I know, it's a crazy concept, but hear me out. I could give you a list of 20 ways to know if you are guilty of this, but we all are so I won't. Look, here's the deal, whether or not you are in a relationship, you probably know what an abusive relationship looks like. If you're partner does not let you have a say in anything, is embarrassed of you in public, likes to take advantage of you, blatantly and intentionally does things to hurt you, or likes to make you feel inferior to them, then you may be in an abusive relationship. Many people have experienced this, and even more have no idea this is taking place. It's a sad situation for sure, but what's even sadder is that these people typically don't leave their abuser, because they are still in love with them. Is this starting to sound familiar?
How many times in just a week do you do at least one of these things to God? If we're being honest, we all do pretty much all of these things on a daily basis, and most of the time we do so without fully realizing it. It's sad but true. And if you don't see where I am coming from, let me put it into perspective: how many times a day do you sin? Because every time you sin, you are blatantly and intentionally hurting God. How many times in a week are you ashamed of your faith, or afraid to get made fun of for it? Because at those times you are embarrassed of God. How many times in life have you gone against what God has clearly told you to do your own thing? You were telling God that He doesn't get a say in your life. How often do you tell God that you don't need His help, and that you can do it yourself? That's you trying to make God seem inferior. Is this starting to make sense? No matter who you are, you've done these things.
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Don't be fooled though, God isn't finished in power or made lower by any of these things. You can't control him like an abuser does to their partner. He can't be brought down by how you treat Him, and it will not change anything about Him. But it does hurt Him. He hurts when His children. Turn away from Him to sin and pursue their own desires. It doesnt hurt Him because He trusts us, it hurts Him because he cares. He only wants the best for us, and He knows that's Him. Yet, we all pursue what we want, and continue to treat God like He doesn't deserve a special place in our life. Can you imagine a relationship in which a boy literally allowed his son to die just to save her life? Where he gave her everything, and was everything she had ever wanted and more, and yet she abused him relentlessly? People would be shocked, and they would immediately label her as awful. For some reason, however, when we are that girl, and God is that boy, we're suddenly not the bad guys anymore. Funny how that works isn't it? We all need to get more serious about how we treat our relationship with God. He gave it all for us, we should at least be able to give Him 10 minutes of our days. God's immense love for us will surpass anything that this world has to offer, so stop choosing the world over God. To conclude, the standards that you hold God to should be higher than the standards you hold anyone else to. Honestly though, abuse is wrong no matter who it is.
