Hosea 6:1

"Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up."
Hosea 6:1


This verse in the scriptures is in a place where God is talking about Israel going astray, and how he isn't going to listen to them anymore... but eventually, when they repent, he will gather them. This applies to us for a lot of reasons. First, because we're children of Israel... either by blood or adoption when we accept the gospel. Second, because it isn't just the story of all of us as a people. It is the story of our individual lives. We all go astray and sin and make mistakes. We all have to at least occasionally apologize and do what we can to undo the harm that we've done. It's part of life. We're imperfect, and even though we typically don't walk into situations trying to tear them apart, sometimes we end up doing it anyway. And here, Hosea is encouraging all of us to return to the Lord... to listen to him, and to stay near him, and to undo that damage, and to change our ways. Stop lashing out in anger. Stop being rude just because it is easy or we're in a bad mood. We suffer for our mistakes... sometimes terribly, but the Lord will bind our wounds and help us start again.
I also love this verse because it shows us yet again God as a tender parent. Sometimes parents have to punish us in order to teach us... we have to suffer consequences in order to learn what it is okay to do and what isn't. But there is still deep love there, even during the punishment... parents don't give up their children for spilling the milk or punching a sibling. And it is the same with God. He loves us more than we can comprehend, and he knows us on an individual level. And although God knows that we need to suffer consequences in order to learn sometimes... he doesn't joy in our grief or our pain. He loves us, and wants us to learn the lesson and move on. Today... let us return to the Lord. We've suffered, but God will heal us. Better than we were before. :)