Family LIfe

Sanctity 

This past Sunday was the day set aside to pray and advocate for the end of abortion in our country. Of course, we should always be praying for righteousness to prevail in our land, but this date commemorates the passage of the Roe v. Wade decision and the millions of babies that have died because of that decision. Thankfully, that policy was changed through the Dobbs decision. However, babies are still dying because even with changed laws the reality is many people still want to murder their children. There could be many reasons that people might put forward for why this is the case but in this article I would like to argue part of the problem in the hearts of people willing to have abortions began in the home life of these individuals.

The Culture of Death

Maybe you have heard the language of the culture of death. It really does seem like abortion is a sacred ritual of the modern progressive atheistic movement. No doubt it is a sacrament in the religion of theism just as baptism is a precious ordinance of Christians. Now they would not claim that death is the goal but rather the autonomy of the woman. In this worldview for the woman to be free she must be able to choose to terminate the child for any reason so that she is not unwillingly burdened. This is about both unburdening her body of the effects of pregnancy and childbirth as well as her lifestyle of the accountability and responsibility of parenthood. 

For most of us who are opposed to abortion it is extremely difficult to understand that they are not concerned about the baby because the preferences of the woman supersede any rights of the child. For many years we have thought that was simply because these people do not believe or acknowledge that the baby is a person. I’m sure that many scared and ignorant young women have been manipulated into this horrific choice by that logic. However, I think even when they understand and know that the baby is a person there is an even more heartbreaking subconscious denial that explains how so many of these women have consented to such an evil act.

The Life of the Family

Many of those who are supportive of abortion are those who do not have strong bonds with their own families. This means that the reality that they are killing their own children is not as impactful for them because they do not have the inclination which adds personal value to those in close relationship to them. To put my point simply these women do not think of the baby as their own child. I think that the hyper individualistic nature of our modern society has eroded the bonds of family commitment that have been the glue of society from the beginning of creation.

Now we should not assume that this is only a modern problem because even the first pair of siblings exhibited this kind of animosity and rivalry as the older brother Cain selfishly murdered his brother Abel. But notice, in Cain’s response to God regarding his brother, we see this same breakdown of familial bonding. Cain says to God in Genesis 4:1-16 , “Am I my brother’s keeper?”. Cain is not actually denying his murderous sin but he is denying his bonded responsibility to his brother. I am arguing here that when mothers knowingly consent to the destruction of their children, especially for the sake of hedonistic convenience, the same evil rebellion of Cain is manifest again in our own day.

So what can we do to protect our grandchildren from being murdered by their parents? Well their parents are our children so I would like to suggest some Biblical principles that just might save our grandchildren. First, we must teach our children to obey us so that they will be obedient to God (Hebrews 12:5-11). Second, we must show our children genuine affection and love (Titus 2:3-4). Finally, we must not provoke our children to anger and discourage but instead bring them through a loving mixture of exhortation, encouragement, and rebuke (Ephesians 6:4).

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