Once there was a girl who had been hurt by one…
two…
a lot of people.
She tried to grow a shell, thick as a turtle’s, to keep out the hurt, but the hurt lived with her inside the shell.
The hurt mocked and taunted her, and she searched for ways to drown it out. She tried drugs, alcohol, sex, food, and even hurting herself. Nothing worked. Turtle Girl just hurt more.
People prayed that she would know Jesus, and they prayed that she wouldn’t be so mean, but no one prayed that she would be able receive love. That would mean giving love first, even while the hurt filled up her shell and spilled out on them. No one wanted to give her love because she couldn’t give love back.
Turtle Girl was afraid to receive love because so many had let her down. She was afraid to trust Jesus because so many preached fire, brimstone, and repentance but forgot to preach love. They forgot that Jesus is love, and so she never saw His love and never opened herself to it.
Then Jesus spoke into one heart that they should pray for Turtle Girl to be able to receive love. That’s what Jesus does; He calls us to give love first.
3 “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.
Luke 6:32
God calls us to love those who live in turtle shells. He calls us to love them until their shells crack open so that the hurt runs out on the ground and dries up in the light of the Son. It is only when we have done this that the turtle can learn to receive love and be changed by that love.
Join the conversation…we’re called to love, how do you do that when it’s hard and the person doesn’t accept love?
Beautiful, thought-privokingbpost, Tammy. I’ve been in that situation — trying to show love to someone who, in this case, appreciates and seems to crave adulation but not love — and at first I floundered. Now I just do what I would do with anyone else and work very hard not to expect or anticipate anything in return. AND I pray for this person every day. No change, and I’ve come to accept that I may never see any change. And I’m okay with that now. I can only control what I do, not how she responds.
I think that’s a great way to handle it, Patti. We need to continue to treat them as we would everyone else and trust God to work in their hearts. I imagine that I am sometimes just as resistant to letting go.