“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27
I used to think of myself as damaged goods. Perhaps you still think of yourself that way. Do you realize what we say about ourselves when we call ourselves damaged? We are saying that what God made is not good. Genesis tells us that God created us in His image. One of the definitions of the word image is “a reproduction or imitation of the form of a person or thing.” We are an imitation of God. Remember that God created you in His image the next time you feel damaged. Let that thought transform how you regard yourself.
Abuse as a child makes it difficult to develop a positive self-image. You grow up feeling ashamed. You feel inadequate. However, the truth is that you are enough. You are God's good creation, created in His image. God can heal any effect of abuse. Healing is a process, and God is guiding you through it.
At times that process is painful. To heal a physical wound, you need to clean it out. It hurts to clean out a physical wound, just as it hurts when God cleans out our emotional wounds. It is a hurt that leads to something very good: emotional healing. Without emotional healing, we can’t fulfill our destiny.
What is our destiny? In Ephesians 2:10, the Apostle Paul (or St. Paul to Catholics) said, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” In other words, God created us to do good for each other. As abuse survivors, or childhood trauma survivors, we can turn around and help other survivors learn how to thrive.
“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message, and to practice these principles in all our affairs,” proclaims the 12th step of the 12-step traditions. The Emotions Anonymous handbook says that “the most important way we can carry the message is by example.” By living our lives as abuse survivors who have gone through healing, we show people the benefits of recovery.
Our destiny is also to walk in God’s presence and bask in His love. We are loved deeply by our Creator. He wants us to know we are loved. He longs for us to become aware of His presence. It is in His presence that we become fully alive and become who He created us to be. We are enabled to walk in our destiny as God’s children created in His image who do good on this planet.
Resources
The Twelve Steps For Christians
Photo: Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay