{"id":176027,"date":"2022-12-22T03:38:38","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T08:38:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=176027"},"modified":"2022-12-22T11:21:02","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T16:21:02","slug":"jesus-and-the-little-children-a-christmas-wish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/jesus-and-the-little-children-a-christmas-wish","title":{"rendered":"Jesus and the little children: a Christmas wish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

He came as a baby and as God\u2019s great gift to humanity: \u201cFor God so loved the world that he gave his only Son\u201d (John 3:16<\/a>). And that divine gift points us to others, for as Mother Teresa taught, every<\/em> child is a gift of God. Never have so many of these precious gifts so urgently needed our attention as they do now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Could there be any greater obligation\u2014or opportunity\u2014than to love and care for them? Even the United Nations has recognized that \u201cmankind owes to the child the best it has to give\u201d (Declaration of the Rights of the Child<\/a>, Preamble), and \u201cmotherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance\u201d (Universal Declaration of Human Rights<\/a> 25(2)).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a subject on which Mother Teresa spoke emphatically, urging parents to prioritize their own family. \u201cSpread love everywhere you go,\u201d she urged, but \u201cfirst of all in your house. Give love to your children,\u201d for while it is possible that they \u201cdo not hunger for bread, do not need clothes, [and] do not lack a house,\u201d yet \u201care we equally sure that none of them feels alone, abandoned, neglected, needing some affection? That, too, is poverty.\u201d We at the International Organization for the Family have previously declared<\/a>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We gratefully acknowledge the selfless service rendered by parents, grandparents, guardians, and other caregivers who provide opportunities, as prescribed in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, for children \u201cto develop physically, mentally, morally, spiritually and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But multitudes of children lack even the basic necessities and find themselves in dire circumstances. To such as these Mother Teresa was an angel of mercy, devoting her life to the rescue and nurture of as many suffering children as possible. As the world today continues to be ravaged by poverty, hunger, disaster, disease, and violence, we applaud the numerous individuals and organizations that follow in her wake to reach out and bless the lives of children. One shining example among many is the work of Engage Now Africa<\/a>, whose mission is to heal, rescue, and lift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, as the world is also increasingly ravaged by the breakdown of, and a war against, family and marriage, IOF continues to champion the cause of children. Two decades ago our founder, Dr. Allan Carlson, affirmed<\/a> the timeless truth that every child has a right to a mother and a father, and a home built on marriage. More recently, we have stated in our World Family Declaration<\/a> that \u201ca functional, nurturing family founded on marriage between a man and a woman provides the surest safeguard of the special care and assistance to which children are entitled.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Christmas as we celebrate the gift of God\u2019s Son, it is time to remember what He taught when He said, \u201cWhoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me\u201d (Luke 9:48<\/a>). And time to remember Clarence Herbert Woolston\u2019s poignant lyrics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our Christmas wish is that as we worship God\u2019s Son we will also reach out to the children He loves and give them the best we have to give.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Christmas wish is that as we worship God\u2019s Son we will also reach out to the children He loves and give them the best we have to give.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":176080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"Our Christmas wish is that as we worship God\u2019s Son we will also reach out to the children He loves and give them the best we have to give.","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-715","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-715"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"510"},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[510,805],"tags":[498,428,496,8415,4529,455],"class_list":["post-176027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","category-foreground","tag-allan-carlson","tag-children","tag-christmas","tag-protection-of-children","tag-universal-declaration-of-human-rights","tag-world-congress-of-families"],"yoast_head":"\nJesus and the little children: a Christmas wish - IFN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our Christmas wish is that as we worship God\u2019s Son we will also reach out to the children He loves and give them the best we have to give.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/jesus-and-the-little-children-a-christmas-wish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jesus and the little children: a Christmas wish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our Christmas wish is that as we worship God\u2019s Son we will also reach out to the children He loves and give them the best we have to give.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/jesus-and-the-little-children-a-christmas-wish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iFamNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-22T08:38:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-22T16:21:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Christ-blessing-children-Benjamin-West-resized.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"E. 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Douglas Clark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f01991614cc9086457280e0279d7da9c1c6dd2774eca1bf16e9e24005c6feb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f01991614cc9086457280e0279d7da9c1c6dd2774eca1bf16e9e24005c6feb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f01991614cc9086457280e0279d7da9c1c6dd2774eca1bf16e9e24005c6feb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"E. Douglas Clark"},"description":"E. Douglas Clark is an attorney and Director of UN and International Policy at the International Organization for the Family. For two decades Doug has been on the forefront of defending the family at the United Nations as a lobbyist and strategist, leading teams and consulting with policymakers in New York and around the world. His writings include the World Family Declaration and articles in The Natural Family: An International Journal of Research and Policy and Ave Maria International Law Journal. After earning MBA and JD degrees from Brigham Young University, he practiced banking law and served as director of content of the original Law.com.","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/author\/dclarkifamnews-com"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176027"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176155,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176027\/revisions\/176155"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}