Sentinel Watch January 16, 2012 Issue

Finding healing for victim and victimizer

Colleen Douglass

The arrest of a former college football coach accused of molesting boys has made headlines in the United States and abroad, but sexual predation of children isn’t new, and takes different forms in different cultures. In many cases, legislation, prosecution, and improved social mores haven’t proven to be sufficient deterrents. But prayer based on the law of God can forward healing.

My framework for such prayer rests on valuing the spiritual nature of children. In both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, children are described in terms of their purity, innocence, wonder, courage, and humility. For example, the prophet Isaiah envisioned a time when “the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6). 

Matthew’s Gospel tells of a conversation Jesus had with his disciples about who was greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Calling a little child over to them, Jesus told his followers that they would not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven, unless they “be converted, and become as little children.” He went on to say, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (see 18:1–4). 