There are so many different stats on mental illness and self harm. Unless you poll every single person in the world and get a truthful answer the results will never be completely accurate.
The numbers range from 4-10% and double in the teen years for the percentage of people that struggle with self harm depending on which site you look at. From my nearly 20 years of experience in the world of self harm, I personally believe these numbers are a bit elevated. I would dare say the numbers are around 1-2% of all people.
I call the population of people that self harm the scarred one percent.
1% isn’t very much. 1 in a 100. Being just 1 in a 100 dealing with something feels very lonely doesn’t it? The odds of finding a comrade in battle are slim. In the world of the internet, hash tags and searches make finding similar interests easier. However, in the real world finding the warriors by your side can be much more difficult when what we are searching for is something still not okay to talk about publically.
Maybe you aren’t part of the scarred one percent. Maybe you just feel like that you aren’t worth the trouble because you aren’t worth anything in the first place. Maybe you think no one notices that you’re lost out in the field alone somewhere.
Is just 1% worth our time to save? Is just 1 person worth our time to save? Would you do anything just to help 1% or 1 person? Perhaps many don’t think pouring energy into so few is worth it.
However, over in Matthew 18 Jesus spoke otherwise.
“If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.”
1 sheep out of 100. 1 percent. It seems to me that Jesus is saying that it is in fact worth it to go out and help just 1 percent or just 1 person. Jesus said you are worth it to seek out and save. Just you by yourself.
Does that mean everything I’ve been through is worth it if it was all just to be sitting here right now writing this just to reach one person? Absolutely yes.
God wants all his children home one day. Not just the majority or 98% of them. All of them. 100%. Which means he wants you too. Just one little sheep.