"On average, 24 people per minute are victims of rape, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner in the United States..." That's the chilling opening introduction to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS). When I heard this information last night on the news, I was shocked! I turned to my wife and said, "That is appalling!" See here.
This is a tragic element of life in our country. Is the phenomenon of sexual violence perpetrated by people with intimate access to others worse than in the past? Or are these incidents being more commonly reported?
I don't know the answers to those two questions. But I am certain that without the respect for each other as children of God fostered by a relationship with Christ, all legal and social remedies to sexual violence will be mere bandaids. (Even though, clearly, legal and social remedies must be applied!)
Please pray for people willing to share Jesus with those around them.
And don't be surprised that as you pray, God may incite you to action steps He may want you to take to help change the climate in our culture.
In the meantime, if you know of any people victimized in ways shown in this new study, urge them to get help and to call the appropriate authorities. By the way, this seems like a good point to mention that God created sexual intimacy to be a means by which a husband and wife may be bonded to each other, to enjoy one another's company, and, at times, to become parents.
The misuse of our sexuality is a sin.
Like all sin, it can be forgiven by the gracious God we know in Christ when in repentance and in faith in Christ, we seek forgiveness.
But the misuse of human sexuality has reached epidemic proportions in our society.
May God teach us to use all of His gifts as He intends them to be used.
