These are some clear, thought-provoking, and very concise answers to several popular questions that come from Christians regarding the birth control debate. They are by no means exhaustive, but quick answers to several questions and/or thoughts many people have. They come from a mother of 8 and several of her children have been added to their family through adoption. Take a minute to read a few of them, and let me know what you think.
The Christian's Duty to Love Children (this is the longest of the posts, but still only takes a minute)
Is Birth Control Consistent With the Truth That Children Are A Gift From the Lord?
If A Couple Prays and God Gives Them Peace to Use Birth Control, Are They In God's Will?
Are Christians Really Outnumbering Non-Christians by Believing Children Are A Blessing?
I was reading in Psalms the other night before going to bed, and I came upon Psalm 128. I have heard it and read it myself many times, but this time it just stood out a little differently.
"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in His ways.
(me: how shall these people be blessed?)
*You will eat the fruit of your labor;
*Blessings and prosperity shall be yours.
*Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house;
*Your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.
Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord."
~Psalm 128:1-4~
I wasn't looking for scripture in relation to having children, birth control, etc. I was just reading. It just stood out to me this time that "this is how the man who fears the Lord will be blessed."
I am by no means saying if you are not living in the complete fulfillment of these blessings that you must not fear the Lord or be walking in His ways, I'm just saying that it seems like God is saying that these are some of the ways he BLESSES US when we do fear Him and follow Him and that the above listed things ARE blessings. I don't think anyone would argue with the first two; a fruitful wife can be fruitful in many ways (though here it does seem to imply fertility;) but not many these days seem to want a table full of sons.
Not to open a can of worms or anything. I can easily see both sides of the debate, and while I have very strong "quiverfull" tendencies, I am not officially 100% in agreement that all birth control is wrong, all the time. (Yes, I know not everyone who is quiverfull believes it's 100% wrong all the time either.) The whole thing is challenging for me as well sometimes, no....often, especially at the end of this pregnancy. It definitely gave me pause, and food for thought.
I'd love to hear your thoughts as well...
1 comment:
Thanks for this Shyla. It really touches a cord with me. I have also struggled greatly over the issue. At 44 I feel wiser and regret many decisions of my younger days, but we can't go back, can we? When we got married we tried birth control for two days (because we were led to believe it was the "responsible" thing to do) but I couldn't tolerate it, so I had to stop taking it. I'm so thankful for that now. We went with the rhythm thing to try not to conceive, even then God surprised us with our second child. I'm so glad He did. But when the doctors told me due to medical reasons I should never get pregnant overseas, we followed their advice and my husband got snipped. I later struggled with that. I wanted it reversed, but my husband did not. He was afraid for my life. But I wondered if we were really trusting in God. After hearing the testimony of so many other families who did trust in God, I still wonder. Then we found out it was too late - I needed a hysterctomy. I will never know if God might have blessed us with more children naturally or not. Now we are on the adoption road. Part of me will always grieve the loss. And if I had to do it over again, I think I would do it all differently. But only God knows how it would have turned out. He also brought me the adversity, the medical problems. One thing I do know - children ARE a blessing from God!
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