We were created in the image of God. Each person is a unique creation of God and by His authority and design, endowed with certain inalienable rights. We are given a free will. The freedom to choose is a gift from our Creator. God not only allows this freedom, He ordained it. According to our United States Constitution, we are granted three inalienable rights as well. These are the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Sadly there are enemies of such liberties, and they are lurking in places you might not expect.
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Proverbs 27:6 . The kisses of an enemy…someone who pretends to care for you, but doesn’t. This can be a spouse, a family member, or a ” church person”, someone who is supposed to love you but doesn’t. The discovery of such a betrayal has happened many times and unfortunately is a rather common experience. The result of one who experiences this is a lack of trust for people. Often this type of abuse comes in the form of shaming someone for deviating in any way from the expectations and demands of his abuser. The abuser controls or suppresses his victim, rather, to become what he wants them to be and do what he wants them to do. The tactics employed are control, dominance, fear, shame, but most of all oppression. This is done by withholding love, and acceptance, as well as freedom rightfully owed the individual to act, within the boundaries of Christ’s commands, in order to force compliance with his own demands, so as to gain performance, loyalty, and submission. In essence, it is to defraud one of his own God given identity, to seek to separate or force forfeiture of his own inalienable rights. This is the work of someone who may pretend to be a friend, but is actually acting as your enemy, for there is no love in defrauding, no freedom, no kindness, and no truth. The entire process is based on lies and the presumptive agenda of the abuser.
It is for this reason that submission granted to someone who would seek to become your spiritual authority must be carefully considered and evaluated. There are many people behind masks that are not worthy of such trust. There is a tremendous amount of spiritual abuse that goes on in churches today. This is a serious injustice, and one condemned in the Bible. For to defraud is to injure, by the withholding of what is due. To attempt to oppress using mockery, scorn, shame, or rejection is an abuse of power and it is evil. The victims of such abuse often don’t recognize or suspect the tactics of their abuser, and progress to defending and protecting them. They are brainwashed to believe that this is a legitimate use of power on the part of the perpetrator, and thus the oppression takes hold. In the truest sense, the abused become victims. This kind of abuse goes on often in cult like Christian churches everywhere. People use God for unjust gain, or to control and abuse others. The victimhood of the crime is to defraud by withholding the right to freedom, diversity, free will, and the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness that God has granted to each individual within the constructs of His revealed Word.
The Lord has granted each one of His creatures the right to exercise our free will, though He commands us to obey His Word, because we were made in His Image. Though we may choose not to obey His commands and suffer the consequences, God does not violate this free will, and no religious leader has the right to violate it either. No spouse, parent or religious leader has the right to violate the uniqness, or God given identity of another person, his likes, dislikes, quirks, personality or the person God created him to be. God, while condemning sin, does not condemn freedom of choice, personal traits, or diversity and freedom. As parents, we are called to guide and instruct on what is morally right, and teach the child proper behavior through consequences and rewards, but a parent, spouse or religious leader has no right to define another person’s God given identity nor force then into their mold through the threat of rejection or abuse.
True love respects each person for the unique creation of God that they are. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”. Regrettably, so often we have “cookie cutter Christianity,” with a powerful leader at the top manipulating and controlling a mass group of people.
How do you begin to extricate yourself from such people who have made inroads into your life? It starts with taking responsibility for yourself, your rights as given to you by God, and embracing the truth, while exposing the lies. You must release yourself first and foremost from the mind control such a person or group has over you. The truth will set you free. You must find the courage to accept and believe the truth. It means calling out the abuse, and taking a stand against it. Only when we truly desire the freedom in Christ the God intended will we find the fortitude to take such a risk.
We are endowed with certain rights as given to us by our Creator. We have liberty in Christ, not to sin, but to live as the free children of God, and only God defines what that is in His Word. The freedoms He gives are non negotiable and never to be separated from the believer. We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No religious organization or leader has the right to infringe upon or deny us those God given rights. If any entity is guilty of this, they are ones who abuse, and oppose God and they are to be rejected. We are born with these God given rights, and they are permanent in this life. No one has the right to deny you your God given individuality, uniqueness, or right to life and happiness. No one.
Sarah Hopkins Art 