“Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.'”
-Acts 4:11, NIV
God loves thieves. True.
God loves rapists. True.
God loves adulterers and adulteresses. True.
But does God love their victims?
Does God love the robbed?
Does God love the raped?
Does God love adultery victims?
I know God does. He identifies as one such individual throughout the book of Hosea as well as in Jeremiah 3.
God is not afraid to acknowledge the existence of adultery victims. He is not ashamed of His righteous anger towards those who defile the marriage bed by committing adultery (e.g. Hebrews 13:4).
God loves adultery victims.
I wish that message was shared more from the pulpit and in print:
It is a message that helps dispel the darkness necessary to keep those victims locked in undeserved shame. It is a message that brings hope and validation to those individuals acknowledging that they–adultery victims—do, indeed, exist. It is a message that says that God’s love does not stop at loving perpetrators of soul rape but extends to those the perpetrators violated as well.
God loves adultery victims. This is Good News for those who are experiencing extreme shame in this especially heinous form of rejection and violation.
*A version of this post ran previously.
