Little Billy's Story

I was raised in a Godless home by working parents who also had a handicapped son. Though I never lacked for anything material, I was left to my own devices early on. By age 9, I still looked angelic but I was already a thief and evil had a firm foothold. Inside was a little demon who trusted no one other than himself.

Sometimes a child learns that the only one he can trust to always and reliably be available - is he. Therefore, the only one he can love without being abandoned or hurt - is again he. Meaningful others were inconsistent in their acceptance of the child and the only times they paid attention to him were when they wished to satisfy their needs. They tended to ignore him when these needs were no longer pressing or existent. So, the child learns to sidestep longer and deeper relationships. He projects a fierce image to protect himself from the hurt and abandonment he has learned to expect from others. He would rather not have anything to do with people around him, preferring to live in a grandiose fantasy where he is in control.

Child's Play by Julie Bell

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6).

That application sure would have saved me and many others a lot of grief!