By now, you may have seen the awful pictures that detail the scars and bruises that Nicole Holder suffered at the hands of Greg Hardy. These photos are a terrible reminder of the physical abuse and terrifying situations that many women find themselves faced with daily. Statistics reveal that domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women, more than vehicle accidents, muggings and rapes combined. It’s disturbing to know that a woman is abused every 9 seconds and even more disturbing is the fact that 1 in every 5 teenage girl has reportedly been threatened with violence or experienced harm if she decides that she no longer wants to be in a relationship with a boy. Even more shockingly for the Christian body, 25% of Christian homes witness abuse of some kind. Spousal abuse is just as common among church goers as it is with everyone else.

So what can we do? There are tons of causes, organizations and awareness campaigns that are aimed at raising awareness for domestic violence. As a society, WE ARE EXTREMLY AWARE. We have the desire to create change, knowledge of the issue but we lack the ability to make real change and challenge what is seen as normal in many households. I’m under the opinion that we need to introduce some type of identity intervention program to challenge those beliefs and misconceptions that women and young girls hold about themselves, while we deal with the issue of abuse.

Truth is, we have to recognize things for what they are. Human beings are experiencing a lack of love and compassion toward one another, and this goes against everything that God says in his Word. Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

As heirs of Christ, our identity is established in love. Until we are able to deal with those issues that make us doubt our ability to love others and the things that keep us from fully receiving love, we will always have the issue of domestic violence

“If I were your enemy, I’d devalue your strength and magnify your insecurities until they dominate how you see yourself, disabling and disarming you from fighting back, from being free, from being who God has created you to be. I’d work hard to ensure that you never realize what God has given you so you’ll doubt the power of God within you.” (Excerpt from, Fervent, A Woman’s Battle Plan for Serious, Specific and Strategic Prayer).