Features
X-mas: Prudent expenditure needed
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One of the glorious events that has captured and attracted the minds of many people, both Christians and non- Christians, is Christmas which signifies the birth of Christ who descended from his Father in heaven to this earth to suffer and save men and women in the world.
There are some non-Christians who even celebrate Christmas in a special way more than Christians themselves. This is good because it shows that irrespective of our religious beliefs, there is always the need to recognise that there is someone who came unto the world to save mankind.
REFLECT ON CHRIST
Christmas is a period to reflect on Christ not just about His birth but about His entire life on this earth and how He preached the good news to turn away people from their sinful life in order to live good lives and to bring quality life as deserved by all men and women created in the image of God.
Throughout the world, people celebrate Christmas in various ways. Indeed, Christmas serves as an occasion in which people send messages of joy to friends and relations everywhere.
NORM OF CELEBRATION
Apart from church services, people celebrate the occasion with their families as well as friends or even non-friends in the neighbourhood. This has become the norm of celebration in the world.
As part of the celebration, a lot of attention is focused on the preparation of special meals for visitors who may come and visit us at home. Sometimes, friends and relations visit places of interest such as the beaches and other interesting sites as part of their excursion to various parts of the country.
While it becomes necessary for certain people to embark upon travelling expedition, inside or outside the country, many a time, people prefer to spend Christmas in their home country or towns. Whatever it is, some high expenditure is incurred as a result of travel or visits to places of interest.
SPECIAL MEALS
At the same time, it is interesting to note that special meals are prepared to serve visitors and to make them happy.
This is not to say that it is only during Christmas that special preparations are made and expenses incurred to make people happy and to let them feel special during this occasion.
TOUGH TIMES
With the COVID and the Russia-Ukraine war, many parts of the world have been greatly infected with problems that have made people uncomfortable particularly with regard to our social and economic life.
Parents are finding it very difficult to finance the health needs of their family members as well as their own children. In other words, economic life has become very difficult, tough and unbearable in the world today.
There are many people who find it very difficult to make ends meet. They include people in both developed and developing countries.
DEVELOPED WORLD
In the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, France and other parts of the developed world, life is not easy and there are times when commodities considered precious are rationed among consumers.
It is also important to note that people sometimes travel long distances to buy fuel so as to be able to move their vehicles to places that they may need to go. In Mexico for example, we are told that people drive all the way to border areas with the US to buy fuel at cheaper prices.
What this means is that all over the world, things have become unbearable. There are many people who even think that probably the events of today signify the end of the world even though this may not be the case because in times past, many similar difficult situations had been encountered.
GERMAN EXPERIENCE
During the 1st and the 2nd World Wars for example, the entire globe at the time experienced terrible growth. One country that suffered terribly during the 2nd world war was Germany. In Germany at that time, inflation was far higher than what is being experienced in Ghana today.
The money in Germany lost its value to the extent that people had to carry huge sums of money in their bags to be able to buy certain products including basic necessities. It was simply very difficult to even come across basic needs of life so conditions at that period became more difficult than is being experienced in Ghana and many other African countries including the very terrible economic conditions being encountered in certain parts of the world.
LIMITED FINANCIAL RESOURCES
When these conditions emerge, it becomes necessary for every person to keep his or her financial resources well and put them to the best economic use. In other words, needless things ought to be overlooked by way of expenditure. It is only essential products, including basic medicines that ought to be bought whenever necessary.
It is often said that we have every opportunity to do whatever we like in this world yet only the essential and needful ought to be undertaken by way of expenditure. If this is done, it will go a long way to help reserve our limited financial resources so that we can survive the present financial conditions and overcome the challenges we are facing today.
This is achievable. If this is the case, then we need to work rigidly and assiduously towards achieving this goal to make life better for us all.
MEASURED EXPENDITURE
In view of the economic difficulties being encountered in the country, other African countries and also the rest of the world, it has become necessary for every person to become very circumspect when it comes to expenditure on goods and services so as to be able to preserve some financial resources for the family.
Measured expenditure is what is needed today. Unmeasured expenditure in times of plenty or abundance should be made to wait until we see great improvement in our economic conditions.
What is important in these difficult times, is to avoid unnecessary expenditure and only undertake expenditures that are necessary. Some of the expenditures that are necessary are those we cannot do without such as medicine, food and shelter as well as clothing.
