Childbearing and the sanctity of marriage
Even if parents are not so crass that they calculate the benefits of ordering a designer baby, having children can become a consumer choice.
The availability of consumer goods has led many people to change their attitude towards God. As a friend told me years ago: “You keep talking to me about how Jesus is going to save me. I don’t need salvation. I need a good job and a credit card.”
The consumer mentality has also led many people to change their attitude towards children. Even if parents are not so crass that they calculate the benefits of ordering a designer baby, having children can become a consumer choice.
The words Eve proclaimed after giving birth to her first-born son can sound strange: “I have received a man with the help of God.” Not just atheists, but some Christians as well, fail to see themselves working together with God, allowing him to create new human life.
Saint Paul’s words in his second letter to Timothy not only sound strange; they sound outrageously archaic (2:15). The apostle was giving advice to one of the first bishops about the sanctity of marriage, saying that a woman “will be saved by child-bearing, provided she lives a sensible life and is constant in faith and love and holiness.”
If you yourself feel that you have been influenced by the pagan revolt against God—and it is truly a rebellion against our Creator and Redeemer—it is time to remember those ancient words of wisdom from the Book of Leviticus (11:45): “Yes, it is I, Yahweh, who brought you out of Egypt to be your God: you must therefore be holy because I am holy.”
