Any form of abuse, be it verbal, physical, emotional, psychological or mental is simply a means of attacking the person's chance of coming to Jesus. It is an assault on the spiritual well-being of that victim. Specific and devious, abusers will seek, at the prompting of the Evil One, to victimize a person where it hurts the most for the victim. It is the Devil's way of dragging one more soul to hell, or two if you count the attacker. However, it needn't be that way.
The Devil, you see, is a defeated foe. He can rage and scheme and taunt the weak, or tempt the strong. But, with Jesus' death on the Cross at Golgotha, there is final and eternal victory over the Devil. So why is he so active?
Humans suffer from curses and from occupying spirits which the Devil controls. The enemy is not humanity but Satan. The Devil tends to use the same old tricks that work throughout millennia and packages it nicely and appropriately for each new generation. Kairos is the best term for his deep camouflage. Really human beings only have so many limited ways that we can be tempted. The rest is simply non-existent since it is not in our human capacity to conceive of it. We know only what we are.
When we commit sin, or in other words, rebellion against God's basic principles of love for Him with all that is in us and love for our fellow man as we love ourselves, we allow satanic activity to bother us and enter us. We become demonized. It requires a lengthy deliverance and willingness on our part to obey God to get out of the grasp of the Enemy. Even then he will sound horns, bang on pots, taunt us with repetitious guilt and accusations. But Christ says of this, "Be of good cheer, little flock, for I have overcome the world!" We can ask the Lord to deliver us. We can pray in His name to cast out demons, and to make them stay out. We can segregate ourselves from the children of Darkness as their demons jump on us if we socialize with them. "Therefore come out from among them and be separated, says the Lord, and do not touch the unclean thing. And I will receive you." (2Co 6:17) To finally forgive our abusers does not mean necessarily to reconcile with them. As prayer warriors, we can pray earnestly for their salvation, but "what does darkness have to do with light?" (while they are still in darkness, that is).
But,
2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship does righteousness have with lawlessness? And what partnership does light have with darkness?
2Co 6:15 And what agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16
And what agreement does a temple of God have with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, "I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
If we are His temple, how much more do we need to treat our whole selves with soundness! It is one thing to be persecuted for the sake of the Lord Jesus and the Gospel; it is entirely different and unbiblical to stay abused in an abusive relationship.
Abuse is meant to repeatedly cower us over time so that we recoil even from God. That is why so many abuse victims lash out at God. This is truly terrible. Thank the Lord for His Holy spirit. Without it we would not heal or find new life, and a new life. With the Holy Spirit, soundness of mind and of spirit return. May you find all you need in God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, and whatever church body earnestly, faithfully and righteously, mercifully ministers to you. If we believe that each of us were created by God from the womb, that He has a plan to benefit us and not to harm us, and that Jesus is all the world needs as an answer, we will have insight and impetus to get out of abusive relationships and into the kingdom of light where God opens His arms to us and shines His warm love onto our chilled hearts.
