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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 16h

The greater the pain and destruction, and the more ravaged a life is by disease or trauma—the greater the care and nurture that should come from the body of Christ.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

We can allow ourselves to be deceived when we are vulnerable, hungry, enthralled, and given hope—especially when we are led by one we assume to be good who is, in fact, a prowling wolf. I pray that all our longings will be placed in the only safe place there is—the throne of our God.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

There is no face God does not love, no life He does not weep over, and no evil or trauma He has not borne.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The church has failed victims horrifically. She has hidden abuse, been complicit in its soul-damaging outcomes, and too often accepted an abuser’s words of remorse and expressions of emotion as sufficient evidence of repentance.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The grief from a chronic illness is relentless. An inability to do what one’s heart longs to do and medication side effects that cause more debilitation are grieved. Sleep suffers, pain must be endured, and basic daily care of their body absorbs more and more energy.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

An ungodly system will excuse, minimize, or distort what is in fact crippling, deforming, shattering, and life-destroying to humans.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

A repentant heart shows empathy for those who have been wronged and damaged by my sin, an awareness that the sin is against the goodness and holiness of God, not merely a behavioral aberration that got me in trouble. A repentant heart desires to make restitution.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

We become a hindrance rather than a help when we greet those who suffer with statements such as "If you would only... attend church, read Scripture more, believe more, stop thinking about yourself, and put the past behind you." This puts heavy burdens on already bowed backs.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Neither grace nor forgiveness means letting people do what they want or giving them what they feel they must have. Grace is not a lack of restrictions. In fact, sometimes the thing that is most grace-filled is restriction.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Here are two words that should never go together: spiritual and abuse. It’s a diabolical pairing. The Spirit of God hates abuse, uncovers abuse, and cares for the abused. But we often see spirituality distorted and misused to damage a person created in the image of God.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

The body of Christ is called to be a sacred place for the vulnerable. We have often chosen instead to protect the powerful and have deceived ourselves into believing that God would call that good.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Abuse silences victims and renders them powerless. Listening makes room for their voice and honors their dignity. As a church leader, never forget that they have honored you by coming to you. You have been seen as safe—be safe.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Whenever God’s people fail to speak truth, expose the deeds of darkness, and function as a refuge for the abused, afflicted, and needy, they have not only failed you—they have failed our God, for they look nothing like Him.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The body of Christ is called to be a sacred place for the vulnerable. We have often chosen to be a safe place for the powerful and have deceived ourselves into believing that God would call that good.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

To protect is not simply to prevent physical harm—but it is to act in a way that bestows dignity—never shame.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Deception happens when we see what we long for—and it blinds us to the truth of what is. May we know Christ so well that we can discern what is unlike Him no matter the seductive or religious garb it wears.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

People who are suffering long for help and comfort. We have all experienced this in times of pain. It is an open door for the church to bend down, like her Lord bent down for us, and enter in with wise, gentle, self-sacrificing, and practical ongoing care.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

If you want the trauma survivor to understand that God is a refuge, then be one.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

On Labor Day, a reflection on the labor of love.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I know with certainty that there is hope for the darkest of stories because the Light of the World has come. His name is Jesus, and He brings life to dead places, forgives sins, and heals the broken and wounded.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Given the vast number of suffering & traumatized people, the trauma of this world is one of the supreme opportunities before the church today. Worshiping God means that, in Jesus’ name, we listen & attend to those who are suffering. We MUST enter the trauma of shattered humanity.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The most powerful lie of all is the lie that contains a likeness to the truth in some way. It is how we lull others and ourselves into believing what we prefer to hear instead of believing what is true.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

When we speak of God’s redemptive work, we are speaking about a sacrifice that covered unspeakable atrocities, such as incest or genocide. We are also speaking of a sacrifice for things we, at our peril, minimize.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

When you sit with someone who is suffering, grieving, or sorrowing, you are sitting face-to-face with a grief that your Lord has carried. There is no tragedy that you will encounter in another’s life or in your own that He has not borne.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Trauma worldwide is a call to God’s people to become like our Savior—love stooping to the uttermost depth to deal with the poison of evil in this world and in our hearts.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

