Recently, a famous actress won an award for her performance and mentioned in her acceptance speech how a producer’s disparaging remarks regarding her talent had affected her. This life-changing incident happened 30 years ago yet as she spoke of it from the stage, she appeared to choke up a bit. It was a reminder of how words can hurt so deeply that even if you’ve aged decades since, we can still carry the pain of those moments.

As believers, although we are commanded to forgive, it can be hard to forget our hurt. Yet we can find comfort in knowing the Lord sees, understands, and cares about our pain. He remembers our sorrows and collects our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8). Our pain is real and valid to Him.