Physical and verbal abuse, sexual assault, molestation, and rape. These words are small, yet they have such a big affect on someone’s life. People all around the world have been and still are victims to these horrible experiences. They suffer from the pain it causes them everyday. Yet people feel like it is their fault or that they can’t talk about what happened to them.
Why is that?
For one, these situations and problems aren’t really spoken of or broadcasted in today’s world. I feel like the subject of rape or abuse is taboo in cultures all around the world. People that have been victim to these situations feel like if they come out, what will be said about them? Look at the girl who was raped at a party while drinking. Or the women who was sold into prostitution by her family at a young age but doesn’t know how to get out of the business. Or a child who is abused and left the house but years later comes back because they couldn’t make it on their own. Some people, not all, look at these situations and think: maybe if the woman wasn’t drinking she wouldn’t have been in that situation. Why doesn’t she just leave the bars, it’s easy. Can’t she just run away from her family? Each person has a story and it is more than what it looks like from the outside. Each type of abuse takes a toll on a person and hurts them mentally, physically, and emotionally. The thing is, it is not usually a choice or a wish for people to be in these situations and sometimes it may not even occur that there is another world where horrible situations like theirs are not the typical one.
How can it be changed?
It’s not an easy thing to change but it can be done. Everything needs to be done with love. To love a person in any situation and dig deep to find an understanding of who they are and what has shaped them. To say it’s not ok what happened and to love unconditionally. It’s not how I can love them it’s how do they need to be loved. To understand and open your heart. People need to be open in this culture and it must change.
For anyone that has gone through this pain. There is someone that loves you and wants to hear about all the pain you have gone through. This is God and he loves you more than you could ever know. He has a one-way love that even when you stop loving yourself, he still loves you and wants to be with you. He has made you and you are beautifully and wonderfully made. From my heart, I want you to know that it is ok to say what has happened to you. You don’t have to sugar coat it or think that it is your fault. What has happened to you is awful and I am sorry. These experiences have shaped you but they do not define you. You are a women or man of God and you are important in life and so is your pain. There are people who want to know your story and walk your journey with you. There is always hope but sometimes it is not always easy to see.
Verbal/ physical abuse, molestation, sexual assault, rape are words that have hurt many people. They have shaped people but know they do not define a person. Do everything with love and know that you are loved. Also, it’s not ok what has happened to you but it is ok to talk about it.
Isaiah 43:4-5
“Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.For all people on either side, you are loved. God loves you and you have so much to live for. This world is made for you, and your relationships should be filled with love and compassion. There is more to a person than what it just on the outside. You may just have to dig a little deeper.”
