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How We Can Forgive Verbally Abusive People
Some biblical principles about forgiving others.
“Can’t you do anything right?”
“You are so stupid.”
“Ew — you smell.”
“You are soooo ugly.”
“What a dumb thing to do!”
These are some of the words I heard from my parents, classmates, and bullies at school during my childhood. By the time I reached my 20s, I had suffered from bouts of depression and anger. Waves of rage would overwhelm me when people or situations triggered the resentment that just under the surface. Sometimes, innocent people got in the way. They were hurt by my sarcastic comments and were turned off by my angry demeanor.
My thoughts kept going back to how much people such as my parents and my classmates hurt me and damaged my self-esteem. However, I hated living as an angry, hurt person. Resentment and self-pity invaded my mind and took up space in my mind that I wanted to devote to other things. The more I tried to live the Christian way, the more guilt I felt for all the anger I felt inside.
For a long time, I thought of myself as a lower species of human who deserved destructive criticism and put-downs. My parents and peers told me I was stupid and ugly, and I believed it. As I grew in my Christian faith, however, I…
