Recovering From Religious Abuse by Jack Watts

Author:Jack Watts
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HOWARD BOOKS
Published: 2011-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

DAY 39 / STEP 5 WEEK 6 / WEDNESDAY

Losing Your Sense of Belonging

I recognize that the only way back to a productive life is exactly the way I came. Therefore, I commit to repairing my relationship with God and making amends with everyone I have wronged along the way.

Read: When you go through a destructive experience like religious abuse, you lose your sense of belonging. Within a short time, a feeling of being adrift also seems to typify most abused people. Many lose their bearings, making them more susceptible to self-defeating behavior. Although this is human and easy to understand, you don’t have to allow this to be your experience.

Here’s why. When Christ comes into your life, He never leaves you—not under any circumstances. In spite of the painful episode you’ve experienced, you are still a child of God and a permanent citizen in His kingdom. You belong—period—and no one can take that away from you. Abusers can mess with your experience, but they can’t extricate Christ from your life. They don’t have that power—regardless of what they tell you.

If you repeat this to yourself, you can avoid much of the trauma associated with your painful experience. It will still hurt—no doubt about it—but you don’t have to continue pursuing a destructive lifestyle. Don’t allow it to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. You can minimize the negativity. It’s hard, but it can be done.

Remember, no matter how far down you have gone, you have to come back the same way. With that being the case, doesn’t it make sense to stop the downward slide sooner than later?

The choice is yours. You will experience some pain during your recovery, but you can keep it to a minimum. In recovery, this is referred to as a “high bottom” rather than a “low bottom.”

I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ROMANS 8:38–39)

Pray: Father, I have felt so lost and confused. Help me stop my self-defeating behavior. Give me clarity and guidance as I begin my journey back.

Write: Spend time reflecting about where you belong. Remind yourself that you are a child of the King—based on your relationship with Christ. Return to what is true. Write a paragraph or two about how you will never allow anyone to come between God and you again.

Reflect

He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

—JOHN 1:11–13

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.

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