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The Hurt & The Healer is the seventh studio album by Christian contemporary Christian music band MercyMe. Released on May 22, 2012, the album was about the season that the band is currently in at the time of composing the music. Produced by Brown Bannister and Dan Muckala, the album met with positive critical and commercial reception. The album sold over 33,000 copies its first week and debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 and at number one on the Christian Albums chart.

The first single released from the album is the song "The Hurt & The Healer". This song reached No. 1 on the Christian Songs and AC Indicator and Soft AC/Inspirational charts, No. 2 on the Hot Christian Adult Contemporary chart, and No. 11 on the Christian CHR chart. The second single "You Are I Am" reached No. 3 on the Christian Songs chart.

In the past, MercyMe and Millard have made songs "based on what people wanted to hear me say. 'Bring the Rain' is a great example. It sounds like I've got it all together, but it's where I wanted to be; not where I was. This past year, I've definitely had those moments where I found myself asking God, 'You are still in control, right?'" This was because the loss of his cousin, who was a firefighter that was killed in the line of duty. So, this album was written from this trying season in Millard's and MercyMe's life, which Millard described as "one of the most disturbing and proud moments of my life." This was because Millard is a person that is a "guy who has all the questions to the guy who is asked all the questions."

The album was written from the perspective of "telling people they're beautiful in the eyes of Christ". In addition, Millard said that they are "reminding people that their identity is in Christ...not their guilt or shame, that they're not a bad person trying to be good...they're redeemed, sanctified." Millard denotes with respect to this album that "sin is powerless and can't remove us from the hand of God. I've had to go through the fact that I set up my dad in sainthood, but never addressed the years of abuse. I am not my shame. I'm not my guilt. Christ is not getting back on the cross. It's finished once and for all. For the first time, after years of being in the church, I feel like I'm seeing a part of God and myself. This is the first time I'm really living it. I am worthy. It's been a big shift for me. I'm done telling people to stop sinning and, instead, let them know who they are in Christ."

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