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Christians Who Hurt Themselves |
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Christians Who Hurt Themselves
First of all, there are Christians who hurt themselves. Thousands of them. Real, honest-to-God, born-again, and even Spirit-filled believers are afflicted with anorexia, bulimia, cutting, suicidal tendencies, severe depression, and numerous other disorders. We have tended to treat these matters as psychological issues, but the truth is that the real problem is spiritual (I don't speak of those with chemical imbalances or autism or other physical, genetic maladies), and it is as such that it must be dealt with.
The root of the problem for Christians who hurt themselves is that they are relying entirely on themselves to deal with their problems. Painful circumstances and traumas of various sorts occur, and, as the flesh (the flesh constitutes the mind, will, and emotions) cannot trust God to resolve the resulting pain it insists on its own methods of coping. The pain is simply too severe, it must be dealt with now, and thus drastic measures are employed to deal with drastic emotional disturbances. Self-injury temporarily relieves the pain, leaving the person with the sense that they have regained control over a situation that was beyond their control previously. Simply put, it works.
Unfortunately, the temporary nature of this solution means that the "remedy" must be applied over and over again in increasingly more frequent dosages. The emotions signal stress and the person responds automatically. Their emotions are in complete control. Covering up becomes the norm, distancing the person from both God and the people who love them. This of course leads to guilt, which causes more stress, and so the cycle starts itself all over again.
Understanding that self-injury is a symptom and not the actual problem itself is a first step in deliverance. Fear, desire for control over circumstances and the actions of others, hopelessness, loneliness, depression, and guilt are the sorts of foundational problems that need to be dealt with. Self-injury is in actuality an escape from one or more of these root issues, and just claiming deliverance from the symptom does not address the real spiritual issues. Indeed, halting the injurious behavior without addressing the underlying roots will likely only cause the person to run to other spiritually destructive sins, because, in their own way, drugs and alcohol, fornication, adultery, shoplifting, etc. are all just attempts to ease the various pains of life without having to relinquish personal control over the methods employed.
Confession is the key here. Confessing, out loud and without excuse, that we are afraid or guilty or unwilling to relinquish control of ourselves to God is first, but if it stops there the person is like those in Hosea who prefer to wail about their pain on their beds but do not cry out to God for their deliverance (Hosea 7:14). Much harder, but utterly crucial, is the confession that we simply do not trust God to do for us what we need, and so we rely on harmful behaviors, other people, substance abuse, etc. to provide the relief that we so desperately seek. It's quite easy to admit to being a sinner in a general sense - sort of like saying "I'm not perfect" - but admitting that our sin is specifically against God and is not the fault of others, but only of our own lack of trust in Him, is much more scary. Further, since personal control is the issue, how easy is it to confess that we prefer independence to surrendering control from our emotions to God? Can a person admit that in hurting themselves they're turning their backs on the fact that Jesus' was wounded in their place? Can they confess that they prefer to listen to their own emotions and turn to the world in the face of overwhelming emotions rather than to trust God and surrender control to Him? Yes, it can be done, but it isn't easy and it rarely is an overnight victory.
Is there a lot more that could be said here? Of course. I hope that this nonetheless at least provides a starting point for a discussion that we Christians need to have. May God bless us with wisdom, compassion, and understanding.
Gato
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