35 Bible Verses About Healing from Childhood Abuse

Childhood abuse leaves wounds that go far deeper than physical scars. The betrayal of trust by those meant to protect you creates a complex web of pain, shame, and confusion that can echo through decades of adult life. You might struggle with feeling worthy of love, have difficulty trusting others, or carry a persistent sense that you’re somehow damaged or dirty because of what happened to you.

The silence surrounding childhood abuse often makes the pain worse. Well-meaning people who say “just forgive and move on” don’t understand that healing from such deep trauma isn’t a simple decision but a journey that requires time, courage, and often professional help alongside spiritual support. You might feel guilty for still struggling with the effects years later, or wonder if God was absent when you needed Him most.

But God sees every wound inflicted in secret and grieves over every stolen moment of innocence. He doesn’t minimize your pain or rush your healing process. The same God who promises to be a father to the fatherless specializes in restoring what was taken, even in 7 folds, and creating beauty from the ashes of a broken childhood. Your past doesn’t define your future, and healing is possible.

Bible Verses About Healing from Childhood Abuse

1. Psalm 27:10 – When My Father and Mother Forsake Me

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.

New International Version (NIV)

2. Isaiah 54:4 – You Will Not Remember the Shame of Your Youth

Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more.

English Standard Version (ESV)

3. Psalm 68:5 – A Father to the Fatherless

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation.

New King James Version (NKJV)

4. Isaiah 61:1-3 – Beauty from Ashes

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

New Living Translation (NLT)

5. Psalm 147:3 – He Heals the Brokenhearted

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

6. Isaiah 43:18-19 – Forget the Former Things

Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

7. Romans 8:28 – All Things Work Together for Good

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

King James Version (KJV)

8. 2 Corinthians 5:17 – The Old Has Gone, the New Is Here

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

9. Psalm 34:18 – Close to the Brokenhearted

If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there; if you’re kicked in the gut, he’ll help you catch your breath.

The Message (MSG)

10. Isaiah 49:15-16 – I Will Never Forget You

Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.

Amplified Bible (AMP)

11. Jeremiah 31:3 – I Have Loved You with an Everlasting Love

The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

New English Translation (NET)

12. Psalm 139:13-14 – I Am Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

13. Isaiah 66:13 – As a Mother Comforts Her Child

I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.

Contemporary English Version (CEV)

14. Lamentations 3:22-23 – His Compassions Never Fail

The Lord’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.

Good News Translation (GNT)

15. Joel 2:25 – I Will Restore the Years the Locusts Have Eaten

I will pay you back for those years when swarms of locusts ate your crops.

New Century Version (NCV)

16. Ephesians 1:4-5 – Chosen and Adopted

For he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in his presence. In love he predestined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the pleasure of his will.

International Standard Version (ISV)

17. 1 John 3:1 – See What Great Love the Father Has Lavished on Us

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Tree of Life Version (TLV)

18. Psalm 10:14 – You Defend the Fatherless

You do see! Indeed you note trouble and grief, that you may take it into your hands; the helpless commits himself to you; you have been the helper of the orphan.

Lexham English Bible (LEB)

19. Romans 8:15 – You Received the Spirit of Adoption

For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

World English Bible (WEB)

20. Psalm 103:12-13 – As Far as the East Is from the West

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so Jehovah pitieth them that fear him.

American Standard Version (ASV)

21. Isaiah 40:11 – He Tends His Flock Like a Shepherd

He will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Revised Standard Version (RSV)

22. Matthew 18:6 – Better for Them to Have a Large Millstone

But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

New American Bible (NAB)

23. Psalm 9:9 – The Lord Is a Refuge for the Oppressed

And the Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.

Douay-Rheims Bible (DRB)

24. Luke 4:18 – To Proclaim Freedom for the Prisoners

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: he hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.

English Revised Version (ERV)

25. Psalm 30:11 – You Turned My Wailing into Dancing

Thou hast turned for me my mourning to dancing, Thou hast loosed my sackcloth, And girdest me with joy.

Young’s Literal Translation (YLT)

26. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – The God of All Comfort

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassions, and God of all encouragement; who encourages us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to encourage those who are in any tribulation through the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God.

Darby Translation (DARBY)

27. Romans 8:1 – No Condemnation for Those in Christ

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Weymouth New Testament (WNT)

28. Psalm 23:4 – Even Though I Walk Through the Valley

For whi thouy Y schal go in the myddis of schadewe of deeth; Y schal not drede yuels, for thou art with me.

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

29. Isaiah 43:1 – You Are Mine

But nowe thus sayeth the Lord, that created thee, O Iaakob: and hee that formed thee, O Israel, Feare not: for I haue redeemed thee: I haue called thee by thy name, thou art mine.

Geneva Bible (GNV)

30. Psalm 18:2 – My Rock, My Fortress and My Deliverer

The Lorde is my rocke, and my fortresse, and my delyuerer: my God, my strength in whome I wyll trust.

Bishop’s Bible

31. John 8:36 – If the Son Sets You Free

If the sonne therfore shall make you fre, then are ye fre in dede.

Tyndale Bible

32. Psalm 71:5-6 – You Have Been My Hope Since My Youth

O Lord, you alone are my hope; I’ve trusted you from childhood. Yes, you have been with me from birth and have cared for me from the time I was born.

The Living Bible (TLB)

33. Zephaniah 3:17 – He Will Take Great Delight in You

For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.

The Passion Translation (TPT)

34. Isaiah 42:3 – A Bruised Reed He Will Not Break

A bruised reed He will not break and a smoldering wick He will not extinguish.

The Voice Bible (VOICE)

35. 1 Peter 2:9 – You Are a Chosen People

But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)

Our Thoughts On What the Bible Says About Healing from Childhood Abuse

Scripture never minimizes the devastating impact of childhood abuse or suggests that faith alone erases its effects. Instead, it consistently shows God’s heart for the vulnerable and His fierce anger toward those who harm children. The Bible acknowledges that some wounds require time and intentional care to heal, while offering hope that restoration is genuinely possible.

What’s particularly powerful about biblical healing is that it addresses both the shame and the identity distortion that abuse creates. God doesn’t just patch up the damage; He redefines who you are as His beloved child. The lies whispered by abusers about your worth, your body, and your future are systematically dismantled by God’s truth about your identity and purpose.

The healing journey often involves grieving what was lost while embracing what God wants to restore. This isn’t about pretending the past didn’t happen, but allowing God to write a new chapter that honors your survival while pointing toward hope. Many survivors find that their deepest wounds become sources of compassion and strength for helping others, turning their pain into purpose in ways they never expected.

Say This Prayer

Heavenly Father, I come to You carrying wounds from childhood that still affect me today. The people who should have protected me instead caused me harm, and I’ve struggled to understand where You were when I needed You most. Sometimes I wonder if I’m too damaged for Your love or if the shame I carry makes me unworthy of Your care.

Thank You for seeing every injustice I suffered and collecting every tear I’ve cried. Help me to understand that none of what happened was my fault and that my worth isn’t determined by how others treated me. Teach me to see myself through Your eyes as Your precious child, fearfully and wonderfully made.

Begin the deep healing work that only You can do. Help me to process these memories in healthy ways, and lead me to the right people who can support my journey. Give me the courage to speak truth about my experiences and the wisdom to know when and with whom to share.

Transform my pain into purpose, Lord. Use my story to help other survivors know they’re not alone and that healing is possible. Show me how to honor my survival while embracing the future You have planned for me.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.