ABUSE: Hope for Banged-Up Lives

Have you been treated poorly, made to feel that you will never measure up, treated like a loser, or undervalued? Maybe you've ended up pretty hard and angry inside, but there is hope.


While you may not be excited about horse racing, the story set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, illustrates some pretty inspiring things. It was #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and then a major motion picture - the story of one of the most famous race horses of all time, Seabiscuit. Seabiscuit was the son of a champion but was definitely not like his father. He had been forced to run with better horses so they would gain confidence by beating him. When he raced, he did what he was trained to do - lose. Because of the poor treatment Seabiscuit received, he became an angry, almost uncontrollable horse until he was given a chance by a trainer who many considered to be too old and a young man most thought was too big to be a jockey.


Seabiscuit thrived in the care of people who believed in him and became one of the greatest horses of all time. The trainer saw in him something that others had missed. When Seabiscuit's eventual owner was deciding whether to buy this apparent loser, he said, You don't throw a life away just because it's been banged up a little.


There is someone who has never thrown away a banged up life, who sees beyond what's on the outside to the wounds on the inside and the potential He built into you when He made you. Jesus is your hope of a new beginning where the future doesn't have to be just an extension of a broken past.

In Isaiah 61:1 , the Bible says of Jesus, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives. Jesus has done that for millions of banged up people for over two thousand years. He can do it for you because He died on the cross for every sin ever done by you or against you. Isaiah 53:4-5 says of His death on the cross: Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.


With someone who loves you so unconditionally and so completely, you don't have to ever again trash yourself, trash other people, or trash your future. When you surrender the steering wheel of your life and put the rest of your life in the hands of the Man who died for you, you can tear up that name tag that identifies you as victim and replace it with the new identity Jesus gives you, Child of the King.


If you've never done that and you want to begin your own personal relationship with Jesus, tell Him that right now with all your heart. Jesus, who's God's one and only Son, sacrificed Himself to become the ultimate banged-up life for you. Even though you have been betrayed, you've been hurt and rejected, you can trust Him and count on Him to never alone. Your new beginning can start this very moment.