The mental pull to stew over past hurts tempts us all. These hurts might seem to define us to ourselves and, we may fear, to everyone else. We might even try to heal past hurts through outward changes such as trying to become famous in order to feel others are validating our worth. 

The good news is that enduring worth doesn’t depend on how popular we are with others. It depends on seeking and finding validation of who we are in something that isn’t ephemeral—in a love for us that doesn’t wax and wane: God’s love. We feel this love when we seek, find, and build on the rock of Christ, the ever-present healing influence of God evidenced in Jesus’ ministry to the sick and sinning.

No matter how long an ailment had endured, Jesus’ love lifted the hearts of those who were struggling, first to a higher hope and then beyond hope to resolution. He didn’t ignore the past record that seemed to be, but he understood that that history was very different from what God, Spirit, always sees and knows—the record of our lives as His creation. Jesus’ perception of this reality cured a woman of hemorrhaging suffered for a dozen years, restored the sight of a man blind from birth, and transformed the lives and characters of so many others.