"Badness"

We’re prone to judge the badness,

Of a man who’s doing bad,

Sometimes don’t see the sadness,

Or the painful times he’s had.

And that’s not to make excuses,

‘Cause the final bottom line,

In spite of his abuses,

A man must have the spine,

To overcome the treatment,

At the hands of those who hate,

Though no doubt we have agreement,

To throw off that heavy weight,

Will take more than his trying,

But grace to heal the hurt,

And significant relying,

On the One who can convert.

Every bad, old sinner,

That calls His name in prayer,

To make of them a winner,

By the grace that’s always there.

And to relieve the sadness,

That drives some to despair,

Change to consistent gladness,

Lift the burdens that we bear.

So when you see the weary traveler,

With faults he cannot hide,

He just may be a battler,

‘Gainst pain that he’s denied.

And we don’t make it better,

When we judge a man like that,

We all have too much error,

And been right where he’s at.

Nor do we make excuses,

For what he does that’s wrong,

We’re not promoting ruses,

Where truth in love belong.

The fine line that we’re walking,

Is love as we are loved,

And make sure that our talking,

Cares for those whom push has shoved.

The badness caused by sadness,

Is something we discern,

And God can heal this madness,

It’s something we should learn.

“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15, NIV)

It’s important that we are able to discern why people do what they do, including we ourselves. When a person is wounded by another God gives us grace for healing and the power to forgive. But this does not mean that we always receive the grace. When we don’t, the hurt quickly turns to anger and anger to bitterness. Bitterness causes all kinds of relational trouble and defiles (poisons) many. The enemy uses bitterness and unforgiveness more than almost anything else to destroy people’s lives. That is why recovery programs spend so much time trying to figure out what the root causes are for addiction. Almost always it goes back to unhealed hurt. Righteous healing produces righteous choices.

Lord, heal our bitterness, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Jason Rich, used by permission. Thanks, Jason, and God bless you.