“Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!—came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.” (John 1:3-5, The Message paraphrase)
Read that again and picture the scene. Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; not a slow dawn, but a blaze out of darkness. Once we know about domestic abuse and the tactics used by perpetrators, we can’t help but then spot them in those around us. Think about a time you have learnt about an injustice. Where was that knowledge reflected in your body? Did it make you angry, or sad, restless like you needed to act? It can often feel like a blaze of knowledge and shock us into action, or we can choose inaction.
Maya Angelou once said, “Do the best you can until you know better, then when you know better, do better.” God calls the people of God to be the light in the darkness, to be a place of safety and growth.
“Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; not a slow dawn, but a blaze out of darkness.”
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The Life-Light, Jesus, calls us to action, to bind up the broken hearted and set the captives free. How might we act this advent to raise awareness of domestic abuse?
Perpetrating abuse within our churches will be so much harder if we become intentional in speaking up about it. If you’d like to be part of a network of churches that are committed to standing against domestic abuse, find out more about our Restored Beacon Network.
This Christmas, light a beacon of hope for survivors
You can ensure more churches are equipped to respond to domestic abuse and support survivors.