A Malicious Heart: Silent Killer in Abusive Relationships
Malicious is defined as: having or showing a desire to cause harm to another person; having or showing malice. I strongly believe one of the silent killers of mankind is malice. Malice is like holding a grudge against someone until it burns a hole in your heart. Malice is like holding onto unforgiveness until it hardens your heart.
What makes malice a silent killer in abusive relationships is it operates under the surface. It gets covered up with behavioral problems or acting out. For example, someone who drinks, then goes home and physically abuses his family would be categorized as having an alcohol and anger problem, which may be true. But what most likely drove him to drink and be angry is something that's festering in his heart.
Pain that's not properly dealt with can spawn into malice and result in abuse. There's a wound in the soul and brokenness in the spirit that needs to be healed. But instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to bring about healing, some people use this negative and toxic energy within them to harm others.
When abusive people allow the Holy Spirit to heal their soul, the more their soul becomes pure and free. But when they block their own healing, the more their soul becomes dark — the more a malicious heart will lurk as the silent killer in their abusive relationships. You've probably heard it said, "hurt people, hurt people." So the abuser is someone who was hurt in the past and needs healing. If you're a victim of abuse, you cannot allow malice to creep into your heart. Otherwise, you may in turn act abusively toward someone else. So you see, malice perpetuates a toxic cycle of abuse.
Don't Let Malice Creep Into Your Heart
You may not be able to change someone else from acting maliciously, but there's a good chance you can bring about change in yourself. One of the first steps is to be honest with yourself. In your prayer time, tell the Father how you really feel. From my own experience, honest prayers have brought me more healing than trying to pray cute prayers sprinkled with bible verses.
So ask yourself, "Am I allowing a malicious heart to be the silent killer in my abusive relationship?" "Have I allowed malice to creep into my heart because of unforgiveness?" If so, I dare you to pour out your heart in honesty to the Father. I dare you to pour out all your brokenness, so the Father can fill you with his righteousness. I dare you to take action today to heal your soul and revive your spirit.
