My heart broke as I recently visited a children home and met twenty innocent girls rescued from brothels in their early teens and below. The youngest welcomed me with a garland and refused to leave my hand as others also grasped my hands. I saw innocence written large on faces, hunger for love, acceptance, respect, and appreciation as I heard their melodic songs and beautifully choreographed dances and had endless photo sessions.
Then, I didn’t want to believe that the same girls have fits of anger and get a sinking sense of depression and an unbearable sense of emptiness, just as their mother did.
And some dance at night, remembering the dancing queen in a brothel. How do you tell these innocent girls “God is love” and loves them all? Certainly, God sitting in ivory towers far above all pain makes no sense. We dare to speak about God’s love because God revealed it in history through self-sacrificial love on the cross. A God who cannot suffer cannot love either. Let’s see an example from the life of Christ Jesus.
Jesus forgave the sins of a woman accused of adultery by men who wanted her stoned. The light of Jesus’ words convicted every man of their own darkened mind and hardened heart; as He said, let him who has not sinned throw the first stone. All accusers left with their heads hanging in shame. Jesus, as God incarnate, forgave the woman. By accepting her, Jesus restored her self-respect; by forgiving her sins, Jesus gave her back love for life. The lady went home with her head lifted.
The Bible states the children of the devil don’t love their neighbour nor live righteous lives. The caretakers at children home warmed my heart as they nurture young lives with “love born out of pure heart and clean conscience and a genuine faith in God” (1 Tim. 1:5). Let’s reach out to serve in pure love.