Healing the Wounds of Trauma

If we hear too much from one side, we may begin to see only their point of view. We will need to spend time with the other side to recover perspective.

B. We can lead people to Christ so that they find healing and repent of their sins.

God has given us the ministry of reconciling people to himself in Christ (2 Co 5.17–20). Where there is conflict, nearly everyone has wounds of the heart.These should be brought to Christ so he can heal the pain. Where people have sinned against others, they must repent and ask God and those they have hurt to forgive them. C. We can help people repent of the sins of their group. The worst things that happen in the world are caused not by individu- als, but by groups: ethnic groups, governments, religious groups. Even if we were not involved personally in causing suffering, asmembers of our group, we need to repent before God for the suffering our group has caused. Then we need to ask forgiveness of those we have hurt on behalf of our group. In the Bible, Daniel, Nehemiah, and Ezra did this on behalf of their people (Dn 9.4–9; Ne 9.1–37; Ezra 9.5–15; Lv 26.40). There are also many examples of people doing this today: Americans asking forgiveness of Native Americans, Germans asking forgiveness of the Dutch for the suffering they inflicted on them dur- ing World War II, South African Whites asking forgiveness of Blacks.

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How Can We Live as Christians in the Midst of Conflict?