“Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.”

(Proverbs 22:24-25 ESV)

“Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.”

(Colossians 3:19 ESV)

I hear pretty much every day about abusive relationships. How a man abuses a woman. Rarely do I of a woman abusing a man, but it does happen. Or an adult who abuses children. None are acceptable.

Abuse takes many forms. Physical abuse is the most common because you can see the effects of it. Bruises and broken bones are pretty obvious signs. But there is also mental abuse. I was a victim of this kind of abuse. Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad. But he was an abuser. I don’t think he realized it. He was a mental abuser. I still have lingering effects long after he died. There are still things I won’t do because of things he said to me as a child.

God did not create us to be abusers or abused. We don’t have to stand by and let it happen. There is always a way out. If you have a loving family, turn to them. There are agencies that will help abused people. Don’t let it keep happening.

I spent a lot of years volunteering on the local ambulance service and working in a hospital. I have seen abused women get treated after being beaten so badly that she could barely walk and refuse to press charges. Because she loved him and he promised never to do it again. But it always happened again and usually worse than the time before. 

This is not what I had planned to talk about. I don’t know who needs to hear this, and I don’t need to know. But God wants you to know you don’t have to live this way. Even if you haven’t been hit yet, if he or she has just yelled or destroyed your things, it doesn’t mean they won’t take it further the next time. Possessions can be replaced. Your life can’t. Think about it.

Have a blessed day, everyone. 

Kathy Keller
Writer and Prayer warrior with Answers2PrayerMinistries
If you would like to receive daily inspirational messages from Kathy Keller, click here  and put “devotional” in the subject bar.