As born again Christians, we want God to be the Lord of our lives. I am surprised at how often I hear believers talk about surrendering their lives to the Lord but who insist on keeping this part of their lives under their own control. Some sing the hymn "I Surrender All"--but do not believe that applies to the womb.
NFP (Natural Family Planning) and FAM (Fertility Awareness Method) are still birth control. In our opinion, this is still trying to manipulate or control something that we believe is a complete miracle and as such, completely up to God and His timing.
Yeah, well, God gave you a brain, right? Shouldn't you use it? and other such commentsYes, God gave me a brain and I do use it. He also gave His created a command: Be fruitful and multiply. It has never been rescinded in all of Scripture.
I read once where someone likened the declining of a child in this way: Yes, children are a blessing. So is food. But I need to control how much food I take in.
True. But the Bible warns about gluttony. Nowhere in all of Scripture does it ever speak of children as anything but a blessing and a reward, a heritage.
Isn't that like jumping off a tall building and saying "Ok, Lord, if you want to save me, You can!"Um, no. That's the part where you use the brain God gave you.
God can be trusted. He is trustworthy.I have nothing to add to this.
Trusting God with your family size does NOT necessarily mean you will have a bunch of kids.First, let me say that it would be ridiculous for me to assert that a family equals a certain number. A husband and wife are a family, whether they have children or not. My point is that I believe it's something that should be up to God.
My grandparents never used any form of birth control and they had 7 children. While I know that that may seem like a lot, it's certainly nowhere near the number 20 that is commonly purported. "If we just left that up to God, we'd have like 20 kids!!!"
Seriously, do you think God is caught off guard? "Aww, snap!! I knew I should have kept a closer eye on those two when he started that back rub!! Now I'm going to have to go and make plans for another one of these humans!"
I say no. I don't believe God is surprised at new life. I believe that God has a plan for each and every person, as stated in Jeremiah 29:11 I believe that that begins even before conception. God says so in His Word. Psalm 139
If I may be so bold (why stop now?) for many Christians it's like saying "I trust God but not that far. I mean, let's not get crazy here..."
And you know what? That was me. I used to think that way. Our first four kids were born with me thinking that way. That's when we began to see that the control wasn't ours to possess. And I'm so glad the Lord intervened--because I wouldn't have had the opportunity to know them. They wouldn't be here had God not shown me, in His mercy, that His plans were and are better than mine.
Is someone really more worthy of life just because they're first or second? But fourth or maybe fifth in line, sorry!
We bemoan the fact that in some countries, babies are tossed away simply because they are a girl. I wonder, is throwing someone away just because they're the wrong number any different?
Along these bold lines, how about...Permanent Sterilization
I hear things like "but God gave us doctors who can do surgeries so you don't have to worry about having more babies."
To this I say, just because it can be medically done, doesn't mean it should be done. Gender re-assignment comes to mind.
Also, please consider this: vasectomies and tubal ligation are procedures/surgeries wherein a functioning part of the body is renderedbroken/non-functioning. Typically, surgery is to fix what is broken, not to break what needs no fixing. Ironically, it's called "getting fixed."
We believe God is the Creator and Author of Life.I have not been given any special insight into who should live and who should not. When it comes down to it, this is the biggest reason for me. It's not up to me. I don't want the responsibility of deciding who should live or not because that is something WAY bigger than me.
It is no act of my will that creates a child. That is purely God. Even if I sought after conception with all kinds of medical intervention ie, in vitro, etc. the creation of a life still rests in the hands of the Creator.
What about chemical birth control?
Read the package insert. I'm not making it up and the pharmaceutical companies openly admit it. There are three mechanisms of the Pill/Patch.
1) inhibiting ovulation
2) thickening cervical fluid
3) thinning and shriveling the lining of the uterus to the point that it is unable or less able to facilitate the implantation of the newly fertilized egg (medical speak for "baby").
The first two mechanisms are contraceptive; the third is abortive. When I learned this 7 years ago, I was shocked, saddened, disbelieving and finally repentant.
Did you know? In America, chemical abortions are estimated to kill more than 7 million babies each year--while surgical abortions kill about 1.5 million babies each year. (source)
I highly recommend this article and book:
In her book, Lies Women Believe, Nancy Leigh DeMoss says "as a destroyer of life, Satan is definitely not into encouraging childbearing." She, in turn, quotes Mary Pride's penetrating book The Way Home:
1) inhibiting ovulation
2) thickening cervical fluid
3) thinning and shriveling the lining of the uterus to the point that it is unable or less able to facilitate the implantation of the newly fertilized egg (medical speak for "baby").
The first two mechanisms are contraceptive; the third is abortive. When I learned this 7 years ago, I was shocked, saddened, disbelieving and finally repentant.
Did you know? In America, chemical abortions are estimated to kill more than 7 million babies each year--while surgical abortions kill about 1.5 million babies each year. (source)
I highly recommend this article and book:
Family planning is the mother of abortion. A generation had to be indoctrinated in the ideal of planning children around personal convenience before abortion could become popular. We Christians raise an outcry against abortion today, and rightly so. But the reason we have to fight those battles today is because we lost them thirty years ago. Once couples began to look upon children as creatures of their own making, who they could plan into their lives as they chose or not, all reverence for human life was lost...
...Abortion is first of all a heart attitude. "Me first." "My career first." "My reputation first." "My convenience first." "My financial plans first." And these exact same choices are what family planning, which the churches have endorsed for three decades, is all about."
If you'd like to read my controversial blog post, click here: Who's In Control?
