Have you ever seen a paper shredder? You take your documents you do not want anyone to see or recover, and you put them through the shredding machine. Out on the other side comes dozens of tiny strips of paper. That is a great when it comes to shredding documents. Picture the same outcome only this time it is a person's heart. Not shredded with a machine. Shredded with words.
The hearts of many people get shredded by sharp-tongue verbal vigilantes. They rip hearts apart with brutal and careless words. People are wounded by machete like words that pierce, cut, and dice the heart and the soul. Sometimes this happens by the very people who claim to love the ones they wound.
Social media can add insult to injury. People pile on with hateful, insensitive, and cruel words they typically do not have the courage to speak to a person's face. They shred more than hearts. They can shred the psyche, the dignity, and self worth of others created in the image of God. Nobody is perfect. We all have our faults. Therefore, none of us have the right to verbally assassinate other people destroying them in the process.
I see this in the eyes of students. They get hammered at home as well as at school in some cases. Many of the students I visit with are defeated because of the horrible things said to them or about them. It is sad. Beautiful young lives created in the image of God get shredded by adults and students alike. No wonder so many battle mental health issues. They feel like they have no worth because some are devalued by parents and peers. If they could only shut out all that noise and hear the heart of a loving Heavenly Father who created them. Here are some of the things God's word says about them taken from [Ps 139:13-16]. Our bodies, personalities, and intellect were intricately woven together with the precision of a loving Creator. God creates people with intelligent design. No two of us are alike. Each a unique and wonderful design of His wonderful imagination. God skillfully crafted us. We were not hastily or absent mindedly thrown together. Before we were ever born God saw us and knew us. More than that, He ordained the days set out for us before we ever took our first breath outside the womb. He saw this day when wounded souls would read this.
God values His creation. So much so He sacrificed the death of His beloved Son Jesus to purchase our forgiveness and salvation. [John 3:16] God proved that love by sending Jesus to die while we were still sinners. [Romans 5:8] It is true none of us are perfect. It is also true that we are loved and valued by our God. He is also near to those who are brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. [Psalm 34:18-19]. If people shred us, it is God who binds our wounded hearts back together. His opinion should matter more than all the shredders of this earth. We have wroth to Him.
Dear wounded one. Go to your Father and let Him love you back to health. Let Him warm you in His compassion. Let Him soothe the wounds until they are whole again. He does not shred. He loves, consoles, restores, and rebuilds.
