by Rick Warren
“Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you.
Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.” (1 Peter 3:9
NLT)
The starting point in your healing is to get to know your Healer. You need to say,
“Jesus Christ, I don’t know how you did this, but you took the guilt for every sin in the world — the ones done to me and the ones done by me. You took that abuse on yourself. I want to learn to love you. And I want you to come in and heal my heart and my mind and my body.”And he will. He will!
Did Jesus, when he was abused, retaliate? Absolutely not! The Bible says, “Christ never verbally abused those who verbally abused him. When he suffered, he didn’t make any threats but left everything to the one who judges fairly” (1 Peter 2:23 GW).
One day, God is going to balance the books. One day God is going to settle the score. One day God is going to right all the wrongs. You think Hitler is going to get away with it? You think the abusers won’t have to answer for the abuse? You think all the evil that’s happened in the world will go unpunished?
No. One day God is going to settle the score. It is his alone to settle.
God is a truly just God. He can do a whole lot better job at settling the score than you can. So you are to leave it in his hands, because he’s God, and you are not.
One of the reasons why we have to deal with abuse is because of this: It is contagious. It gets passed on from generation to generation.
If you saw abuse growing up or experienced it in your family, you learned some patterns. It’s more likely to be passed on.
This year about 10 million kids in America will watch their parents in a domestic violence situation. Study after study has shown that those kids are twice as likely to abuse their own family once they’re married. Somebody’s got to break the chain
It’s going to be you. Starting today. Starting now. Starting with the power of the Holy Spirit.
God, I pray a blessing of courage on everyone reading this, that many will say, “I’m not keeping it a secret any more. I’m going to name the abuse. I’m not going to minimize it or rationalize it. If I need to get to a safe place for a while, then so be it. Help me to get the courage to talk with other people who can help me make a plan to grow to health and healing. Save my life; save my relationships. Let the healing process begin. And God, I’m going to let you settle the score. In your name I pray. Amen.”
Talk About It
-
What will you do today to break the cycle of abuse
in your life? There are resources and churches in your city that can
help
you.
- How can you support a friend or family member who has suffered or is suffering from abuse? How can you encourage those who are still suffering in silence?
This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at www.rickwarren.org.
Comments