How do we love when we are hurting?

It was an honor to write about my own journey on loving through the hurt over on The Love Offering Blog Series. In my guest post, I share how God’s grace and the guidance of the Holy Spirit helped me to love my husband during the devastating circumstances in our marriage. In order to work to restore our marriage, I had to love my husband even through my deepest pain.

Read more below and head over to https://rachaelkadams.com/writing/ to read the full story.

I heard my phone ding. I looked down and saw the text was from my husband. My heart sank into my stomach. My hand shook as I tapped on the message. I listened as a song began to play.

“It’s going to take much more than promises this time. Only God can change our minds. Maybe you and I were never meant to be complete. Could we just be broken together? If you can bring your shattered dreams and I’ll bring mine. Could healing still be spoken and save us? The only way we’ll last forever is broken together.”

-Broken Together, Casting Crowns

The previous week I had learned that my husband betrayed me. My whole world came crashing down after one sentence revealed the truth—a truth I so desperately wanted to erase. After this revelation, the future of our marriage was uncertain. I was in a state of numbness and pure heartache, unable to pick myself up off the couch. But one morning, as I sat paralyzed, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “Don’t give up.” This prompting gave me the will to fight for my marriage. At that point, I was not sure if my husband felt the same.

So the following week, when I received the song, Broken Together, from my husband, I knew he wasn’t giving up either. The song lyrics spoke volumes. That song started the journey to restoring our marriage. And to work towards restoration, I needed to work on loving my husband even through deep hurt.

Loving someone that just shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces was not something I could do without the power of the Holy Spirit. But, through the Holy Spirit’s leading and the sustaining grace from our loving God, I was able to work towards extending the same grace and compassion to my husband that I had received from God. Continuing to love while still processing my pain was the most challenging part of the journey to restore our marriage.

This is an excerpt from “Loving Through the Hurt” by Beth McCarthy, Writer/Blogger at Held With Grace

To continue reading her Love Offering story visit https://rachaelkadams.com/writing/