Starved for Approval

“Nevertheless many even of the rulers believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they were not confessing Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God.” John 12:42-43, NAS.

When a child brings shame to the family in the Hindu community, they are often scolded and beaten. For girls it is more common to experience correction even at the rumor of impropriety. One Hindu girl confided to her Christian friends that she planned on running away to a neighboring state to live with an aunt because she was tired of being beaten.

She had been open to learning about the teachings of Jesus. She knew the Hindu stories and teachings. She had even studied classical Hindu dance. Yet all her knowledge of her faith gave her no comfort. She told her Christian friends, “I believe that Jesus is true, but I just can’t follow Him. I don’t want to upset my family.”

She had left a bag at a coffee shop. When she went to collect the bag, her uncle and mother were there. They yelled at her in the shop and hit her repeatedly. The store manager intervened and asked the uncle and mother to leave the store. Her friends offered to help her escape to her aunt’s house, but she decided to go with her family.

That night her parents beat her badly. They took her diploma, clothes, and other belongings and turned her out. “We bought you these things,” her mother said. “So we will take them away. You are no longer our child.”

She is currently living with her aunt. Even though her family has treated her harshly, their approval means more than following her convictions. She desires the approval of her parents and family more than the approval of God.

Pray that:

God will give this young woman a hunger for His approval that will give her courage to risk the rejection of her family.

God will respond to the cry of Hindu girls who are many times abused for false rumors by bringing entire families to faith in Christ.

Pacific Rim is a region of the International Mission Board, SBC.