Someone hurt you. Maybe it happened years ago, maybe this week. You’ve replayed it enough times to know every line. On Sunday 11 October 2026, Apostle Mahemu spoke straight into that place with a message on the value of a soul.
God Loves the One Who Hurt You
No matter how much someone has hurt you, God loves them. That’s a hard sentence to sit with when the wound is still fresh. It’s also the heart of the gospel. Paul tells Timothy that God desires all people to be saved, with no exceptions for the ones who treated us badly.
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
1 Timothy 2:4 (KJV)
God proved that love in the most costly way. Nobody had cleaned up first and nobody had apologised first.
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
The person who hurt you carries a soul that Jesus valued enough to die for. So does yours. Jesus once put the worth of a soul against the whole world and the world lost.
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Matthew 16:26 (KJV)
A soul can’t be priced, and no offence changes its worth.
Love Others as You Love Yourself
The Bible advocates for love, and it says so plainly. Jesus gave the instruction in a single line.
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”
Matthew 22:39 (KJV)
He didn’t stop at the neighbours who are easy to love. In Luke 6 He pushed the command all the way to the people who hurt us.
“But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”
Luke 6:27-28 (KJV)
Loving them doesn’t mean pretending it didn’t hurt. It means refusing to value their soul less than God does. You can pray for someone by name and still keep sensible boundaries.
Forgive, Whatever the Size of the Issue
Apostle Mahemu was direct about this. Learn to forgive no matter the magnitude of the issue, and you will go far in life. Unforgiveness is heavy luggage, and you can’t run a long race while carrying it. Paul knew that well. He had plenty in his own past to be forgiven for, and he wrote about running with his eyes forward.
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14 (KJV)
We don’t forgive because the other person has earned it. We forgive because we’ve been forgiven. Colossians 3:13 makes the same call, and Ephesians 4:32 gives the reason.
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:32 (KJV)
Let Go and Avoid the Drama
The first sign of maturity is the ability to let go. Mature people don’t need every offence argued out in public, and they don’t keep close company with people who thrive on drama. Proverbs puts it this way.
“Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.”
Proverbs 26:20 (KJV)
Not every conversation deserves your energy. Letting go of a fight isn’t losing. It’s choosing what you’ll carry into your next season.
Three Ways to Help Others
Apostle Mahemu closed with three practical things anyone can do this week.
1. Give change. Pay someone’s transport.
A little money at the right moment can get someone to work, to church or home. Scripture treats that kind of giving as worship.
“But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
Hebrews 13:16 (KJV)
Proverbs 3:27 adds that we shouldn’t hold back good from people when it’s in our hand to do it.
2. Say thank you.
Ten lepers were healed in Luke 17, and only one came back.
“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.”
Luke 17:15-16 (KJV)
Gratitude honours the people God sends to help us. Paul wrote that giving thanks in everything is God’s will for us in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
3. Bring them to Jesus.
Jesus wants everyone to come to Him. In His parable of the great supper, the servant reports that the house still has space.
“And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
Luke 14:22-23 (KJV)
Yet there is room. The kindness in the first two steps opens the door, and Jesus is who people find on the other side.
A Word for This Week
Name the person who hurt you. Pray for them today and ask God to show you their soul the way He sees it. Then do one of the three things above for someone before the week ends. Jesus is still inviting.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28 (KJV)
Sermon by Apostle Mahemu, Sunday 11 October 2026. Follow Body of Christ International Church on Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube for more of the Sunday Word.