God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself is a simple thought reflection from Deuteronomy 14:1-2 about the fact that we don't need to hurt ourselves.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself is a simple thought reflection from Deuteronomy 14:1-2 about the fact that we don't need to hurt ourselves.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revjimerwin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-05T21:56:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@revjimerwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim Erwin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/\",\"name\":\"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-05T21:56:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-05T21:56:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb\"},\"description\":\"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself is a simple thought reflection from Deuteronomy 14:1-2 about the fact that we don't need to hurt ourselves.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/\",\"name\":\"Jim Erwin\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb\",\"name\":\"Jim Erwin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jim Erwin\"},\"description\":\"My name is Jim Erwin. Welcome to my site patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin. You can look around this site and find out more about me. I am a country postmodern pastor in the digital world. I am a Christian, husband to a wonderful wife, father of four wonderful girls, mentor to new Christian leaders, and pastor of a local church. I pastor Washburn First Baptist Church in Washburn, Missouri in the beautiful area of the state called the Ozarks. I am also the Executive Secretary of International Baptist Church Ministries. I am a graduate of University of Houston, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am also a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry in Church Planting.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revjimerwin\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/revjimerwin\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/author\/jerwin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself","description":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself is a simple thought reflection from Deuteronomy 14:1-2 about the fact that we don't need to hurt ourselves.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself","og_description":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself is a simple thought reflection from Deuteronomy 14:1-2 about the fact that we don't need to hurt ourselves.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/","og_site_name":"Jim Erwin","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revjimerwin\/","article_published_time":"2016-02-05T21:56:49+00:00","author":"Jim Erwin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@revjimerwin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim Erwin","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/","name":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-05T21:56:49+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-05T21:56:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb"},"description":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself is a simple thought reflection from Deuteronomy 14:1-2 about the fact that we don't need to hurt ourselves.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/","name":"Jim Erwin","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/d60794d59235a0279dec26398d994dcb","name":"Jim Erwin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/70772a6e533e4bcbd0ac0e0af2d62ff1?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Jim Erwin"},"description":"My name is Jim Erwin. Welcome to my site patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin. You can look around this site and find out more about me. I am a country postmodern pastor in the digital world. I am a Christian, husband to a wonderful wife, father of four wonderful girls, mentor to new Christian leaders, and pastor of a local church. I pastor Washburn First Baptist Church in Washburn, Missouri in the beautiful area of the state called the Ozarks. I am also the Executive Secretary of International Baptist Church Ministries. I am a graduate of University of Houston, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I am also a graduate of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry in Church Planting.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/revjimerwin\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/revjimerwin"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/author\/jerwin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6930"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6930\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

{"id":6930,"date":"2016-02-05T15:56:49","date_gmt":"2016-02-05T21:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/?p=6930"},"modified":"2016-02-05T15:56:49","modified_gmt":"2016-02-05T21:56:49","slug":"god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jimerwin\/2016\/02\/05\/god-loves-you-so-stop-hurting-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"God Loves You, So Stop Hurting Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

February 5, 2016<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 14:1-2<\/p>\n

There are people today who feel the need to cut themselves. Some teenage girls feel so insecure that they feel the need to cut themselves. They cut their arms to get attention from people whom they love. They express themselves in this way because it\u2019s a call for help.<\/p>\n

In the Old Testament, people who cut themselves and put dots on their foreheads did it to mourn the dead. It was an unnatural practice and an unusual way to mourn. This is the reason why God forbid His people to do it. Jesus encountered a person who was demon-possessed (Mark 5:2-5) who cut himself. But that does not mean that cutting comes from demonic possession<\/a>. What\u2019s true about the practice is that people mourned for the dead and that it was an act of self-mutilation.<\/p>\n

God forbade the practice because we are called to be a holy people (Deuteronomy 14:2). God is holy because He is loving and He loves us unconditionally (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t have to cry out because we are in grief. We don\u2019t have to cry out because we are wanting help. We can come to God and ask for help during our time of trial, trouble, or difficulty. We don\u2019t need to hurt ourselves. God is there to help us when we need Him.<\/p>\n

We can stop hurting ourselves by cutting or tearing a bald spot because God is there to help us when we cry.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"