Introduction: When Ed Welch begins a lecture on shame he often asks the audience if they have ever experienced shame. He pauses and adds ‘debilitating shame.” Most of the time, everyone in the room raises his or her hand. When describing what shame is, one author likens it to the response of a supreme court […]
He Understands Our Suffering
God’s compassion for and solidarity with the oppressed is embodied in Jesus Christ. Christ not only suffered for his people but also suffers with them. “The decent of God to earth is the descent of God to the underside of the knife, plague, or rain of fire.”* He understands our sufferings. His identity was attacked. […]
For Those Who Suffer
When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. (Psa 94:19 ESV)
Our Burden
Let us examine our burden. It is altogether an interior one. It attacks the heart and the mind and reaches the body only from within. First, there is the burden of pride. The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking […]
Blind to Our Blindness
One of the scarier components of remaining sin is its deceitfulness. It is a reality that is vital to acknowledge and confess. Sin blinds. You see, you and I are in possession of two vision systems. There are our physical eyes that enable us to see the physical universe that surrounds us, and there are […]
The First Step of the Journey
Naming and describing the evil done to you does not ensure automatic personal healing. However, it does provide clarity regarding sexual assault, and it allows for acknowledgment. If sexual assault is not defined, named, or described, then it remains hidden. Telling the truth about sexual assault by acknowledging the traumatic experience is one important aspect […]
Sexual Assault Defined
A definition that is too narrow can cause some victims of assault and those who should be supporting them to downplay the experience. Our definition of sexual assault is any type of sexual behavior or contact where consent is not freely given or obtained and is accomplished through force, intimidation, violence, coercion, manipulation, threat, deception, […]
The Opportunity of Conflict
The Bible teaches that we should see conflict neither as an inconvenience nor as an occasion for selfish gain, but rather as an opportunity to demonstrate the presence and power of God….it encourages us to look at conflict as an opportunity to glorify God, to serve others, and to grow to be like Christ (Ken […]
Jesus Entered Her Pain
However, there was one who later came and entered her pain and shame [II Sam. 13:1-22]. Jesus Christ was killed, not for revenge but to bear her shame on the cross and to offer her a new robe of righteousness to replace her torn robes of disgrace. How Tamar felt after the assault, described in […]