Affects Of Child Abuse

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God's instruction to us about obeying our human authorities applies here too. Our human authorities require that child abuse be reported to the governing authorities. Child abuse is against the law. When we, in the name of "turning the other cheek", "protecting the ministry," "forgiveness," or "preserving the family," disobey this law we are disobeying God Himself. And when we as parents deal with our children's abuse this way, we teach them to pass that heritage on to their own children as well, perpetuating this cycle on to another generation.

These wrong understandings of God in turn make people vulnerable to spiritual abuse. Spiritually abusive churches and leaders teach just this type of theology, so it sounds "right" to someone who has this misunderstanding of the nature of God. And unfortunately, spiritually abusive churches and ministries are very often centers of further child abuse -- again perpetuating the cycle of abuse even further.

Another reason that a background of abuse puts a person at increased risk of being attracted to a spiritually abusive environment is that, unconsciously, someone who has been abused is ruled by feelings of guilt and shame. They feel "bad" at their deepest roots. So it feels "right" to be in an environment that presupposes that they are "bad" and in need of constant reprimands, public humilation, reminders of their wickedness, and a strict outward control system.

This strict outward control is also something that subconsciously appeals to victims of abuse. Because of their underlying feelings of guilt and shame, it is appealing to be told that if you just measure up to this list of "standards" of behavior you will be acceptable to God. This system of legalism provides a false sense of righteousness, and is guaranteed to fail ultimately, because there is always someone with a little different list! The primary fallacy of this teaching is that God says our righteousness is already an accomplished fact in Christ (II Cor. 5:21) and we can add nothing to it with "laws". In fact, He is quite clear in Gal. 3:1-3 and 5:1-26 that adding on laws actually stands in the way of our growth in Christ. Not only are these "laws" not beneficial, they are in fact harmful.

THE WORST AFFECT OF ALL

The ultimate affect of child abuse, if not addressed correctly, is that the child will either become an abuser themselves or they will in turn be unable to protect their own children from abuse, and thus the cycle continues.

There are many instances of a child who has been abused abusing other children while he is still a child himself. The boy or girl who has been (word deleted) abused will sometimes turn that behavior onto other children, either of their same age or younger. An adult who has experienced child abuse may well perpetuate abuse upon his or her own children or to seek a position as an adult that allows them contact with children they can abuse.

A parent who is not himself abusive, but who experienced child abuse, may unconsciously leave his children at risk and be unable to protect or defend his child. This failure is because of those fundamental misunderstandings of how his background of abuse continues to affect him and his beliefs. Satan takes advantage of this weakness and preys on the children of those who were abused themselves. -- Danette Tucker

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