In Proverbs 20:30, it reads, “The\u00a0blueness\u00a0<\/strong>of a wound cleanseth away evil: so [do] stripes the inward parts of the belly.”\u00a0 What does blueness mean?<\/p>\n\t This is the older way of say “bruise.” We still keep the memory of it when we say a person was beaten black and blue. Bruises look ugly and they hurt, but the body bruises in order to heal damage. We have to put up with the discomfort for a while in order to get better in the long run.<\/p>\n What is being pointed out that we so often avoid pain in ourselves and others. We don’t like to be sick with grief. Yet those hard times of pain and grief are needed to get many people out of their sins and on the right track. Recall, for instance, the story of the prodigal son. Protecting someone from all pain or consequences of their actions can actually be harmful to them in the long run. Think of how many spoiled brats are raised because their parents constantly rescued them from their mistakes. They would have turned out better if they were allowed to experience the pain of their sins so that they would remember to avoid them in the future.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: In Proverbs 20:30, it reads, “The\u00a0blueness\u00a0of a wound cleanseth away evil: so [do] stripes the inward parts of the belly.”\u00a0 What does blueness mean? Answer: This is the older way of say “bruise.” We still keep the memory of it when we say a person was beaten black and blue. Bruises look ugly and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20,1028],"tags":[665,29,107,182,76,188],"class_list":["post-27904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","category-parenting","tag-child-rearing","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children","tag-suffering","tag-terminology","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9125,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-medicinal-products\/","url_meta":{"origin":27904,"position":0},"title":"Notes on Medicinal Products","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Oils and ointments were used to treat wounds Isaiah 1:6 \"From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment.\" Jeremiah 8:22 \"Is there no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":95962,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-never-asked-you-to-hide-your-pain\/","url_meta":{"origin":27904,"position":1},"title":"God Never Asked You to Hide Your Pain","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Nathan Ward via\u00a0InLight Media What do you do with your sadness, grief, disappointment, anger, or confusion before God? Many Christians have been taught-explicitly or implicitly-to hide their negative emotions, put on a brave face, and \"just have faith.\" But when we open the pages of Scripture, we find something\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Video"","block_context":{"text":"Video","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/video\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93689,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/dealing-with-grief\/","url_meta":{"origin":27904,"position":2},"title":"Dealing with Grief","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores When Sarah dies, Abraham mourns deeply -- and then he rises to secure a burial place. It's a tender picture of grief and responsibility living side by side. Abraham doesn't rush past his pain, but he also doesn't get stuck in it. He honors Sarah by grieving\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13892,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-cant-get-my-daughter-to-drink-enough-liquids\/","url_meta":{"origin":27904,"position":3},"title":"I can’t get my daughter to drink enough liquids","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 24, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am having trouble with my daughter not drinking enough fluids.\u00a0 She gets really constipated and we all suffer for it. She may be in physical pain, but it messes with our bath and bedtimes. She was on the toilet for 45 minutes last night. She also makes us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Childhood"","block_context":{"text":"Childhood","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/parenting\/childhood\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":27260,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-you-live-with-yourself\/","url_meta":{"origin":27904,"position":4},"title":"How can you live with yourself?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I came across your site on accident, and to be honest, I am absolutely appalled. I am currently a third-year student, working towards my B.A. in Social Work, and I am astounded at your ignorance. I work with abused children every day, and to see you condoning behavior that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48766,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-god-expect-me-to-remain-a-christian-in-the-face-of-the-death-of-my-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":27904,"position":5},"title":"How can God expect me to remain a Christian in the face of the death of my son?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi there, I recently lost my newborn son due to a premature birth about a month ago. It has been really hard on both me and my husband. We have been gradually picking up our regular routines since it happened, like going back to work and church, but I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Answer:<\/h2>\n