Queen in Gold
Before saying anything else; I'd strongly recommend reading "Counter-cultural motherhood (Part 1)" before diving into Part 2.
We're going to talk about family planning, multiplying, and having babies, but NOT because I’m trying to convince anyone to have [more] babies. I hope to take a look at how the modern world views having children and place it in light of what the Bible teaches.
Then we can ask:
I won't attempt to answer these for you. Charl and I are still working through it for ourselves. But my prayer is that God will guide our thinking and lead us in righteousness (Psalm 23:3). The world we live in “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” –John 15:19 I’m no expert on fertility statistics, but here’s what I managed to find on the internet. The birth control pill came into being around 1960, and since we’ve seen a rapid decline in what’s considered a “normal” family size. The average amount of children born to a South African woman in 1960 was 6.02. In 2021 this rate had dropped to a mere 2.4. Worldwide the fertility rate was 4.7 children per woman in 1960, declining to 2.3 in 2021.
Here’s some of my non-expert speculation as to why this drop occurred:
Family planning isn't a totally new concept in our modern age. There were ancient methods (and a few dangerous myths) for preventing pregnancy. We even read about something like the “withdrawal method” in the Bible (Gen 38:9).
What I am saying is that we cannot simply conform to the patterns of this world without giving it a second thought (Romans 12:2). We need to ask the Lord to renew our minds and seek His truth about having children. We need to put aside our own understanding and submit our plans to the One we call Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6).
What does the Bible say about children? Multiply!! “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” –Genesis 1:28 The Beginning. That seems like a good place to start. Most of us are familiar with this verse, but there are two things I'd like to point out. Firstly, this was the very first thing God spoke to mankind. Right after speaking the entire creation into being, God speaks to man, and the first thing He says is: "Be fruitful and multiply." I have heard sermons about this being an instruction to raise spiritual children, and I've heard sermons saying we're supposed to have at least 4 biological children to multiply and not just replace. I’m not going to go into any of that. All I'm saying is that if this is the first thing God said to mankind, we should probably take note.
Scripture echoes this:
“Then God blessed Noah and his sons and told them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth.” –Genesis 9:1 “Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord.” –Psalm 128:1-4 Now what? “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” –Proverbs 22:6 It turns out we're not just called to have babies; change diapers and feed them until they're old enough to take care of themselves. We're called to raise Christ-followers. God doesn't just bless us with children; He gives us a spiritual responsibility to raise them in His ways. “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” –Deuteronomy 6:6-7 There’s so much more to say on the topic of raising children well and the home being the ideal discipleship environment, but that’s a different blog post and something I’m still learning. The Kingdom of heaven “Jesus said: ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” -Matthew 19:14 It takes a special level of concentration to follow the sermon from our church's parent room. A typical Sunday morning includes crying babies, smelly diapers, grabbing toys, throwing things; animal sounds, banging things, sleep-deprived parents, and the pastor delivering a message somewhere in the background. I often find myself giggling at this scene. The children in the parents-room don’t care for the soft pad, airy worship moment on the TV screen. It reminds me of when the disciples wanted to get the kids away from Jesus. They probably saw the children as a BIG distraction. According to them, Jesus had much more important things to do than to pause and spend some time with kids. But Jesus did. He paused. He took them in His arms and blessed them. I think sometimes we “over-spiritualize” our idea of the Kingdom of heaven. Children don’t. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” –Psalm 8:2 So let’s pause I’d like to end us off by re-asking the two questions I asked right at the beginning:
Having children requires sacrificing your own desires and dying to yourself – which is exactly what we’ve been called to do (John 12:24-26). We’re not supposed to go through life seeking our own needs and desires. We’re called to seek His Kingdom. “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” –Matthew 6:31-33
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About the blogQueen in Gold is a blog for the feminine heart. I hope to inspire other women to stand up in their God-given identity.
AuthorMy name is Riani.
I love flowers, board games, arty markets, food, music and spring....
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