What Lesson Are You Teaching?
by Richard D. Gelina
Kids are a wonderful part of life. It’s fun to just sit in a maternity ward and watch the movement of what Elton John called "the circle of life." Very few experiences evoke such emotion as does holding a newborn baby. And nothing brings parents the degree of pleasure that they gain watching their kids grow and molding their young lives. Children are truly a blessing from God.
Jesus
said, "Let the little children come to me." He loved them for their
innocence and their unquestioning faith—He rarely found that kind of
faith in adults. Jesus indicated that children have a special
understanding of things based on this innocence. In Matthew 12:25 He
said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have
hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to
little children." Children are precious to God and, until recently, were
also precious to man.
In America today, children are often regarded either as an entitlement or a burden to be avoided or eliminated by any means necessary (abortion, contraception, infanticide, abandonment, etc.). Not long ago, all human life was widely believed to have infinite value, regardless of its condition. The presence of an infirmity meant that more care and attention were needed. It did not mean that such a life had become worthless.
But
that viewpoint is becoming more prevalent. "Fetal deformity" is a common
justification for abortion. Recent cases of infanticide have been
defended in court because the child "would have been deformed." Where
are we going when we defend killing on the grounds that the victim was
unusually dependent on us? What lessons do we teach our young people
when we demonstrate that our well-being is more important than the life
of a helpless pre-born or newly-born child?
Although it’s a hard responsibility to accept, future generations
base their actions on the lessons taught them by their parents, by their
leaders, and by the lawsof the land. That is why abortion and euthanasia
are so much more accepted today than they were a generation ago.
As
parents demonstrate a lack of concern for the helpless and as the law of
the land continues to condone violence against those members of our
society who cannot defend themselves, our children are learning a
horribly damaging lesson—that life is only important if it is perfect
and capable of contributing to society.
Disdain for helpless children occurs even at the highest levels of
our society. When Hillary Rodham Clinton recently read to children at
the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C., those who
were visibly sick were excluded. Mrs. Clinton’s staff ordered the
hospital to keep all such children away from the cameras.
They
didn’t want flushed faces, I.V. drips, baldness, or any other indication
of sickness. Although those children may have benefited greatly from the
special attention, they didn’t help Mrs. Clinton achieve her goal for
this particular "photo-op." She ended up reading to the (healthy)
children of the hospital staff—children who had rosy cheeks and smiling
faces.
As we try to live our lives in a way that will honor and glorify God and will teach our children to do what is right, we must remember the admonition of our Lord who said, "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me." If we remember that these our God’s children, not ours, we will be better able to see their innate value and we will respond accordingly. We must do this for our society and for our posterity.