What does the Bible say about abuse?
7/15/2019
Leviticus 19:18 (KJV)
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Matthew 19:19 (KJV)
Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Matthew 22:39 (KJV)
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mark 12:31 (KJV)
And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Romans 13:9 (KJV)
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
James 2:8 (KJV)
If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
The BOLD portion is my emphasis.
In six different passages of the Bible do we read the words “thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” and to this day, the world as a whole does not follow this precept or commandment from God. We say that we do love our neighbors, however a lot of times our actions do not back our words up.
We say we love their souls, not their actions – do we tell them about Jesus or let someone else do it.
We say we love those around us – so we only go around our friends and family.
We hear of abuse; child, adult, senior, spousal, religious and several other types - we shut our eyes to most of not all abuse.
I was reading an article called “5 Types of Pastors Who Bungle Abuse in the Church” which made me think about all of us who do not know how to tell if someone is being abused and what to do when we do recognize it. Please take the time to read the article and pray about what you should do when you see abuse.
Levit
C.I. Wilson