02 No More Victims by Frank Peretti

Author:Frank Peretti
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Christian
ISBN: 9780849943379
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Inc
Published: 2001-10-15T05:00:00+00:00

6

rhen I told a friend of mine that I was writing I l a book about teasing and peer abuse, he quipped, "Oh, so you're writing a book about life!" He had a point there. Quite simply, garbage does happen, and we've all been touched by it in some form at one time or another. Most of us have been teased, have done the teasing, or both. So the question is, how do we get over the pain? How do we deal with the wounds inside? What can we do about the hurtful situations we're in right now? Here's what I've discovered.

First of all, if you're wounded, you're not alone. Obvious, right? But before you shrug this little truism off as just another trite phrase or cutesy emotional Band-Aid, please consider how normal it makes you.

People come in all shapes and sizes, with all kinds of different abilities and disabilities: Some are slim; some are fat; others are handsome, ugly, inferior, strong, weak, dorky, or nerdy, but God made us all. That makes every one of us special, despite our shortcomings. All of us have something, or lack something, that potentially can make us a target for abuse.

Everybody has something they wish they could change about themselves. If you have discovered some defect in yourself-welcome to the human race. Regardless of your failures, foibles, or defeats, you're just as human (and just as precious) as anybody else. You're a member of the human race.

Do you think you're ugly? You're a member.

Do you have cystic hygroma, cerebral palsy, hyperactivity, or asthma? You're a member.

Do you have freckles? Are you too tall, too skinny, too much ... anything? You're a member.

Do you feel left out simply because you're smart? You're a member.

Have you ever been raped? Molested? You're a member.

You're a member of the human race.

And here's another startling revelation: It wasn't (isn't) your fault. One of the most common mistakes made by victims of abuse is to think that for some reason the abuse was justified. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

This came as a real lightning bolt for me while I was working on this book. As I reluctantly trudged back through my dark, difficult memories and encountered the faces and voices of my abusers, I finally saw them for what they were: bullies, not to be feared but to he pitied. Suddenly it dawned on me: It wasn't my fault! What those kids did to me had nothing to do with me. There was never anything so terribly wrong with me that other people had no choice but to be irresistibly, uncontrollably compelled to abuse me. I was not some freak of nature who merited the disdain with which I was treated. It wasn't my problem; it was theirs!

I guess it's just one of those quirky, human tendencies: We tend to believe what others say about us and to view ourselves through their eyes. The moment we get around other people, we start wondering, Am I okay?Are they

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.