If you would have asked me ten years ago, I would have said no. How could someone who calls himself a Christian do that? How wrong I was? At the time, I was in a very strict Christian church and never actually thought that I had been manipulated and misled. Yet I had been.
A lot of Christians love the Lord with all their hearts. That’s who I was. Then, religion came and imposed a heavy set of rules on me. Do this, don’t do that, etc… At first, I thought that was to help me be a better Christian and protect me from sin. Then, it got worse. I was manipulated into compliance to a model we were all to follow and aspire.
I thought I was being made into a disciple. I thought I was dying to myself becoming more godly. I found myself in a church where we were told we were more godly than others. Whenever someone would leave, that would mean that they had left the church, therefore God as well and that us who remained could have no more contact with them if we didn’t want to “fall away” from God.
Some of them were my friends and it hurt to have them disappear from my life like that. But as we were taught, it was to protect us from leaving the Lord. I drew a line when my family left, my husband and my children. I couldn’t not have any contact with them. They are my flesh and blood. I love them more than anything. That was the start of a long process out of this spiritual darkness.
So, yes, now I can say: spiritual abuse does exist. It is the abuse of someone in a church who has authority over his flock and uses scriptures in the wrong way. Some of these religious people are very sincere and only try to impose rules and regulations to help their brothers and sisters but some do it on purpose to have control over them. That is spiritual abuse. And it is more common that we know.
These churches are teaching religion and not the True Good News of the Gospel
So, what is the difference between religion and the Good News of the Gospel? Aren’t they the same?
Not at all. Religion is what man, by his own understanding, thinks of God. That’s the way man wants us to relate to Him. The Good News of the Gospel is what God is offering to all of us. It’s God’s point of view. It is His perfect plan of salvation. It is something that is totally free. God wants to have a personal relationship with you.
Religion will try and tell you to change your behaviour so that you can be loved by Him more. It will give you all sorts of rules to follow. The Good News of the Gospel is the total opposite. It tells you that we are all sinners and have come short of the glory of God but that God loves us so much that He has always had the perfect plan of salvation for us. He sent His beloved Son, equal to God, to become a man so He could pay the price we could never pay by His death on the Cross. This is Good News.
By believing in Jesus and trusting in Him for our salvation, we are washed from all our sins, past present and future. Too good to be true? Think again. Because it is. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more, we are asked to simply believe in Jesus as our Saviour and confess it. His love is unconditional.
Does that mean that I can do whatever I like?
Of course, not. Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross didn’t cost you anything but to God, it cost Him everything. It cost Him the death of His beloved Son, crucified on our behalf.
When we realise the depth of His love and the sacrifice Jesus made, we want to love Him back and do the right thing. We don’t need to earn His love, we have it. But we can thank Him and show Him how much we appreciate it by asking the Holy Spirit to help us live a godly life.
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