PREVENTIVE HEALTHCARE
When it comes to basic medicine, we cannot look on when people are sick so we will have to cough out money to cater for those who are sick.
Medical care is expensive so it is important for us to practise preventive healthcare.
Preventive healthcare is where we make special efforts to prevent sicknesses from coming our way in order to stay healthy throughout the period. If we observe basic personal hygiene and keep our surroundings clean, we can be healthy and prevent diseases from attacking us. Choked gutters ought to be desilted. Again, the water we drink must also be clean so that infection of diseases cannot be possible in our lives.
Other preventive health measures ought to be observed so that we will not throw away money on diseases that can be prevented.
HEALTHY BALANCED DIET
One other way of staying healthy is by having enough rest at all times and also eating good food. Eating good food does not necessarily mean eating expensive food. What it means is that we need to go by healthy balanced diet such as gari, beans and fried plantain and some of our delicious local meals that are not expensive.
It is some of these local meals that help us to stay healthy. We also need to avoid excessive sugar, salt, and fat and oil. If we are able to keep away from these things, we will stay healthy and avoid using the little money we have for medical care.
AVOID EXCESSIVE ALCOHOL INTAKE
Again, it is important to avoid any other thing that can make us sick such as excessive intake of alcohol. Excessive alcohol may result in destroying certain organs in the body such as the kidney, the heart and other internal organs.
It is generally known that we need to meet our basic necessities of life. These basic necessities are food, clothing and shelter.
With regard to food, the point has already been made that we need not necessarily eat expensive foods that may not even be healthy. Rather, what we need is healthy balanced food to make us strong and healthy, keeping us away from falling sick.
LOOK DECENT
In the case of clothing, we need to be content with what we already have. We must avoid the purchase of expensive clothing in order to impress upon friends and neighbours during this Xmas season. The important thing is to look decent in your clothes but not to buy expensive clothes to mark the occasion.
Another basic necessity of life is shelter. We must learn to live in simple houses and put in simple furniture and other items that may be needed in the house.
MODERATION
Cars are good because they serve useful purpose but we need to go in for simple ones that do not consume too much fuel especially at this time when fuel prices are very expensive all over the world. Here in Ghana, it is not very easy to buy fuel regularly for our vehicles.
For this reason, when it becomes necessary, we may need to park our vehicles whenever necessary and walk some distances in our neighbourhood. We may have to join public transport such as buses and other commercial vehicles so that our cost of living can be minimised.
These are measures that can be taken by ourselves, without any compulsion, so as to be able to save some money for ourselves.
We need to do all these to make our Christmas celebration more meaningful to show to the world that we make judicious use of the little resources we have to make ourselves happy. This is how we can celebrate Christmas in a simple way.
Email address/whatsApp number of author:
Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
Features
Confronting newborn abandonment in Ghana: When a cry for help is heard in a dustbin – Part 2
The root causes: It is never just one reason
My years of counselling at CPAC show me abandonment is rarely an act of malice. It is the tragic endpoint of seven overwhelming distresses:
1. Severe maternal mental illness —The hidden emergency
a) Clinical Postpartum Depression (PPD): This is far beyond “baby blues.” It is a severe mood disorder that can appear weeks to months after birth. Due to a massive drop in hormones, extreme sleep deprivation, and emotional exhaustion, the mother feels deep sadness, worthlessness, and complete emotional numbness towards her baby. Picture: A new mother sits by her bed all day, staring blankly. Her baby cries for hours, but she cannot lift her hands to carry the baby. She whispers, “This baby would be better off without me.” She does not hate the baby; she feels she has completely failed as a mother.
b) Peripartum Psychosis (Postpartum Psychosis): This is a psychiatric emergency. Rare but extremely dangerous, appearing suddenly within the first 2-3 weeks after delivery. The mother completely loses touch with reality. She hears commanding voices telling her to abandon the baby, or believes the baby is possessed by an evil spirit or is a “spirit child” who will bring a curse. Picture: A mother genuinely believes she heard a voice saying, “Leave this child at the crossroads at midnight or your family will die.” She abandons the baby not out of hatred, but because her broken mind believes she is obeying a higher spiritual order to save her family.
c) Pre-existing untreated Schizophrenia: This is a chronic, severe mental disorder that existed before the pregnancy. The stress of pregnancy and labour shatters her fragile coping. She suffers from paranoid delusions — believing people want to poison her and the baby — flat affect (zero facial expression), and grossly disorganised thinking, making it impossible to plan how to feed or clean a baby. Picture: A young woman whose family called her illness “spiritual attack” instead of taking her for medication wanders away after delivery, completely forgetting she even gave birth, leaving the infant behind.
