Mom Heart Moments #23

God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

AT THE TIME SARAH WAS BORN, I had spent many years in a somewhat high-profile sort of ministry. Speaking to executives, traveling internationally, training college students, and being involved in missions filled my days. Yet as I held tiny, precious little Sarah in my arms those first few months, God began to do a work in my heart. Buffeted by many different voices of advice all around me, I began studying Scripture to see what God’s opinion was about children.

I found the first blessing out of His mouth was, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). “The fruit of the womb is a reward,” I was told in Psalm 127:3. Many other Scriptures convinced me of the high priority God places on the lives of children!

I have rarely met a mom who did not love and cherish her children. So many, however, feel lost in a sea of contemporary philosophies. Some have to work just to feed their families. Many are single and bear burdens alone. Many come from broken families and don’t know how to love their children. Some feel they have never been given permission from our culture to stay home with their children. Others have simply never been taught the truth about their role in their precious children’s lives.

Yet we know both from statistics and biblical wisdom that most children do not become righteous without the devoted teaching and intentional training of the parents. We know that if the next generation of adults —the children currently in our homes —is neglected, that generation will have no godly character, no purpose, and no direction and will contribute to the demise of our own culture.

Have you embraced God’s view of children? In what ways has common culture’s negative attitude toward them affected your own understanding and lifestyle?