Finding Your Identity After Abuse

It is worth noting that many of the expressions of life after abuse revolve around self-image. The abuse victim looks inward, seeing something far from the beautiful being God created. It’s not that the beautiful being isn’t there, it’s that one’s perception of self has changed. People question their own:

Value

Worth

Beauty

Definition of love

Intellect

Usefulness

Purpose

Power

All of these point to how abuse strips people of their identity…as children of God, made in His image. Here is where the Gospel offers healing:

Your value isn’t determined by what you were to others—it is determined by the price God paid to call you His beloved, now and forevermore. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
Your worth isn’t determined by what others think of you—it is determined by the importance God places upon your Image bearing. He sees the important things hidden from view. (Matthew 6:5-6)
Your beauty is not determined by what you see in the mirror—it is determined by the inner man or woman that you are in your soul. (1 Peter 3:3-4)
Your definition of love isn’t determined by how people love you, sexual intimacy, or words—Love is defined by the God who IS love. (1 John 4:7-21)
Your intellect could neither prevent your being abused nor predispose you to that situation. It is not a reflection on your wisdom. Your intellect is a tool in God’s hands to help you to heal. (1 Cor 1:20-31)
Your usefulness in life was not tossed away by your being abused. Your usefulness in life has been redirected to other more compassionate causes and in God’s hands, you will be fruitful beyond your imagining. (2 Cor 1:3-7)
Your purpose in life was not to be an abuse victim. Your purpose in life is to be an Overcomer, putting abuse in its place as a formative event to be conquered and to use the lessons learned to help others in addition to yourself. (John 15:2)
Your power was not taken from you. Your power needs to be recovered from the hidden recesses of your soul, protected and shielded by God’s hand…in that place where abusers could not touch the power of God in a Christ-follower (1 Peter 1:3-5).

Abuse cannot take away anything that the Gospel cannot restore. That’s because when you believe upon Jesus Christ, you become a new creation. Not just the old broken one, patched up with some Krazy Glue. A brand new being, full of the identity Christ gives you. The type of identity that reflects God’s image.