Rejection hurts, Jesus can help. I borrowed and altered this tag line from a popular anti-depressant medication advertisement. I am not being trite or snide in saying this, because I truly believe that the pain of rejection can only be righteously resolved through the application of biblical principle to the heart and life of the person who has been hurt.
This pain is the kind that goes so deeply that at times it feels as though it could split you in half and wash you away, and no one likes to be hurt like that! When it happens, our pride gets all uppity and our sinful heart determines, "No one is going to treat me that way!"
Rejection is such a deeply personal hurt because often it is not our deeds or actions that are rejected, it is us as people, our very personhood is what seems to disqualify us from being a part of the life of that person. There is little we can do when someone finds our very existence unacceptable to them or too distasteful for them to be around.
The inborn response of the heart when you are rejected is to become angry at the one who has hurt you so deeply. The anger of the rejected is very deeply rooted and can even become dangerous if left to remain and fester.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:31(NASB)
Scripture tells us that bitterness is what ensues when the pain of rejection is not dealt with biblically. And from that anger and bitterness disastrous fruit is born. The wrath of the wounded heart is what determines someone is going to pay for how I have been hurt, and what destroys all possibility of future relationships. Every day the rejected one decides to keep that bitterness alive in their heart. Of course, in doing so they determine that everyone around them must hear of what has been done to them, and gossip and slander and every kind of evil speaking flow like a river from their heart. A malicious spirit develops within this person and in the end, they become the very thing they hated.
I seriously doubt that a person who has been rejected understands this is the end of the road of unforgiveness, but it is.
Tomorrow we will look at the Response to Rejection