Violence in America

“Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” (1 John 3:15)

America has a spiritual problem. 

So this post is not political. This is not for, or against, the 2nd Amendment. This is not about gun laws or politics at all. So don't make it about that.

This post is about why kids are killing kids in schools across America.

And that's what is not really being talked about in this nation, especially by kids. Why are kids killing other kids? They want to make it all about guns. And find someone to blame. The administration. The president. The NRA. Whoever.

Almost all these school shootings are being committed by kids. Adults are not sneaking into schools and killing our children. Children are committing the murders.

Why is this happening?

This week's mass killing in a Texas school was committed by a kid who reportedly was interested in a girl and she rejected him. So he later came to school and killed her, a teacher, and several other classmates. 

I was rejected by a few girls when I was in school. I certainly didn't go home and get my dad's guns and come back and shoot my classmates. Neither did any other kids in all the schools I went to. 

Ever.

So what has changed?

When I was a kid, I was taught respect—for my parents, for my teachers and principals. For all adults. 

I was also taught respect for the laws and for the police. We were a family of hunters and as kids we were required to complete a local hunters safety course. Safety, awareness and respect for people were number one at all times.

We also didn't have video games back then. The movies and television shows we did watch were not ultra violent and graphic like they are today. We didn't have violent lyrics, scenes and images programmed into our impressionable little minds from earliest childhood like today's kids are subjected to. 

More importantly, my parents closely monitored the shows we did watch or the music we listened to. They taught us right from wrong. And we learned that there were tough consequences to breaking the rules. If we did wrong, there was real punishment attached to it. We learned many painful lessons. My dad had a belt that he spanked us with when we deserved it. The principal's office at school had a big wooden paddle hanging on the wall with holes drilled in it for higher velocity. We learned there were very real consequences for our actions at home, and at school. 

This kind of discipline is virtually non existent today.

Also different in my youth was there were very few people in my school that grew up in a broken home. I think I knew one kid whose parents were divorced. He lived with his mom and he could stay out late and basically do whatever the heck he wanted to. Back then we thought he was super cool. But now I feel sorry for him. He was always getting into fights and into trouble. He never mentioned even knowing his father.

My parents also spent plenty of quality time with us. They took an interest in us as young people, and as individuals. They paid attention to who we hung out with. When my grades suffered, my dad and mom helped me with my school work. Dad grounded me from the things I liked, like fishing, if I was blowing off my homework and getting bad grades. 

My dad and mom loved us. They didn't give us lots of stuff to occupy ourselves with just so we wouldn't distract them from their own interests. My parents love for us was sacrificial. They could tell when something was not right with me and they would talk to me about it and find out why I was sad, or angry. 

I can only recall one or two kids who were bullies in school. But they were typically dealt with severely by the assistant principal with his big wooden paddle. Their parents were called and they were usually suspended when they acted poorly. Again, there were consequences.

My mom was a Christian all of her life. My dad had no interest in Christianity until much later in his life. But my mom's godly influence and love for Jesus was the glue that held our family together. I never had any doubt of my parents love for me. And I think that is what's missing in many people's lives today. I meet so many single parents. Broken homes are the norm. The traditional 'family' is out of style. Spiritually, the culture in America is circling the drain. Christianity is a joke to many, especially young people. So many parents are spiritually lost, many addicted to drugs and other things, and their kids are only following their lead. Mental and spiritual illness is epidemic in America.

So back to the kid in Texas who killed the girl who rejected him... Although he was certainly spiritually ill, and probably mentally ill as well; at the heart of it all he simply wanted to be loved. To be wanted. To be accepted.

And isn't that what we all want?

Jesus Christ said:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed.” (Luke 4:18)

To heal the broken hearted.

Much of the world today is dying from a broken heart.

And only Jesus Christ can heal our broken hearts. Our empty lives. Our aching souls. Our oppressed minds.

Jesus said:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

The loving Savior Jesus was the only hope for humanity 2,000 years ago. And He is still the only hope for humanity today. The only solution to violence in America. 

The only hope for our children.

—God is Love and Love Never Fails.