RECOVERY FROM THE SCAPEGOAT SYNDROME

  By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi


 The Israelites had a special ceremony in the Old Testament which took place every year on the day of Atonement : during which two goats were chosen by lots ,one to be sacrificed and  the other to become a scapegoat , then Aaron the high priest will assemble the people and lay his hands on the scapegoat's head. 

   This was interpreted to mean that the burden of sins of the nation has been transferred to the animal and  the goat was taken outside the camp and forced into the wilderness to perish  .

   This is symbolic of a greater sacrifice when Jesus was led outside the city to be crucified,  God the Father placed our sins upon him and he became a scapegoat and our sacrificial lamb.

 "For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,Romans 3:25 NLTBible and "For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time."Hebrews 10:10 NLT BIBLE. 

 Like the case of the scapegoat  unfortunately some families carry on a similar practice in an unhealthy manner where a member of the family sacrifices his or her progress for the progress of others .

   Scapegoats of families often yearn for love and acceptance they have never received manifested in lack of self-esteem and outburst of anger or rebellion.  They know deep inside the injustice of being singled out and separated from the family and their frustrations can find their way into behavioral problems. This is a major reason behind marital crisis ,such persons demand excess care from their spouses or become melancholic.

     The Old Testament scapegoat had a redeeming nature which  is not the case for a family scapegoat . They bear problems beyond their age or ability to understand resulting in terrible emotional damage and every attempt at reaching out to their family for comfort only leads to further separation. 

   How can the cycle of the scapegoat mentality be broken ? It starts when we discover the unconditional love and acceptance in our relationship with Jesus Christ. in Jesus Christ we find unconditional acceptance and through him we receive power and strength to be joyful in spite of our circumstances. " So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."1 Peter 1:6‭-‬7 NLTBible and nothing can separate us from the love of God.( Rom.8:38-39) 

   God has not singled out anyone in a family to sacrifice their life for others. God has already paid the price for our sins ,no more sacrifice is needed except that of gratitude  .    

   Prayer : Heavenly father forgive me of my sins against you I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation I receive him as Lord and saviour and receive the Holy Ghost and power to make great progress in the face of much challenges in Jesus name.

+2348035536911; +2348098536911 e-mail michaelbensonajayi@gmail.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

BREAK EVIL FAMILY PATTERNS

Image
 By Rev.Michael Benson Ajayi  Titus 1:12 -14 "One of themselves,   even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians   are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.  This  witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply,  that they may be sound in the faith;  Not giving  heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of  men, that turn from the truth."       The church in Crete was in disarray and the apostle assigned Titus to go and put things in order . On investigation it was discovered the church suffered from a vicious cycle of evil family  patterns. They were not enjoying the fruits of the salvation experience . An example of evil family patterns is that of King David who defiled Uriah's wife ,murdered him and his son Absalom murdered his brother Amnon (2Sam13) dethroned him and defiled his concubines openly (2Samuel16). His son Amnon defiled his sister Tamar (2Sam.13) and so on yet David was the anointed of the Lord.     Many christians suffer evil family patterns ( repeated d
Read more

CONSEQUENCES OF LACK OF FAITH

Image
By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi " Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God." Hebrews 3:12 NLTBible  ' Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!”John 20:27 NLTBible     Faith is the guarantee of the manifestation an unseen reality . It is the reason behind the hope we have in God and the fulfilment of his promises. It is the substance ( title deed) of things hoped for ,the evidence of things not seen (Hebrew 11:1) .The Bible warns against not having faith in God. Lack of faith is equal to calling God a liar and untrustworthy. This type of reasoning turns us into enemy's of God.    The gospel is so much under attack by the activities of faithless religionists . They plan to replace the holy scripture with humanistic dogma. The danger in this is the relative approach t
Read more

COMMON CAUSES OF DISUNITY.

Image
 By Rev Michael Benson Ajayi "Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following."Acts 20:30 NLT   "An angry person starts fights; a hot-tempered person commits all kinds of sin." Proverbs 29:22 NLTBible        Disunity is defined as : disagreement and conflict within a group. It is the greatest hindrance to the promotion of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Disunity creates an avenue for Satan to promote sin.       The causes of disunity are not farfetched ,they include : Unhealthy Crave for power or self- promotion. Whenever there is an unhealthy pursuit of influence in a family or group it results in resistance. Self-promotion gives birth to unfair practices and injustices. In Numbers 12: 1-15  Moses' sister Miriam and Aaron rebelled against him desiring to rule by force and in Numbers 16 :1-35 Korah led an insurrection against Moses desiring to be part of leadership. In both cases ,God was not pleased with the rebels
Read more