himself than you ever were before. Later, when you look back at the pain, there may still be sorrow. But there will not be bitterness. Bitterness by now has been replaced by the love of God in your heart. (Ajith Fernando, Reclaiming Friendship, 67,68)
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