The Abused Bride of Christ

As a Christian God refers to us as His Bride.  If you think about a bride, you see an image of a beautiful female beaming with glee and excitement as she glides down the runner in a gorgeous white gown, long train and a smile that ignites fire in her grooms heart and soul.  But what do you see when you look in the mirror at yourself if you are a Christian, Gods bride?

Many Christians have been mistreated, used, talked about, run down, lied on and mentally and emotionally abused by others in the body of Christ.  These kinds of hurts go deep down to the very depths of ones soul and can cause people to run away from the church or even turn their hearts away from God.  One thing to remember is that Christians are not perfect!  From the pulpit to the pews, all of us are imperfect and have our own issues, strongholds, and generational "stuff" to deal with.  It is devastating to be misunderstood, misquoted or misjudged by someone in leadership in a church, but the real question is, what are you going to do now that you have been abused and mistreated?

If you have ever felt like you are or were in a spiritually manipulated, emotionally and mentally abusive church situation, do not let it push you away from God!  Do not allow bitterness, hatred, strife, gossip or strife to overtake you. There are some steps you can take to get through it:

1. Tell God about it and be honest about how you feel.  
2. If God leads you to talk to the person bringing on the offense and abuse, do so.   You may want to bring a third party in who will act as a mediator and is unbias.
3. Depending on how the conversation went, if you felt like you got a resolve, and desire to stay in the church, do so without gossip or back biting or bitterness.  If you did not get a reasonable resolve and after much thought and prayer feel it is time to move on, then do so with grace not slandering those who abused you.  

At the end of the day, we must use EVERY situation as a learning tool and opportunity to grow from. As a mom, the healthier we are mentally, emotionally, spiritually and socially, the better a parent we can be.

If you would like to hear this teaching in it's entirety, you can order the CD titled, "The Abused Bride of Christ".  Contact me at abjconsultingllc@gmail.com