Jesus loves us unconditionally. That means that we don't have to do anything to earn his love. We can't be good enough or do enough good stuff or study the Bible enough or give enough money to the church for Jesus to love us. God loves us just because He loves us. The Bible tells us "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." – 1 John 4:9-11 Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could have eternal life in heaven with Him.
Ok, so how does that tie in to child abuse? There are basically 4 types of abuse -- physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse. Which is the worst type of abuse? It’s the on that YOU are going through! Statistics tell us that “almost five children die everyday as a result of child abuse. Bell County (right here where we live) ranks fifth in the state of Texas for deaths from child abuse. Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education. The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2007 was 104 billion dollars.(www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics) While the deaths from child abuse are tragic, abuse has a profound effect on the victims of abuse even after they become adults. 36% of all women in prison were abused as children. Adults who were abused as children suffer from eating disorders, low self-esteem, a sense of guilt, feelings of shame, addictions, nightmares, flashbacks, even PTSD, and so much more.
I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior at Vacation Bible School when I was 7 years old. My mother told me I was too young to understand what I was doing and didn’t allow me to be baptized until I was 11 years old. Because of that, I had some confusion about it for a time but I have no doubt in my mind now that I asked Jesus into my heart at age 7. Jesus was always with me after that. He put many adults in my childhood who knew Him and loved Him enough to pick me up for church on Sundays when no one else in the house attended church. There were adults who helped me make it to church camp in the summers. Christ always had adults around me to help me see Christ’s love. They didn’t know what was going on in my home but they knew that Jesus wanted them to show me His love. I could name so many people, like Mr. and Mrs. Roy Johnson (no relation). Mr. and Mrs. Johnson picked me up for Sunday School and worship service every Sunday. I don’t remember how long they continued to pick me up. It just seems that they were always there on Sunday morning. I got to go to a class of kids my age, many of them I knew from school. Then I got to go into the church for a worship service. At the end of that I knew the Johnsons would take me back home, where I belonged, back to the abusers. I wouldn’t have wanted them to do anything else. Jesus Christ was using these people and others like them throughout most of my life to show and to teach me about what unconditional love was all about.
I was so lucky, also, that He gave me the most wonderful man in the world to be my husband. David loved me no matter what I did. I know that most women who have been abused have not been as lucky as I have been to marry a man who truely understands what unconditional love is. Most women have a tendancy to marry a man like their father and in the case of my 2 sisters, and many others, those were abusive men. When we turn our lives over to Jesus, He doesn't promise us a rose garden. We will still have problems in our life. He just promises that He will always be with us and will continue to love us, no matter what. Jesus Christ is the only way to really experience unconditional love here on earth. He will love you for who you are, not for what you can do or for what you will become.
Ok, so how does that tie in to child abuse? There are basically 4 types of abuse -- physical, sexual, verbal and emotional abuse. Which is the worst type of abuse? It’s the on that YOU are going through! Statistics tell us that “almost five children die everyday as a result of child abuse. Bell County (right here where we live) ranks fifth in the state of Texas for deaths from child abuse. Child abuse occurs at every socioeconomic level, across ethnic and cultural lines, within all religions and at all levels of education. The estimated annual cost of child abuse and neglect in the United States for 2007 was 104 billion dollars.(www.childhelp.org/pages/statistics) While the deaths from child abuse are tragic, abuse has a profound effect on the victims of abuse even after they become adults. 36% of all women in prison were abused as children. Adults who were abused as children suffer from eating disorders, low self-esteem, a sense of guilt, feelings of shame, addictions, nightmares, flashbacks, even PTSD, and so much more.
I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior at Vacation Bible School when I was 7 years old. My mother told me I was too young to understand what I was doing and didn’t allow me to be baptized until I was 11 years old. Because of that, I had some confusion about it for a time but I have no doubt in my mind now that I asked Jesus into my heart at age 7. Jesus was always with me after that. He put many adults in my childhood who knew Him and loved Him enough to pick me up for church on Sundays when no one else in the house attended church. There were adults who helped me make it to church camp in the summers. Christ always had adults around me to help me see Christ’s love. They didn’t know what was going on in my home but they knew that Jesus wanted them to show me His love. I could name so many people, like Mr. and Mrs. Roy Johnson (no relation). Mr. and Mrs. Johnson picked me up for Sunday School and worship service every Sunday. I don’t remember how long they continued to pick me up. It just seems that they were always there on Sunday morning. I got to go to a class of kids my age, many of them I knew from school. Then I got to go into the church for a worship service. At the end of that I knew the Johnsons would take me back home, where I belonged, back to the abusers. I wouldn’t have wanted them to do anything else. Jesus Christ was using these people and others like them throughout most of my life to show and to teach me about what unconditional love was all about.
I was so lucky, also, that He gave me the most wonderful man in the world to be my husband. David loved me no matter what I did. I know that most women who have been abused have not been as lucky as I have been to marry a man who truely understands what unconditional love is. Most women have a tendancy to marry a man like their father and in the case of my 2 sisters, and many others, those were abusive men. When we turn our lives over to Jesus, He doesn't promise us a rose garden. We will still have problems in our life. He just promises that He will always be with us and will continue to love us, no matter what. Jesus Christ is the only way to really experience unconditional love here on earth. He will love you for who you are, not for what you can do or for what you will become.
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