Fragile

When you receive a package that says "fragile" on the outside, you understand that whatever is inside is to be handled with gentleness and care. The potential to break is great for whatever is inside. The sign on the box implies that the contents have value and that the handlers and recipients must treat that package accordingly.

Abusers treat a valuable being without gentleness or care. They take what is obviously precious and mishandle it. Every creature on this green Earth is precious. Not plant nor ocean nor air nor creature should be handled in a brutal or course way. That truth is even more weighted when a human being is concerned. Jesus said that people who harm children - vulnerable or small people - would be better off if they had a concrete block tied around their necks and thrown into the ocean. Jesus was highly opinionated about those who handle fragile people in harsh or course ways. His harshest judgments were reserved for people who hurt children or vulnerable people (Matthew 18:16, Luke 9:42).

It's ironic that abused children often become adults who continue to abuse – but they abuse themselves! The way life is lived - the choices you make - often reflect the same disregard for yourself that your abusers had. Except the one who does not honor the "fragile" notice is you.

The truth is - you have enormous value. You are precious and must be treated accordingly. It's always interesting that most of us would never tolerate being talked to or treated in the way we talk to or mistreat ourselves. Much of what crushes us today is how we think about ourselves, how we talk to ourselves, how we handle ourselves.

Isn't it time to stop the destructive work of your abusers? Isn't it time to handle yourself with the care you should have experienced when you were small and vulnerable? Isn't it time that you stop acting like your abusers toward yourself and recognize the precious treasure that you are? Fragile - handle with care - those are instructions for you - to handle yourself!