2. Extreme socio-economic deprivation: For many girls in some parts of Ghana such as Kasoa, Madina, or Bekwai, poverty is not a statistic; it is a daily panic. No money for antenatal care, no money for hospital delivery, no money for baby diapers or formula. When a mother cannot feed herself, the thought of feeding another mouth feels impossible. Some mothers say, “I left her where someone richer would find her, because I could not watch her starve to death in my hands.” It is a distorted act of survival.
3. Intense societal stigma and shame: In Ghana, pregnancy outside marriage, teenage pregnancy, or pregnancy from rape can bring extreme family rejection. The girl is called “spoilt,” beaten, banned from church, or sacked from school. The fear of bringing shame to the family name is heavier than the fear of police. So she hides the pregnancy for 9 months, delivers alone, and abandons in secret to protect her family’s “honour.”
4. Paternal abandonment — The Man Who Ran Away: Behind almost every abandoned baby is a man who vanished. He says, “It is not mine,” or “Abort it,” and switches off his phone. The mother is left utterly isolated — no emotional, financial, or social support. She is criminalised alone, but the abandonment started with him. Psychological research shows paternal denial is one of the strongest predictors of maternal panic and newborn abandonment.
5. Substance abuse disorders: Alcohol, tramadol, and other drug addiction impair the brain’s executive functioning — the ability to plan, judge consequences, and process emotions. A mother struggling with addiction may give birth in a highly intoxicated or withdrawal state, unable to comprehend the needs of the newborn, leading to neglect and eventual abandonment.
6. The spirit child cultural phenomenon and superstition: In some remote pockets of Northern Ghana and even in few parts of Central and Ashanti regions, public health research shows babies born with congenital deformities, severe disabilities, or whose mothers die in childbirth are branded as “spirit children” or cursed. In extreme instances, families, under cultural pressure, mandate that such babies be exposed or abandoned at shrines or bushes. This is not mental illness, but a harmful cultural belief system that still kills.
The invisible wounds
On the baby: Risk of death from hypothermia, sepsis, and infection. Survivors suffer Anaclitic Depression and Failure to Thrive due to lack of touch. As adults, they battle Reactive Attachment Disorder, chronic mistrust, and identity crisis — “Why did my mother leave me in a dustbin?”
On the mother: Lifelong hidden grief, intense guilt, chronic PTSD, depression, and elevated suicide risk. A prison cell does not heal this.
On the nation: Overburdened orphanages like Osu Children’s Home, draining health budgets, and overworked Social Welfare officers.
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“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; no one seeks God. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. For there is no difference; – Rom. 3:10, 21-22. (NIV)
Introduction
Dictionaries define righteousness as “behavior that is morally justifiable or right.” Such behavior is characterized by accepted standards of morality, justice, virtue, or uprightness. The Bible’s standard of human righteousness is God’s own perfection in every attribute, every attitude, every behavior, and every word. Thus, God’s laws, as given in the Bible, both describe His own character and constitute the plumb line by which He measures human righteousness.
The bad news is that true and perfect righteousness is not possible for man to attain on his own; the standard is simply too high. The good news is that true righteousness is possible for mankind, but only through the cleansing of sin by Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We have no ability to achieve righteousness in and of ourselves. But Christians possess the righteousness of Christ, because “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21. This is an amazing truth. On the cross, Jesus exchanged our sin for His perfect righteousness so that we can one day stand before God and He will see not our sin, but the holy righteousness of the Lord Jesus.
Establishing our hearts in righteousness
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” – Proverbs 4:23
According to the above verse in Proverbs, our heart is the source of our life. Our life flows from our heart. The Holy Spirit resides in the spirit of the born again Christian. So there is a strong influence of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the new-born Christian. But our heart is also comprised of our soul. As Christians we can choose to focus our soul on the Lord, or on evil things. If we focus on corrupt, immoral, and evil things our heart will be affected detrimentally. It will cause our heart to be crooked or wicked, instead of straight or righteous. So the Scripture says to keep, or guard, our heart. It is wise to protect our heart as what we allow to dominate our heart will inevitably become the fruit, or influence the outcome, of our lives.
