A Christian View of Abuse, Part I
by Michael Doyle

Everything within these words spoken
Comes partly from the experience of the broken.
These experiences shape us in the final days,
And there will be differences in our ways.

One third of women have been abused,
This is a solid fact, not to be confused.
They have gone along with what is wrong
Just to maybe feel as if they might belong.

Verbal and physical abuse never relents,
And those doing it seldom, if ever, repent.
The pain caused will be carried for life,
Diminishing our peace and increasing our strife.

Each moment suffered never stops churning.
It's the bad experience of life spent learning
From which we must all break the cycle and be free.
This will bring peace for you and me.

Never keep these things secret, but let the world know,
Sharing your pain, after all, it will always show.
We're only as sick as the secrets we keep concealed.
The healing process needs our feelings to be revealed.

It takes the truth to set you toward becoming free.
Silent suffering only creates further indignity.
Stifled inside, the abuse causes us to take on blame.
We need, instead, to call out the shame by its very name.

David is a prime example of keeping secrets in.
A classic case, cursed and walking in His skin.
Frightened to talk about it, it only grew worse,
And the feelings inside became angry, hurt, and perverse.

Silence is betrayal, and this cycle becomes its own trap.
The enmeshment we experience is meant for us to unwrap.
Step by step, we need to learn to become strong
Until love helps us recover to where we truly belong.

The provocations to our peace become an aggravation.
The taunting is ceaseless and is without explanation.
Threats abound and become a constant intimidation,
All of this joined together is our denigration.

Belittled until your nerves have become well-worn,
It's a relentless attack of mean-spirited scorn.
This dissolves into a relationship of living in shame,
And it is never an allowable sort of game. 

The words that kill are the constant manipulation, 
Until your enemies believe they've gained domination.
The life we live is nothing more than our day after day.
The shame of it is, we know we should not be loved in this way.

Rumors hurt and, with time, become our soul's defamation.
The pain of untruth hurts until it's heard as condemnation.
All of this adds up to a horrible, killing indictment,
And all it requires is the power of wrong judgment.

(c) February 20, 2026   Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved