The Motley Ms: A Therapy Blog
  • The Motley Ms.: A Therapy Blog

The Victim, Anger and Sin

9/19/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Some Christian recovery groups, therapists, friends and advice-giving strangers (like the ones we find on social media) are known for forcing the act of forgiveness on others- especially victims. And Lord help the poor soul who happens to (gasp) vent any anger over a wrong that has been committed.

Summed up, some (well meaning?) Christians want you to suck it up and if you suffer, do so in silence. Your personal healing is basically nothing compared to their holiness agenda. 

I am willing to bet that many of these people have never suffered actual abuse, serious betrayal or traumatic loss. (Or they are in denial.)  Their solutions are just too simple, too canned, to convey an understanding of righteous anger or the healing process.

To top it off, their theory doesn’t make any sense.  You don’t run into a hospital bed where someone lost the use of their legs and tell them, “Hey, just forgive the drunk driver that hit you, stop being angry, and get in your wheelchair already!” That’s absurd. But doing the equivalent to a survivor of emotional trauma is somehow okay?

I’m not saying forgiveness is useless or anger should last forever. However, we should respect the fact that anger is a real emotion and experiencing it over an injustice is more reflective of God’s character than we may think.  (For Scripture verses on injustice and righteous anger visit https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Injustice,-Hated-By-God.)

God cares deeply for those who are mistreated, broken and abused. (Read Isaiah 61.)  And, He does more than care.  He heals. He restores. He helps turn pain into a purpose. He helps us forgive.

To be sure, this is a process (sometimes a lengthy one) that can involve feeling anger and healing from anger.  "Allowing the process to occur does not mean the person is living in sin."  (​https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-anger.html) 

If you are healing from an emotional trauma, you may want to enlist the help of a qualified professional.  Therapists are trained to help people process trauma and work through anger.

May you find healing and peace in your heart- M

​Photo credit: pixabay 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW

    The Motley Ms.

    Hi! My name is Melinda. I'm a saved-by-grace-er, lifelong learner, INFJ, health & fitness trynabe, Mom, #vanlifer, mental health vlogger, and Director & Clinical Supervisor at a Child & Family Therapy Practice in Northern California.

    Legal notices:  CA LMFT 102308, OK LMFT 1153, NC LMFT 2143.

    You probably already realize that none of these posts should be considered therapy. Really, these are just my random thoughts. If you need help working through a difficult life situation or mental health issue, please contact a professional in your area.

    * NOTE about social sharing: If you want to share a particular blog entry, you must first click on the title to get the exact web address then copy and paste the url; otherwise the share defaults to the MM home page (the most recent and probably unrelated entry).

    AS SEEN ON
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    SUBSCRIBE & FOLLOW

    Archives

    May 2020
    February 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016

    Categories

    All
    A
    Anger
    Anxiety
    California
    Cheap
    Chico
    Christian
    Death
    Decorations
    Depression
    Domestic Violence
    Family
    Fitness
    Grief
    Healing
    Home
    Hsp
    INFJ
    Life
    Loss
    Meme
    Narcissism
    Oklahoma
    Paleo
    Psychology
    Relationships
    Stress
    Texas
    Therapy
    Trauma

    Tweets by TweetmentPlan
    Therapy Vlog /
    ​Mental Health Vlog
    Online Therapy Videos

    The Motley Ms
    ​​The Therapist's Therapy Blog
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • The Motley Ms.: A Therapy Blog