Frequently Asked Questions on
Feeling Dirty
How can I think of
myself as clean?
There
are times survivors of abuse feel dirty or unclean. We are clean because God
declares us clean. The answer to being clean is the shed blood of Christ. We
are clean because the blood of Christ makes us clean. Many of the following
verses are related to forgiveness. This is not to say that you were at fault
for your abuse. I am talking about believing what the Bible says is our
position in Christ. Remember we go by what God says not how we feel.
For
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews
If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 KJV)
Who
forgiveth all thine
iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; (Psalms
103:3 KJV)
As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. (Psalms 103:12 KJV)
I,
even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions
for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. (Isaiah 43:25 KJV)
In
whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according
to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7 KJV)
For
he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians
And
they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and
every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith
the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more. (Jeremiah 31:34 KJV)
If survivors of abuse are not at
fault, why use 1 John 1:9 as a verse to use to help you believe that you are
clean?
1
John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Survivors of abuse many
times feel dirty from the abuse. The feeling dirty partly comes from society’s
view of purity and survivors also feeling used. Do survivors of abuse need to
confess sin if they are not at fault? No, victims of an attack are not at
fault. Many times these survivors have doubts of whether they are partly to
blame. With this verse, a person can tell God what he or she feels is his or
her part and is able to claim God’s promise of cleansing from all
unrighteousness. People can just confess to God what happened to them and claim
the promise of being clean from all unrighteousness. Once you know that you are
cleansed, you do not have to keep confessing. Once you are cleansed, you are
cleansed forever. After one confession, every time after that you claim the
promise of cleansing when you are tempted to feel unclean.