Colored stipple etching of a forearm with three open wounds, WOUNDS by J. Stewart after J. Bell (c. 1826), Wellcome Collection (Library Reference ICV No 9908), Source/Photographer https://wellcomeimages.org/indexplus/obf_images/b3/e5/19f609d2570b60390b8f1a0e2f55.jpg, (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International)
When sex is viewed merely as another human appetite – powerful perhaps, but devoid of emotional content; when it is shared with any number of casual strangers, rather than with the beloved in a lifelong committed relationship as intended by God, then it is devalued and we with it.
Instead, a profound wound is created, a wound that reaches to the soul.
We may deny the existence of this wound. Certainly, our culture does. But the wound is a reality, nonetheless, a gaping void no substitute can fill.
We may try to fill that void by increasing the number of our sexual partners, a fruitless exercise. We may try to fill it with food, alcohol, or drugs in an effort to numb the pain. The effort, itself, can become a compulsion. But the wound remains.
For the victims of abuse, sexual or otherwise, the very same wound is created. We know at the deepest level that we were seen as worthless by the parents or guardians who should have loved us. The grief and shame are overwhelming, and can last a lifetime.
Christ is familiar with wounds. He, too, bore them. Not due to His own fault, but for our sakes. And He can heal them.
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ANNA WALDHERR A Voice Reclaimed, Surviving Child Abuse 
