Cutting, Embedding, and more…
Within the last year, I have come in contact with several Christian girls who purposely harm themselves. Why? What is causing these girls to feel so desperate, that they would deliberately cut their arms and legs or even burn parts of their body? While suicide is not the ultimate goal, reasons for self-injury range from coping with difficult emotions to control. One young lady said, “You can’t control what’s happening around you, but you can control what you do to yourself.” Another Christian young lady told me that she felt completely numb inside emotionally, so she cut herself to at least feel SOMETHING. FOXNews posted an article in December ’08 that talked about embedding, which is cutting gone to the next level. It stated that 13 to 24 percent of high school students in the U.S. and Canada have practiced deliberate self-injury at least once. Are you hurting yourself in any way? It doesn’t have to be cutting or embedding. It could be pulling your hair out or bruising yourself. Please know that God loves you, and He understands your hurt! He wants you to unload all your pain on Him and stop taking it out on yourself.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
There is no pit too deep for Jesus. God offers an option for a clean slate. One of my favorite names of God is Jehovah-Rophe, which means “The Lord Heals”.
I’ve struggled with cutting. Still do but I learned it’s not going to fix anything. Yes, it is a relief. Yes, it makes life a little easier to deal with. It does help you have control over something. It also helps the ones who are numb to actually FEEL something. I’ve done it for both of those reasons. I go to a counselor now which helps me escape my thoughts which was the main reason behind the cutting. Many times, especially girls but does not exclude guys (I personally know a couple guys who have struggled or still do), feel alone so they result to hiding within themselves.
I cannot stress more than anything, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! Dealing with time of change and loss of friends, I’ve learned who my real friends are and even though I have messed up they are still standing by my side. Not everyone will leave you and not everyone will hurt you. Look at your life and think “If they were to know about this how would that affect them?”. I know the times I’ve been honest with people and told them about cutting they were shocked! I’ve even been told “I don’t know how some so beautiful, inside and out, could be in so much pain”. People are there for you. They’re like the answers in the back of the book you have to choose to let them help you. Letting someone in and allowing yourself to be vulnerable can help you become stronger and better in the end.