Hello all,
Recently I have become aware of a very disturbing trend in American society. The attitude towards large families. I guess the way I was raised, I thought large families were normal, I thought they were just a choice the parents had made. I didn't realize the hate that exists towards those of us who have/come from large families.
I started asking myself, what is wrong with this picture? Why are large families not appreciated? Why the hatred and blame? Then the Lord brought a verse to mind...
"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb are his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are the children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies at the gate." (Psalm 127: 3-5)
As I contemplated this verse, I noticed some things, first of all, Children are the heritage of the Lord. When I looked up the word heritage means: 'something that comes or belongs to one by reason of birth; an inherited lot or portion: a heritage of poverty and suffering; a national heritage of honor, pride, and courage.' Children are litterally the inheritance of the Lord, and he rewards us with them. What a great blessing! We are given children to teach them up in the ways of the Lord, and then they will be the light to the next generation! Why would you not want several? The next part of the verse says that children are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. I wondered why God compared children to a wepon. Then I was thinking about an article I read. It was written by a very hateful man who used profanity and slurs to try to get his point across. He was quite upset about Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar's seventeenth child. He asked the question, where are the liberal atheists to having 17 children to balance out the "hyper-christians" and all their kids. I think he is onto something. The world is not having more than 1 or 2 children, due many times I think to selfishness. Those children are raised in the liberal views, and generally will follow in their footsteps. Think of the inpact then, if Christian families averaged 6 children, every 1 Christian family would equal 3 families of 2 children. How God could work in our nation if our Children followed his way! They are a lethal wepon against the devils advances in our evil world. The Lord goes on to tell us that "they shall not be ashamed" The world is trying to pour shame on large families. Most parents of more than 4 children have heard sneers and jeers in public, and people generally giving them a hard time.. ("Dont you know how to use birth control? There is no way you can love that many kids.. Your kids will grow up unscocialized.. Dont you know you are being selfish having so many? You are irresponsible!) But the Bible tells us that those with children will not be ashamed. In my mind this is yet again another place where the world sees God, and does the opposite.
Please don't take these observations to mean that it is a sin not to have a large family, just that large families are a blessing from God. Each child is. I can not wait to bring our little blessing into this world!
Well, I need to go to bed.. After I finish studying for Sunday School tomorrow.
Jennie
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Wow, you are SOOOO right!!! I am so blessed to be in a church and have friends and family who understand the BLESSING of many children...but you still hear the comments and see the strange looks once in awhile. I'm quite happy and proud to have come from a large family...without each of my brothers and sisters, I wouldn't be the person I am today, and there's not ONE of them I would want to live without!!
I think a couple reasons for this anti-family feeling are 1) everything God creates and gives to us, Satan tries to pervert and destroy. So if children are a BLESSING, he wants us to see them as a CURSE who don't fit into our lifestyle or career goals, cost too much to raise, etc. Not to mention that children ARE like arrows; the way you train them impacts the course they will follow in life. Train them to be Godly, have character, honor their parents and the Lord, and to train their children likewise, and you will begin to see a difference in the coming generations...especially if WE keep having the large families, and the liberal athiests stop at one or two! :) And 2) I think sometimes people who made a choice to abort or stop having kids due to selfish reasons (career, lifestyle, goals, money, convinience, etc.) feel somewhat guilty and self-centered when they see a family who has cheerfully accepted the children God chose to bless them with, and have adjusted their lives accordingly. I would feel kinda guilty too if I met a family with 10 kids, and had to tell them I chose not to have kids cuz I wanted a career, or they would impede my social life, or whatever.
Anyway, I'll stop for now...but I think you're VERY right on this, Jennie!! :) Thanks for a GREAT post!
Do you suppose that someday the liberal left wing will be afraid of the growing Christian families like the Egyptians were afraid of the prolific Israelites? It appears some are already getting scared!
Amen :) Life would be so boring w/out my siblings! As for social adjustment, how could someone be normal who hasn't learned to live with more than 3 other types of people?
Post a Comment