Self Injury Stories (Continued)

Hoping for Freedom

While cutting time after time to escape from life, these young ladies dream of freedom. This yearning is not just about liberation from the emotional pain, but the desire to be released from the bondage of the self-injury that only provides a temporary release.

Miss Jane writes, “I feel so dumb that I do it, but I can’t help it. I think that if I give it time, and make some supportive friends, I’ll be able to come through this alive.”

After attempting suicide, Richelle explains, “I did get help, but the most help has come from my family, friends and boyfriend. They are always trying to get me to love myself. And I feel nowadays that maybe I could love myself and not need the knife to punish myself.”

To conclude the explanation of her struggle with cutting, Riley writes, “I am nowhere close to quitting cutting. It is the hardest thing to do ever. This is why I wanted to get my story out, so that no one will ever start. I hate thinking that I thought it was a way out, and I hate thinking more that I still do.”

Each of these young women looks forward to a day when she will not need to cut herself to make the pain go away. True freedom will only come as she experiences the love of God. Only then will she not need to punish herself, because she will know that there is a greater love, hope, and freedom for her.

Finding Freedom

It is not unrealistic to think that such deliverance can take place. These young people have allowed life’s circumstances to take control of their minds. Freedom is found when the spirit of God takes over.

Holly has found this way to freedom. She looks back on the times when she was crying for help, too. Much like the others, Holly still experiences a temptation to cut herself on occasion, but she knows that she does not have to. When she stopped cutting, she found out that “you can’t just stop doing something you don’t want to do; you have to replace it with something else.” That is exactly what she did.

She says, “It is more about what you should do. It is more about Jesus. Learn to put truth in your mind and not worry about what others think. Satan will still whisper, ‘No one will know. You know you’ll feel better.’ But with Jesus, you know you have victory even if you don’t feel like it. You just have to walk in victory.”

LauRen, now 21-years-old, would certainly agree with Holly. After cutting for three years while never feeling good enough, she now finds herself on the other side of the addiction. It has been almost seven years since the last time she cut, and she is more than willing to tell us how that happened.

She explains that when she was fourteen, she just had to “make a firm decision that God is better and bigger than her pain.” Her emotions would no longer control her, but God would instead. After reading Hebrews 6:19, she realized that there was hope and that God would be an anchor for her even in the storm of her emotions. This is what kept her strong through times of temptation. The only way to overcome, she admits, is by believing the truth of God’s word.

Believing, proclaiming, and meditating on scripture is how many Christians have overcome any number of strongholds, and this is no exception. By trusting in God completely and deciding to live by truth instead of emotion, freedom is possible.

This is the good news for any young woman that is trapped in this cycle of self-abuse. For a generation yearning to escape pain, true freedom is available through the cross of Christ and the truth of His Word.

Sources:
Christianitytoday.com, CNN.com, Psyke.org

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