Melissa Anderson
About the Author

Melissa is wife to her best friend and homeschooling mama to five crazy, wonderful kiddos. She wades through everything from diapers to teenage hormones. Her abundant life is certainly not a perfect life, but despite the world making many attempts to drain her cup, it continues to overflow.

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
Find more at DaySpring.com
(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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Comments

  1. Melissa,
    How good it is that you listened to God’s whispers and then His outright urging. So many times we want to push those feelings down and let our pride take over. After all, we have a reason to be wounded and hurt and we make it all about us. Here, this woman obviously needed it to be about her that morning and because you listened to God you opened an avenue for God to comfort her through you. Listening…truly listening and obey God’s whispers…it takes practice. Thank you for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Bev xx

  2. Melissa, thank you for listening to God in that moment. I’m that girl who thaws the cheesecake and sets the table and runs right by the soul that needs to empty itself of hurt in the presence of a loving sister. Because of your words today, I am challenged to stop and listen and take risks for the sake of the Body.
    Again. Thank you.

    • Me too Michele. Justifying comes easier than obedience when our emotions are attached.

      Thank you Melissa for this healthy reminder. As Mother Teresa and Heidi Baker says, “Stop for the one.” I know the jargon. My heart is to start living it.

      • Mary, I am going to remember that sentence: “Justifying comes easier than obedience when our emotions are attached.” Good one.

    • It’s not easy to slow down long enough to see past what’s right in front of us, but I feel the Spirit just begging me to slow down and truly see. We need to help remind our fellow sisters what’s important and encourage each other in this journey. I’m so glad you are encouraged to step out today – He will bless you for it!

  3. Wow! Isn’t it awesome the way God works if we but let Him? I really enjoyed this writing! I know what it’s like to keep loving when falsely criticized and accused. I happen to go to church with people like that. But I give them the benefit of the doubt that they really didn’t know what they were doing. And they really have no idea how deeply they have hurt me. I continue to love them and talk with them. It is such a blessing in my life to not hold onto hurt! And it makes me think twice before judging someone else! I am also so blessed to read I’m not the only one who struggles with reaching out to those who have hurt me…. but then following Jesus’ way and doing it. Thanks so much for another timely article.

    • God has a way of giving us just what we need at just the right moment, doesn’t He?! Thank you for your kind words. I am praying for strength to continue to love those in your church and to be willing to continue to make yourself vulnerable. We certainly can’t rely on our own strength, but He will give you the strength, and His love will flow right through you!

  4. What a sweet testimony, Melissa. — What graceful courage it takes to step outside of our disappointment and be a living sacrifice pointing a hurting world to the One who mends spirits. — Thanks for sharing. 🙂

  5. Melissa,

    My pastor has a saying “When you get those ought to feelings–you should follow them”. It is probably the Holy Spirit prompting you. It is easy to be busy and rush by people. You just never know who might need a hug or a shoulder to cry on. I always try to stop and really talk to people. Find out what’s going on in their lives. Thank you for taking time to stop and talk with that girl. She really needed you and God knew it!

    We should never let pride or our busyness get in the way of listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. For one day we might be the one who needs a hug or shoulder to cry on!

    Blessings 🙂

    • How true, Beth, thank you for that reminder! So grateful for people like you who stop and really take time for people. We underestimate the importance of these conversations, but as the article says, everybody has a story. You are an encouragement!

  6. I can agree with what you wrote. I’ve been there. And it’s the hardest thing to do in the moment. But afterwards you wonder why you fretted about it. If we love only those who love us what have we gained even non-christians do that. But if you love the unlovable you are doing what Christ did for us…loving us when we were sinners.

  7. This is excellent! Thank you for the reminder that there is always a reason to keep us from loving, yet there is always a reason TO love. Because of Christ and His sacrifice we can choose to love even when it is scary or hard. I’m thankful for your obedicience in this situation and for the blessing you received (and gave!) in it. Such encouraging words this morning.

