Hi everyone! I’m 59 and looking for spiritual Fellowship

Who you are in Christ matters. If the enemy tried to challenge what God said about Jesus, why would we be surprised when thoughts come that challenge what God says about us? “You’re not really forgiven.” “You haven’t really changed.” “God is disappointed in you.” “You’re still who you used to be.” But our identity is not determined by the thoughts that enter our minds. It is grounded in what God has already said. You are a new creation in Christ. You are forgiven. You are accepted in the Beloved. You are a child of God. You belong to Jesus. The battle often begins when a thought asks: “Did God really say...?” Know what God says about you so you can recognize the lie when it comes.

Leaving an abusive or unhealthy church environment does not automatically remove the fear, shame, hypervigilance, guilt, or distorted beliefs that may have been formed there. You may have physically walked away from controlling leadership, spiritual manipulation, or an unhealthy church culture, but still find yourself questioning your decisions, fearing authority, feeling guilty for setting boundaries, or wondering whether God is disappointed in you. In this teaching, we talk about what healing from spiritual abuse and church hurt can look like when the environment is gone, but its effects remain. We’ll look at how spiritual abuse can distort your understanding of God, biblical authority, submission, forgiveness, boundaries, and even your own ability to discern what is true. Most importantly, we’ll bring those beliefs back to Scripture. Because leaving a church is not the same thing as leaving Jesus. And the people who misrepresented God do not get to define God for you. SCRIPTURES REFERENCED Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free…” Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” John 8:31–32 “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” Acts 17:10–11 The Bereans examined the Scriptures to determine whether what they were being taught was true. Matthew 7:16–20 Jesus teaches that we recognize people by their fruit. Healing from spiritual abuse does not mean becoming cynical about every church, pastor, or spiritual leader.

Spiritual abuse and church hurt can affect more than the way you see the church—they can begin to distort the way you see God. If you've experienced controlling spiritual leadership, manipulation, rejection, shame, or an unhealthy church environment, you may have walked away carrying beliefs about God that were formed by the people who hurt you rather than by Scripture. Maybe you've wondered: Is God always disappointed in me? Am I rebellious for asking questions? Do I have to earn God's approval? Are boundaries unbiblical? If the church rejected me, has God rejected me too? In this teaching, When Church Hurt Distorts How You See God, we look at those beliefs through the truth of Scripture and begin separating the behaviour of people from the character of God. People can use God's name while completely misrepresenting God's character. But people can misrepresent God without changing who God actually is. In this teaching, we discuss: • How spiritual abuse can distort your perception of God • Performance-based Christianity and feeling like God is always disappointed • Fear of making the “wrong” spiritual decision • Why biblical discernment and asking questions are not rebellion • Forgiveness, boundaries, trust, and access • Rejection by a church versus your identity in Christ • How unhealthy spiritual authority can affect your relationship with God • Recognizing beliefs you may need to unlearn after church hurt • Replacing distorted beliefs with biblical truth • Why Jesus—not the people who hurt you—shows us the character of God Healing from spiritual abuse isn't only recognizing what someone else did wrong. Sometimes it means discovering what you learned to believe because of what happened and allowing Scripture to correct it. Maybe you've been trying to trust a version of God that God Himself never asked you to believe in. Go back to Jesus. Go back to Scripture. Go back to the Good Shepherd. The people who hurt you do not get to define God for you. Their behaviour does not determine His character. Their rejection does not determine your identity. Their failure does not cancel His faithfulness.

Church hurt can change the way you see people. Spiritual abuse can change the way you see God. When someone uses spiritual authority, Scripture, shame, fear, or manipulation to control you, it can leave you questioning things you once knew to be true. Is God disappointed in me? Am I rebellious for asking questions? Was I wrong for setting boundaries? Did I fail God because I walked away? But here's something I want you to remember: People can misrepresent God without changing who God actually is. Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” — John 10:11 A shepherd may have failed you. A church may have failed you. A ministry may have failed you. But Jesus is still the Good Shepherd. This week at She Will Stand, we're talking about spiritual abuse—what it is, what it isn't, how unhealthy spiritual authority can distort our understanding of God and our identity in Christ, and how we begin replacing those distortions with biblical truth. If you've experienced church hurt or spiritual abuse, my prayer isn't that you simply learn to trust people again. It's that you learn to recognize the difference between who people told you God was and who Scripture reveals Him to be. Because the people who misrepresented God do not get to define God for you.