|
Continued from
page 6
Conclusion
I have written this
Thesis on "A study of Biblical teaching and Christian concern for the
widows," because God has given me a burden to rebuild their life.
God's original
design and plan was to make each partner distinct and unique, meeting each
other's need and thus finding fulfillment with each other and spend time
together. But when a woman loses her spouse, this companionship and
partnership is suddenly broken. So she becomes a lonely and empty person in
the world. She feels ashamed of it. She devaluates, pities herself and is
always depressed. Feels isolated from others. She neglects Christian
fellowship and stops going to Church or prayer meetings and charges God with
injustice. She loses all the interest of reading Bible.
Some widows get
involved in all kinds of bad habits. At the same tie when women become
widows, many people even family members very often treat her as down trodden
and inferior to others. She faces lots of problems from in-laws and
relatives. She is put to a lot of hardship. Generally, in Indian Society as
the number of widows is increasing several movements for the upliftment of
women launched by women's organizations are coming up, but most of them
don't work out.
Instead of helping,
encouraging and comforting the widow, she is used as an instrument for
making more money, by the organizers and leaders. She is also
criticized and ridiculed because they know that she doesn't have a
protector. She is also put into fear of speaking out what she intends to
speak. She gives in to all this because she feels helpless and all alone in
this wide world. This repression and self pity gives rise to tension which
further worsens and comes up as a psychosomatic disease. In Hindu religion,
widows situation is all the more tragic. She is forbidden to remarry.
So she remains a mere menial in her husband's family through out of her
life.
Although enlightened
Social consciousness has removed many of the difficulties of them, she is
still greatly handicapped. The world today thinks that it is natural
that widows suffer, and this is the main reason why widows are in the same
condition and never developed in their status in the community. In
India, there are only a few family members who are concerned about the
difficulties, problems and needs of the widows.
The main aim of my
writing of this is that at least the Christians should know the Biblical
teaching about the widows and deliver them from their bondage of sin, sorrow
and pain through the word of God. And encourage them to use their full
potential which God has given to them and help them grow in every corner of
their lives.
As we see in the
Bible we want to encourage widows to do good works and serve the Lord with
their whole heart. Christians should help them use their freedom with
responsibility, to have a joyful heart in the midst of sufferings and
problems, to make them know that God has a plan for their lives because God
loves them and specially cares for them as we see in the Old Testament and
New Testament.
My desire and
earnest prayer is that all the readers of this book may get spiritual
benefits to rethink about the widows and the Fatherless. And come out into
the open with a clear heart and good intentions to lend a helping hand or to
extend support to helpless -- showing that we really care. Do we
really care? "They were weary and scattered, like sheep having no
shepherd, Matthew 9:36b." |
