Should you or should you not have children? Can’t decide? Maybe you should go and see a “parenthood-indecision therapist” (and no that’s not an April Fool’s joke!). A recent article in The Washington Post highlighted this new line of therapists cutting through “the stranglehold of indecision” to help couples decide if having a baby is right for them.
These anxious, undecided young people, reports The Post, express fears such as “concerns about the political climate and the prevalence of gun violence... climate change... [and] the tremendous cost of raising a child.” One woman even said, “It’s scary to have a kid right now, especially where we live.” (She resides in California.) The Babylon Bee, a satirical Christian news site, highlighted the irony of being worried about bringing a child into the most prosperous nation in the history of the world.
Why are young adults paralyzed by the decision of whether or not to have children? Because our culture has drifted far from God’s view of children. Instead of thinking, “what does God’s Word have to say about children?” our culture asks, “What do I want? How do I feel?” And that’s not the right starting point!
Genesis 1:28 says,
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.”
The Bible treats children, not as a financial or emotional burden, but as a blessing from the Lord.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one's youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them! (Psalm 127:3–5).
But our Western culture sees them very differently—increasingly children are seen as “bad for the environment,” an “inconvenience,” an “expense,” or nothing more than a “social expectation.” Worse yet, unborn children are often seen as disposable at the whim of the mother and are sacrificed through abortion by the millions to the god of self. But children are a blessing and gift from the Lord! And Christians need to be championing that view and fighting against the growing wave of anti-natalism.
We need to get back to a biblical view of the next generation: Children are a blessing from the Lord!
This item was discussed today on Answers News with cohosts Dr. Gabriela Haynes, Avery Foley, and guest Roger Patterson, AiG’s educational resources manager. Answers News is our twice-weekly news program filmed live before a studio audience here at the Creation Museum and broadcast on my Facebook page and the Answers in Genesis Facebook page. We also covered the following topics:
Watch the entire episode of Answers News for April 1, 2019.
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Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken
This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.
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