  8. All I can say is Amen, Amen, and ouch. I can SO relate to that feeling of withheld forgiveness….God help us all in that area to grow up. This article encouraged and blessed me greatly. When I got to the paragraph about how the author walked past the fellow Christian who hurt her feelings, initially choosing not to be obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit, I thought ‘wow, disobedience to God’s will because she was too busy trying to set up a room for MINISTRY purposes???’…then I turned that spotlight on myself. How many times have I acted in that same manner?? sometimes we I) forget that true ministry starts in our hearts not in our hands. Thank you SO much for sharing the ‘meat’ of what God has taught you with the Body of Christ. God bless

    • Yes, I wish I could say loving and forgiving those who have hurt me was easy, but I’m not quite there yet. But we can keep listening to Him and doing the “difficult thing.” I really like how you said, “ministry starts in our hearts not in our hands.” What great wisdom! Thank you for sharing!

  9. You story so reminded me of Corrie Ten Boom who God had asked to forgive the very man who caused the death of her sister. Yes, the extent of the wounding is lesser but still it requires faith, courage and strength to get past oneself to do what He wants. The very thing that hurts us can be the very thing that heals us. Thank you so much for the great reminder and great sharing. Shalom!

  10. Thanks Melissa for this great lesson in grace and mercy! I remember shopping at a discount store and overheard a debate going on between an elderly woman and a small child. The child wanted a particular toy but the woman said she can’t afford it. The child was close to tears. The Holy Spirit nudged me to help but I first refused because I was in a hurry, unemployed and low on money. I had the what-about-me-attitude. I reluctantly approached the lady and asked “Can I buy her that toy? She cried and said her son just died and she’s raising her grandchild. I hugged her and ministered to her. Just think, that was almost a lost opportunity to minister to a grieving soul.

    • You just never know when God is going to give you the opportunity to show His love, even in a discount store! Thank you for being on the lookout for ways to love and listening to His Voice, even when you could justify not doing it. You are an encouragement!

  11. This was a very relevant testimony for me. Sometimes it is so easy to look at “my feelings,” “my wounds,”
    or “my needs” and not think about why someone might have behaved the way they did. Your article
    reminds us that LOVE demands that we think of others first. I thought your article had a, kind of, “shadow message” too about obedience. You obeyed God, not your “feelings” and as a result God was able to share
    a greater lesson a greater blessing with you. Thank you!

    • I just love how God knows that one of the greatest ways to heal our wounds or hurt feeling is to lay them at the feet of the one who hurt us. So often, doing “the difficult thing” produces such great blessings for us as well and so often we can miss out on that! Thank you for your response!

  12. Thank you so much, I’ve been truly blessed by the post and all the testimonies shared by all.
    This is an experience we all can relate to.

    Thanks again for the timely reminder

  13. Melissa, thank you for the gift of your story. It is a wonderful reminder that everything met with grace will work out as God planned. I needed this message today and I will use it gratefully.

    • What a gift it is to know this message was an encouragement to you and that you are able to use to be a blessing to others. Praying for sure& courage!

  14. These are the exact verses I’ve been pondering this week. They are so hard to truly live, but if we trusted God enough to lean into this way of life, our world would be transformed!

    • I agree, Christie! I think so many of us want to live like this, to love like this, and to be loved like this. So glad we can encourage each other to be different in this way!

  15. Thanks for the continuance of encouragement. It helped me today and I hope it helps me in the future. I so have been on both sides of that situation and I understand how difficult it is. Thanks for sharing

  16. Don’t you just love that nudge, the insistance? You gotta love Jesus for sending us the Holy Spirit.

  17. THANK YOU FOR THIS SCRIPTURE! I AM SO BLESSED YOU POSTED THIS. GOD IS CHANGING MY HEART WITH HIS LOVE AND I AM SEEING OTHERS DIFFERENTLY. AMAZING!!! AWESOME!!! WHAT AN AMAZING GOD WE HAVE!

    • He IS so good! Praying for you to truly know His profound love so it just can’t help but spill over into everyone around you, difficult or not…