When your life is blown up, your faith may be shaken—or even blown apart. Yet this, too, can become a place where God, over time, forges a new and deeper faith.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Oppression is literally a crushing of the image of God in humans. To say or do nothing when power is abused is to contribute to the defacing of God’s image in others. In other words, it is to join with the enemy of God, who sought to destroy that same image.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Trauma is a wound to the mind, the heart, the soul, and often to the body as well. We will help others and honor God when we learn to be like Him—hearing their story and sitting with their tears.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Verbal power is a tremendous power. People who have a command of words, or are articulate, can dominate a conversation, a room, a relationship, a group, or a nation. Words can be used to influence, shape, and encourage or to humiliate, deceive, maneuver, and control.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Whenever abuse is exposed, it creates a crisis, and a crisis is a revealing time. It will reveal the heart of the one who is accused; it will reveal your heart to you; and it will reveal the heart of the structure or organization that is threatened by the truth.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

We in the church are hungry to be progressive, to get higher, to have more, to increase our numbers, and to achieve yet another level. Yet, our Savior goes back to gather up the lost things, those that have been left behind. He came to “seek and to save that which was lost.”

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Power is a gift of God and is derived from His power. Any use of power that is not Christ-like is corrupt. When one with power uses another for his own ends, the powerful has used the vulnerable for food.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

We are called to ALWAYS protect, honor, respect, and care for the small, the vulnerable, and the powerless. To protect is not simply to prevent physical harm—it is acting in a way that bestows dignity, never shame.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Systems that cover up abuse through deception, coercion, or abuse of power mimic the perpetrator and revictimize the victim. Tragically, many lives have been sacrificed on the altar of secrecy for the sake of the church or a perceived noble cause.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Not a single word in the Beatitudes relates to human notions of what a kingdom is like. Human ideas of kingdom building focus on nations, race, tribe, military strength, and wealth. Jesus teaches that greatness in His kingdom is found in the character that reflects His likeness.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

“We must oppose every form of alienation, liberate people from every kind of oppression, and denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist.” —The Lausanne Covenant

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Scripture makes it clear that the place where God dwells must be both holy and a refuge for the poor and oppressed—both individually and as the body of Christ.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

The silence about wrongdoing in our religious institutions can be rationalized and affirmed as a desire to protect the name of God. Such harmful rhetoric from leadership fosters interior silence in the victims and in the followers.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Trauma brings emotional darkness and aloneness because it feels like no one cares and no one could possibly understand. When we are heard by someone who seeks to understand and feel with us, we are no longer isolated and alone in our suffering.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

“The single most significant factor in determining whether a religion will be implicated in violence is its identification with a political project and its entanglement with those trying to realize and protect that project.” —Miroslav Volf

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

You cannot talk people out of suffering, trauma, or great grief. You must go to them, sit with them, listen, and understand; then, little by little, you can begin to walk with them toward a new and different place.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

The pursuit of truth reminds us that no matter how much we know or how many people we help, we are always a student, a disciple undergoing training. We are not the Teacher. We are only servants of the Teacher. There is no arrogance at the foot of the cross.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

To tolerate sin, pretense, disease, crookedness, or deviation from the truth is to do something other than the work of God, no matter the words used to describe it.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Faith in God is a struggle in ordinary life. Faith in God when we have seen tragedy and trauma is a massive struggle. But it is a good fight because it is a fight against those things that tried to destroy us and make us like themselves.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

It is not hard for humans to learn to think that mind-boggling evil and gross injustice is acceptable. It is a little-by-little seduction until we find ourselves thinking of another human being as a nasty, threatening creature not worthy to exist in our world.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

When you enter a life in crisis, you will not help if you swoop in, tell people what to do, and take over. You need to leave your comfort and convenience and enter in, little by little, so you can listen, understand, and be touched by their infirmities. It is about them, not you.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

So often, rather than suffer involvement with messy injustices and corrupt systems, we choose the quiet/easy way and sin against Justice Himself rather than allow the suffering of others and the injustices they live with daily to alter our schedules, comfort level, & tidy lives.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Many adults judge their childhood experience of abuse as if they had the knowledge and resources of the adult they are now. They see themselves as weak, stupid, bad, or something that caused the abuse. It is a belief with long tentacles, and it takes much time for freedom to come.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Exploitation of the vulnerable person tells us about the exploiter, not the victim of that exploitation, and is always an abuse of power.

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Diane Langberg, PhD @dianelangberg.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

When we believe that measures such as membership growth and financial gain in a ministry are proof of likeness to God, we will then make decisions that silence unwelcome truths about fraud or abuse and tell ourselves the cover-up “preserves God’s honor.”

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