The Issue of Abuse

One of the major social issues that was highlighted in 2014, was the Issue of Abuse. With the incidents that occurred in the NFL last year, a lot of debate and discussion took place in regards to domestic abuse, not only in sports but in our society at large, Unfortunately, domestic abuse is not an issue that's restricted to the secular world. The church too must deal with domestic abuse. More than a few families in the Body of Christ are being challenged with this social dysfunction.

Let us first define abuse. Abuse can be defined as hurting or injuring someone by mistreatment or ill-use. When it comes to our families, we have husbands abusing wives, wives abusing husbands, parents abusing children and children abusing parents. And please, let's set the record straight, women and children are not the only ones being abused in our society. Even though the media doesn't really address it, there are women who are abusing men, and there are kids, teenagers and grown adults, that are abusing their parents.

Believe it or not, at some level, many of us are proponents, as well as victims of abuse, and don't even know it. Society focuses a lot on physical abuse, but what about verbal abuse? When you talk to someone insultingly, degradingly and without respect, that's verbal abuse; whether you mean to be abusive or not. Then what about emotional abuse? When you refuse to be considerate of other people's feelings, particularly your spouse, children or parents; when you are blatantly insensitive to the concerns and needs of those within your household and it detrimentally affects their self-worth and self-esteem, that can possibly be emotional abuse.

Before we start pointing the finger at the people on TV and in the news, we might do well to take a look in the mirror and ask ourselves the question, "Are we ourselves guilty of perpetuating this Issue of abuse?"