Scribed In Light

When truth touches a tender place, it can feel more like an attack than an invitation. But what if it isn’t the words, but the wounds we’ve left unhealed? But what if it’s not the words, but the wounds we haven’t healed? This reflection gently explores how emotional triggers can distort truth and disrupt relationships, and how grace calls us inward, instead of outward.

This post gently explores how emotional wounds and past baggage can distort present-day words – and how a moment of pause might protect the relationships we cherish most.

When words stir offense: A call to look within

It happens more often than we care to admit.

Someone posts a reflection, speaks a word of encouragement or conviction, shares a beloved phrase – and suddenly…someone else feels targeted…offended…hurt.

Good Heavens, I can remember sitting in a church pew wondering if the pastor tailored that entire sermon just for me (insert big eyes)…only to find out – it was not. God’s word was always meant to stir us. It discerns. It challenges. It refines. It’s not always gentle, but it is always loving.

Yes, I have also found myself pondering if words spoken between a group of friends were not somehow steered personally. Then realized, nope – just someone else who was going through similar circumstance.

Haven’t we all done it?

So often, words are mistaken for weapons. We personalize what wasn’t personal. We attribute motives that were never present. We assume judgment when it was simply a passing moment of shared reflection or experience. Then, truth simply does what it’s meant to do- it illuminates. When it’s shared from a heart of love, not pride, it isn’t a jab. Often it’s a light shining into the parts of us we have hidden or hardened.

when hidden baggage shapes our lens

Here’s something tender and true: Most of us carry unseen weight – the kind that settles deep into our responses.

Old wounds, past traumas, unresolved stories – still echoing below the surface.

When something brushes against those hidden sore spots, it can feel like a direct hit…even when it’s not.

Not every sting is an attack. Sometimes it’s a buried landmine we didn’t realize was still active.

• A childhood wound.
• An old betrayal.
• An unresolved memory or misunderstood experience.
• A past trauma.

So what do we do when words stir us? We view it as an invitation – to become vulnerable. To open up and reveal the hidden truths of weight we carry. To finally lay down the baggage that’s been pressing on us for far too long.

We pause.

We reflect.

Then we ask ourselves the hard – but freeing – question:

“Is this really about them…or is this something me?”

When we assume offense without checking our own hearts, we risk turning safe relationships toxic.

So how do we avoid this?

By reflecting. By mirroring.

Too often, we punish the messenger when the real issue is inside – our own need to heal. It’s our own pain, not their words, that needs the gentle peeling back of the veil…

The raw swirl of our flesh reactions, our unspoken fears, our buried emotions. As we soften, we gently shift into self- examination without shame.

It’s rarely done – and yet, it is infinitely powerful.

These old scars – this emotional baggage – become the lens we use to weigh every interaction…every conversation…every new experience. Often misleading just how pure those relationships truly are. We bristle, and more often than not, we never address the assumption at all. We walk away with a chip on our shoulder – fully loaded – having completely misjudged someone who’s left blindsided by our sudden change in tone, demeanor, or energy.

I try to ask myself when emotionally stirred by ones words….is this just my old sugar tree of baggage being shaken – or is healing being invited?

Lord knows – I have carried a lot of baggage in 58 years of life -believing all the while it was properly channeled, only to find out later… it wasn’t. That emotional toxicity can – and will – resurface. It rears its ugly erosion decades later… and always when you least expect it. I’ve sabotaged myself with it more times than I’d like to admit, and I know I can’t be the only one.

Do you have unseen baggage weighing in on your relationships today?

Maybe it’s time to pause, reflect, and self-examine – without shame -and begin to unpack.

Choose to heal, instead of assuming or defending. If your flesh starts rearing up, quickly identify it and crucify it – before it binds you. Before it anchors you to its collateral emotional damage. A hidden tension that spills into innocent conversations creates shortness, distrust, and ill tones with others. Studies prove that an unhealed offense never stays small. It spreads. Quietly. Slowly. We don’t grow by guarding our bruises -but by gently uncovering them, and letting grace do what only it can.

Sometimes the pain isn’t in the words spoken, but in the place they land. Before you blame the messenger, ask if the bruise was already there.

Sometimes, it takes vulnerability. It’s uncomfortable. It’s messy and that’s okay. Allowing it to hang around your neck, like a noose – further affecting your life, those you love, your future – is far from okay.

Do the work. Identify it. Acknowledge it. Crucify it with truth. Release from it and grow.

When you feel poked – pause. Self examine. Dig deep. Choose to unpack that baggage and heal. No one…and I mean NO ONE…is going to do the work for you. Healing isn’t passive – it’s a pursuit.

If this reflection spoke to your spirit consider sharing it with someone who may be quietly wrestling with misunderstood moments.

Let’s heal forward – together.

And remember:

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.” – Carl Jung

May grace meet you in the hard places,

and may healing find you in the pause.

Keep choosing grace. Keep doing the heart-work.

Light and Grace,

-Tina N. Campbell | Scribed In Light