03/14/2026
๐๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ.
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is horrific in any context, but within the Christian community, it often carries a particular layer of complexity. Abuse can be physical, spiritual, sexual, psychological, emotional, or financial...and it is more common than many people want to admit. More than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 6 men in the US have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.
๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฏ๐.
๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ก๐๐๐๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ.
๐
๐๐๐ซ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง.
๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.
Too many people in Christian spaces have been taught to stay in what God never asked them to survive.
They've heard:
โข ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ.
โข ๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.
โข ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ช๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ.
โข ๐๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐ด.
โข ๐๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐บ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
โข ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ถ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ.
Let me say this plainly:
๐๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฒ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก.
Yes, I believe in the covenant of marriage. I don't advocate for death at the hand of a partner.
You can pray and leave.
You can honor God and stay safe.
You can have faith and tell the truth.
You can love God and set boundaries.
You can choose to stay, but stay in truth.
Violence in marriage is wrong.
Spiritual abuse is abuse.
Weaponizing Scripture to keep someone trapped is evil.
The church has not always handled this well. But hear me clearly:
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ง๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฒ.
If you are experiencing IPV, seek safety, support, and trauma-informed help. Trauma-informed clergy and counselors existsโฆ Iโm one.
You are not weak.
You are not faithless.
And you are not alone.