Sexual abuse almost always leaves victims with a damaging set of false beliefs about their value and worth. Held as absolute truths, these false ideas create mistaken guilt, destroy self-esteem, and assign undeserved responsibility for what has happened to those who have already suffered devastating emotional and physical trauma.

Christians, who are survivors, often struggle with the contrast between what they know to be scriptural truth and the overwhelming emotions they experience due to the abuse. They long to believe all God tells them in the Bible, yet they have difficulty bringing the truth into their hearts and living it out every day. Sexual abuse victims struggle with the following four major false beliefs about the abuse: It’s my fault; I must be a terrible person for them to do this to me; I wanted them to do this to me; it didn’t happen! and I must have made it up. 

In this episode and the next, we will explore examples and causes of these false beliefs and how a survivor can overcome and be set free from the lies that keep them bound.