Monday, July 25, 2011

Where Your Children Rank

This article about motherhood was just fabulous. I strongly encourage you to read it. These are the highlights:

Everywhere you go, people want to talk about your children. Why you shouldn’t have had them, how you could have prevented them, and why they would never do what you have done. They want to make sure you know that you won’t be smiling anymore when they are teenagers. All this at the grocery store, in line, while your children listen.

Children rank way below college. Below world travel for sure. Below the ability to go out at night at your leisure. Below honing your body at the gym. Below any job you may have or hope to get. In fact, children rate below your desire to sit around and pick your toes, if that is what you want to do. Below everything. Children are the last thing you should ever spend your time doing.

If you grew up in this culture, it is very hard to get a biblical perspective on motherhood, to think like a free Christian woman about your life, your children. How much have we listened to partial truths and half lies?

Christian mothers carry their children in hostile territory. When you are in public with them, you are standing with, and defending, the objects of cultural dislike. You are publicly testifying that you value what God values, and that you refuse to value what the world values. You stand with the defenseless and in front of the needy. You represent everything that our culture hates, because you represent laying down your life for another—and laying down your life for another represents the gospel.

But a Christian should have a different paradigm. We should run to the cross. To death. So lay down your hopes. Lay down your future. Lay down your petty annoyances. Lay down your desire to be recognized. Lay down your fussiness at your children. Lay down your perfectly clean house. Lay down your grievances about the life you are living. Lay down the imaginary life you could have had by yourself. Let it go.

Death to yourself is not the end of the story. We, of all people, ought to know what follows death. The Christian life is resurrection life, life that cannot be contained by death, the kind of life that is only possible when you have been to the cross and back.

The Bible is clear about the value of children. Jesus loved them, and we are commanded to love them, to bring them up in the nurture of the Lord. We are to imitate God and take pleasure in our children.

5 comments:

Faith said...

Great article and I think it's funny that I had a blog post set to post this morning with this very article too. Must be worth reading if two very smart, intelligent women thought enough about it to blog about it:)

Sherrie said...

Did you see the opposite perspective on yahoo yesterday? Businesses actually banning children. Too sad.

Ginger said...

No I didn't! Can you link to it Sherrie?

A said...

Yes this is a fabulous article and SO encouraging to the soul during times like these. You should see the looks I get when I go out with my children....and I only have 4! Then I have to fight my flesh believing the lies that "if I could just have some me time, life was so much easier when we only had 2" But that is NOT why we are here on earth. We are not here for us - we are here to serve others, be obedient to God and give all the glory to Him.

Thank you for posting this article!

Stori said...

Thank you so much for this article! It is such an encouragement to me.