When the Right Thing Hurts

 When the right thing hurts - it is still the right thing. 

It is right to leave a toxic environment 

It hurts to leave all you’ve ever known 

It is right to say you will no longer speak hate to others 

It hurts when those you love turn that hate speech onto you

It is right to slip away from a church without causing a scene ( depending on circumstance) 

It hurts when you lose the people you’ve loved

It is right to put up boundaries to keep yourself safe 

It hurts when those around you do not respect it

It is right to grow and heal yourself from the past 

It hurts when the past keeps pulling you back 

It is right to cut out family that continually abuses you in anyway

It hurts when you mourn what those relationships should have been

It is right to uproot and throw away the  toxic Jesus you were taught 

It hurts to know things you believed were wrong and in that you hurt others

Friends- it hurts. Nothing we can do to move around that. But on the other side of that pain there is hope and healing. 

The other side is full of life and love. It is full of confidence and compassion for self and others. 

There are people who love you as you are- respect your boundaries- and hold safe spaces for you. 

There is a Jesus who is not like the Jesus we knew. This Jesus loves us where we are, in our doubts, in our anger, and in our pain. He holds space for us as we push Him out and waits for us to pull Him back in. 

The pain is real. It hurts. It does get easier. 

So do what is right; even when it hurts 

-Amber Schultz

  2023