Written by Are you guilty? Have you ever said things to your children which you later regretted. If you are a parent I am sure you have. There are parents however who for some insane reasons abuse their own children. Sam is such a child. His dad often yells at him from his drunken stupor such hurtful words as “Shut up, Sam, or I will give you more to cry about!” “I wish you had never been born! You are just a whiny baby,” and often much worse. Sam, like many other children in the United States has never heard either his dad or mother tell him that they love him.
Almost 14 of every 1000 children in our nation are victimized. More than half of those are the victims of neglect, 1 in 4 suffer physical abuse, 6% suffer psychological abuse, and 2% suffer medical neglect. Just over 2 in 3 of all children victimized in our nation are White.
10 “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. 12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. Matthew 18:10–14
If you know of a child who is being abused do something about it! Remember, Jesus loves the little children of the world, but unfortunately too many do not. Ask God to change the hearts and minds of those who do not recognize what a special blessing their own children or those children for whom they are responsible truly are.
Pray for all of children like Sam in Bartow county, our state, nation and world. Ask God to protect these children and to let each of these victimized children know that He loves them.
I believe the percentages are much higher if you consider that many, many times the abuse isn’t reported by anyone. Also, the abuse can fall short of the level that requires reporting. As a parent that loves her children with all her heart, I have been guilty of yelling at them at times. While not in a drunken or drugged state, but still I have had to apologize and then pray for forgiveness. We need to continue praying for the children and reminding them and helping them to pray themselves. Thanks, Warner, for this devotion.