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Sexual Abuse
Gayle Rogers, Ph.D., ministers in conferences both nationally and
internationally with a strong prophetic anointing. She is founder and president
of L.I.F.E. Outreach Ministries International, an apostolic prophetic
deliverance ministry with a vision to see God's people completely out of
bondage.
She teaches, trains, equips and disciples; helping to
establish purpose in lives of people; imparting insight, wisdom and revelation
knowledge and developing leaders to take the gospel throughout the nations.
Gayle and her husband have three daughters and six
grandchildren.
OVERCOMING SEXUAL TRAUMA
Do you want to be free?
by Gayle Rogers Ph. D.
This article is the first of three on understanding how to
overcome issues arising from sexual trauma. In this first one, you will
find seven keys to becoming free from the aftereffects of sexual trauma.
First, here is a Biblical definition of freedom. One of the Hebrew words
for free is hopsiy meaning freedom from slavery or to have oppression
removed. Isaiah 58:6 says, “Is not this the fast that I have chosen? To
loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the
oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?”
The first key to being free is that you must recognize and
acknowledge a need for freedom from trauma issues arising out of past sexual
molestation and/or rape. Your resolve within yourself to be free once and
for all must be stronger than any other desire, except of course, your
relationship with Christ and desire to please Him. For example, if you
have operated in a spirit of offense, generally resulting from rejection, your
desire to overcome that spirit must far outweigh your feelings of rejection.
In all the years I felt rejection and self-worthlessness, it never occurred to
me there was a root cause of that rejection which is discussed later in this
article. I often wondered, “Why do I always feel left out or overlooked?”
“Why doesn’t anybody ever listen to what I have to say?” I gradually
became aware of the enemy’s strategies. If he could keep me in a pit of
sorrow, shame and humiliation, I would never reach my God-given potential to
fulfill the purposes and destiny He had set in motion even before my birth.
Developing a greater understanding of spiritual warfare is
the second key to being free. Recognizing the battle raging within initiated by
Satan brings you into a greater revelation of what the fight is all about. I
found it was nothing personal against me but that I am chosen by the Father to
build His Kingdom upon the earth. Simply put, the enemy hates God.
So you must know when the enemy is attacking your mind because that is where the
battle is taking place. It is important to know whose voice you’re
hearing--the Voice of God or Satan. If you’re continually hearing phrases
like “You’ll never get anywhere in life,” “you’ll always be in debt,” “nobody
really cares about you,” or similar negative thoughts running through your mind,
you must know that is not the voice of your Father. As long as you believe
the lies of the enemy, you cannot fight an effective battle.
The third key toward fighting the battle for freedom is to
immediately take action against negative thoughts by speaking the Word of God
aloud over your life concerning your destiny. Repeat Scriptures that
outline your inheritance in the Kingdom and tell the enemy he has no power over
you or your destiny. The Bible says faith comes by hearing the Word.
You must allow your mind to hear the Word of your Father as you speak it aloud.
Your greatest fan is Father Himself. Do not look to people to validate
you; they are not qualified. Only Christ has died for you. As the
Word gets down in your spirit-man, revelation and the wisdom begins to flow
helping you understand the bondage you’re in and the need for change.
Change means becoming aware of something not right for you and doing something
about it. One area requiring change may be forgiveness, the fourth key to
being free. Unforgiveness causes you to be turned over to the tormentors
(see Matthew 18: 32-35). Forgiveness not only helps to develop your
character, but it also develops a closer personal relationship between you and
Christ. Although I developed a close walk with Christ early in my
conversion, as the issues of sexual trauma began to surface, I had to deal with
each issue separately. Only then, did I begin to understand a “true”
relationship because I understood His true love for me. It’s important for
us to identify those areas that keep us in bondage. Sometimes we must go
back into the past to get the future right. Yes, I know the Apostle Paul
tells us we must forget about those things in the past and press towards the
mark of the prize of the high calling. However, some things must be dealt
with before we can “press” or reach that “high calling,” like sins passed down
through ancestral bloodlines. If your father or someone in your family
committed a sexual sin against you, it is probable that spirit of rejection,
abuse, lust and/or perversion was passed down to him. Remember, sexual sin
is a sin against the body which is transferable and permeates the very core of
our being.
Let me explain. We recognize inherited or genetic
illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol
because we constantly say, “Oh my mother had that so I know where it came from.”
We give complete family medical history at the doctor’s office. If we can
“inherit” those diseases genetically, doesn’t it stand to reason we can just as
easily inherit ancestral character traits or iniquities such as perversion,
addictions, or abuse? Sexual molestation is sometimes an addiction, but
always it is perversion and abuse. It is imperative we deal with these
issues head on to prevent our children from suffering the same pain and shame
many of us have suffered.
The fifth key to gaining freedom is identifying and
acknowledging ancestral iniquities. Am I saying because your father,
grandfather, brother, or uncle molested you, that you will automatically become
a child molester? Not necessarily. What I am saying is other
circumstances or character traits are involved which caused him or her to molest
you. Those traits you must investigate. Why were they angry enough
to molest an eight- year-old? What happened that caused them to disregard,
disrespect, and totally violate your five-year-old body? When we
investigate generational character traits of sexual offenders according to David
Foster in Sexual healing - God's plan for the sanctification of broken lives,
ninety-seven percent of all sex addicts have been emotionally abused as children
and some eighty-one percent have been sexually abused. Foster says their
sickness manifests itself in an equally diverse number of ways, including
prostitution, multiple affairs, pornography, compulsive masturbation, incest,
child sexual abuse, homosexuality, rape, and the list goes on and on. When
you take a closer look, you’ll discover the spirits which linger are ashes that
keep smoldering deep down in your soul--your subconscious mind. As a
result, because of this violation, a healing must take place in order to become
completely whole. The woman with the issue of blood in Matthew 9:21, said,
“If I may touch His garment, I shall be whole.” The NIV translates
“whole” as healed. The Greek word, sozo, means safe, delivered, to
save, make whole, preserve from danger, loss, or destruction. In John 5:6,
Jesus asked the man lying by the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to get well?” KJV
translates it as, “wilt thou be made whole?” The word means sound,
healthy, whole, in health. These two scriptures tell us one important
truth, which is the sixth key: you must also resolve to be completely whole,
safe and preserved from danger. This complete wholeness only comes from
knowing the heart of the Father through spending quality time in His presence
and understanding His love for you. Anger, unforgiveness,
self-worthlessness, bitterness, rejection, offense, depression, and jealousy are
all thoughts initiated by the devil and will not allow you to be made whole.
Sexual abuse is a sin committed against the body, the mind and the soul.
Every aftereffect (lingering residue) must be purged from your soul—your mind,
will and emotions—and your body.
The seventh and final key according to Ephesians 6:12, is:
“we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against
powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual
wickedness in high places.” Having quoted that scripture, let us forgive (the
fourth key) those who violated our bodies, recognizing the stronghold the enemy
has or once had over them, and pray for their deliverance (if they’re still
alive). It appears they too are in bondage. Then, let us “press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 3:14).
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