Abuse
How Can the Savior Help Me as a Victim of Abuse?

“How Can the Savior Help Me as a Victim of Abuse?” Help for Victims (2018)

“How Can the Savior Help Me as a Victim of Abuse?” Help for Victims

How can the Savior help me as a victim of abuse?

The Savior can comfort and heal you. The Savior experienced our pain, afflictions, temptations, infirmities, and sickness of every kind (see Alma 7:11–12). He knows how to help, support, heal, and comfort you in your time of need. He can take away your pain and sorrow.

Believing the Savior Can Help You

As a victim of abuse, you may wonder how the Savior can help heal you. You may think that the Savior’s atoning sacrifice was only for those who sin and need to repent. You are not to blame for the abuse you have experienced, nor do you need to be forgiven of actions someone has taken against you. So how does the Savior help you? Because of His sacrifice, He understands what every single person has gone through. Although we may not know exactly how the Savior was able to feel all our pains, we can have faith that He understands each man, woman, and child in a perfect way (see 2 Nephi 9:21). He can provide peace and strength to move forward.

You can seek the Savior’s healing power and trust that He will help you.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught,

“The Savior has suffered not just for our sins and iniquities—but also for our physical pains and anguish, our weaknesses and shortcomings, our fears and frustrations, our disappointments and discouragement, our regrets and remorse, our despair and desperation, the injustices and inequities we experience, and the emotional distresses that beset us.

“There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first. In a moment of weakness we may cry out, ‘No one knows what it is like. No one understands.’ But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He has felt and borne our individual burdens. And because of His infinite and eternal sacrifice (see Alma 34:14), He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy. He can reach out, touch, succor, heal, and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do relying only upon our own power” (“Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2014, 89–90).

The Savior has the power to help you and heal you, if you will allow Him. Sometimes He will take the burden away and sometimes He will help you “bear with those afflictions, with a firm hope that ye shall one day rest from all your afflictions” (Alma 34:41). While you may still feel pain, you do not have to carry this pain alone.

President James E. Faust taught: “The injured should do what they can to work through their trials, and the Savior will ‘succor his people according to their infirmities’ [Alma 7:12]. He will help us carry our burdens. Some injuries are so hurtful and deep that they cannot be healed without help from a higher power and hope for perfect justice and restitution in the next life. Since the Savior has suffered anything and everything that we could ever feel or experience, He can help the weak to become stronger. He has personally experienced all of it. He understands our pain and will walk with us even in our darkest hours” (“The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 20).

Drawing on the Savior’s Healing Power

You can draw on the Savior’s help and healing power by honestly and sincerely praying to Heavenly Father for peace, comfort, and healing. You can also do this by learning more about Jesus Christ and His Atonement.

President Russell M. Nelson taught that there are four things that we can do to “draw into our lives the power of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.” He counseled us to:

  1. Learn about the Savior.

  2. Choose to have faith in Him and follow Him.

  3. Make and keep sacred covenants.

  4. Reach up to Him.

President Nelson explained, “The more we know about the Savior’s ministry and mission—the more we understand His doctrine and what He did for us—the more we know that He can provide the power that we need for our lives” (see “Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 39–41).

The Savior Often Works through Other People

While the Savior provides peace and comfort through the Holy Ghost, He often invites other people to serve us as well. President Spencer W. Kimball taught the following truth: “God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs” (“Small Acts of Service,” Ensign, Dec. 1974, 5).

As a victim of abuse, you may feel like you are all alone. As you pray to Heavenly Father, ask Him for the ability to recognize when people are reaching out to help you. Then humbly allow others to assist you in small and simple ways. Sometimes this person may be a ministering brother or sister, a spouse or other family member, or a Church leader (see “Where can I turn for support?”). Let them help you connect with other resources for protection and healing, including medical help, professional counselors, and Church leaders. As you combine spiritual support with professional help, you can begin to find hope and healing.

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