God's Word To The AbusedSample

God loves the abused

A few years back, a pastor told me about the funny way our minds do math. He had just read a study that said when one person says something to you ten times and ten people say something to you one time, our brains feel about the same. In other words, 1x10=1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1. So if your mom or your boyfriend constantly says, “You’re so dumb. You’re an idiot. You’re useless and fat and stupid and worthless,” your brain finds it very hard to remember that only one person said that. Only one. But it feels like the truth.

I wonder if that’s why the one true God calls you so many names. Throughout the New Testament, there are over 680 names that God calls those who believe in Jesus. Guess how many are positive, names like Holy or Beloved or Blameless or Pure? Not 1 or 2 or 10, but 610! Despite all of our struggles and sins, God himself has 610 names to lift us up and give us hope.

If you are one of the many people who carry the wounds of abuse, turn your ear toward Jesus. Through his death and resurrection, he wants to overwhelm your mind with love and set you free. As Jesus himself said, “[God] has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners . . . to set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18).