One way to approach life is to continually ask the question, “How will this decision or action affect my heart?” Everything we do, every thought we entertain, everything we watch, read, or listen to, shapes our heart. Therefore, the future prosperity of our life will flow from how well we care for our heart.
Think of everything you do, every moment of time, as a seed. We have been given responsibility for choosing which seeds to plant in our heart. What will you grow in the garden of your heart? What seeds will you choose? Our heart is our garden, and our life is the fruit of our garden. So next time you are tempted to dwell on a bad thought, think, “Do I want this seed to grow and manifest in my life?” Next time you are tempted to indulge in a sinful action ask yourself, “Do I want the extension, or fruit, of this sinful action to be what I am known for?”
God gives us the freedom to plant whatever we like in our garden. God loves us regardless of the good or bad choices we may make in our lives. You may be reaping the fruit of some poor choices right now. And God is still saying, “I love you.” But He has wise advice for us; He desires we have a good life. He says, “Guard you heart with all diligence.” This Hebrew word translated ‘diligence’ conveys the meanings of: prison and guard (ibid). A superintendant of a prison is very particular as to what goes in and out of his prison. A prison has very tight security. Just as a superintendant watches over his prison, so we should also supervise our heart (our lives). We should exercise meticulous security with regards to what enters into our heart. Actually, even what comes out of it, as the Scripture says, “ Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” – James 1:19, as “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” –Matthew 12:34b.
If what goes into, and what comes out of, our heart determines the success of our lives, what is the first important principle to establish in our heart? “In righteousness you shall be established;” – Isaiah 54:14
Righteousness is the key foundational truth we need to first establish in our heart. Jesus said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” –Matthew 6:33. Notice Jesus said, “His righteousness”, not our own righteousness. We have to seek and understand God’s righteousness. Isaiah 54:14 says, “Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.” God’s righteousness comes from God, not from within us. Humans cannot make themselves God’s righteousness, as all humans have sinned and are therefore inferior to God. God’s righteousness is a gift from God: “ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21
Righteousness, or right standing with God, has been attained for us through the exchange Jesus made on our behalf. Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness. God’s righteousness is imparted to us when we are made a new creature in Christ – 2 Corinthians 5:17. This righteousness is a gift from God and undeserved by us: “For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”- Romans 5:17
Through our faith in Jesus’ blood, shed to remit our sins – Romans 3:25, God imparts righteousness to us by His grace. We actually become a new righteous creation, fully identifying in Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection and ascension. This is the foundational miracle we need to understand and have established in our heart. All the other miraculous promises of God come the same way, by God’s grace through faith. Righteousness must be established in our heart for us to truly have faith to receive our rich inheritance in Christ. Jesus has been made unto us righteousness (1 Corinthians 1:30). We are now “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us”. – 2 Corinthians 1:20
Establishing our minds in righteousness
God expects that, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will be radically changed. In Romans 12:2 He tells us, And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind,
This transformation is to be a metamorphosis, of a magnitude at least comparable to that by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He expects us to become totally different.
Scripture uses many different images to express the change that should occur: We become “a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.“ – 2 Cor 5:17. It is almost as if we become a new species. Scripture speaks of the “first Adam” who was earthly and fell into sin, and the “second Adam” (Jesus Christ) who was sinless and holy – Rom. 5:12-19; 1 Cor 15:44-49.
We are “made new in the attitude of our minds” – Eph. 4:23.
We “put off our old self” and “put on the new self” – Eph. 4:22,24; Col 3:9-10.
We “live by the Spirit” and not by the flesh – Gal. 5:16; Rom 8:13.
We become “instruments of righteousness” rather than “instruments of wickedness” – Rom. 6:13.
Each of these metaphors, in a different way, emphasizes the magnitude of the change that is expected. Each is dramatic and astonishing in itself; their cumulative effect is even more powerful. We are talking about a tremendous transformation. It should be visible to others, but its internal effect should be far greater than what others can perceive.
The goal of this transformation
What is the goal of this metamorphosis? Scripture states it in a number of different ways, which overlap and can be seen as different ways of expressing the same basic concept. Scripture often does this, because our minds are inadequate to comprehend, and our language inadequate to express, the full scope of God’s revelation to us.
To be continued!
Stay blessed!
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