In looking through my blog I have yet to create a post that actually talks about spiritual abuse. So, considering that January has become the "unofficial/official" spiritual abuse awareness month. Here goes.
Now, this post is not to point fingers at specific people, churches or organizations but rather to just help people discern and identify when spiritual abuse is happening. It saddens me when I hear stories of people suffering abuse from a leader or within an church/organization but had no idea that what they were actually experiencing was spiritual abuse. And so they end up accepting spiritually abusive behavior as normal. So heartbreaking.
My hope is that through this post people would be able to more readily recognize spiritually abusive behavior and not have to endure ongoing abuse but be able to either confront the abuse or make decisions to remove themselves from under the abusive leader or from out of the abusive environment.
My hope is that through this post people would be able to more readily recognize spiritually abusive behavior and not have to endure ongoing abuse but be able to either confront the abuse or make decisions to remove themselves from under the abusive leader or from out of the abusive environment.
The reason spiritual abuse is so dangerous is because it causes people to become disillusioned with Christianity and even causes some to walk away from the faith completely. Spiritual abuse is sinful, but because of its destroying impact on a person's faith, I would say oftentimes there is a spirit of witchcraft involved because spiritual abuse has all the markers of witchcraft. Witchcraft has 3 main markers that fall under the umbrella of Control: 1) Domination, 2) Manipulation and 3) Intimidation. I've posted a more in depth post on this here.
Below is a phenomenal video on the topic. The only thing I would add is the non-negotiable need to honor people's freewill. Freewill is a gift from God and is something that God honors full stop. I mean God honors a person's freewill to the point of allowing them to choose to reject Him forever. So, what I've concluded is this: who are we to dishonor something God honors. If God honors a person's freewill, than we (humanity) must also honor a person's freewill. When a leader demands blind obedience or unquestioning submission they move into the realm of dishonoring freewill. And when a leader start dishonoring a person's freewill I believe they move into a place of spiritual abuse.
Here is a really good and informative video on "How to Identify Spiritual Abuse." Not only does the speaker explain what a spiritually abuse culture looks like, but also what a spiritually healthy culture looks like. I hope and pray that this helps you move forward on your journey.
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