For the Unborn

I did not want to write this post. Every fibre of my being has wanted to stay silent. But there has been a constant nudging at my heart for nearly two weeks now, and I have spent countless time praying over it. That if God wanted me to write this post, He would give me the words to use. That He would open my heart to that which is true, and that I would be able to write this in a way that only spreads love.

There are many voices right now about this topic, and it can be hard to know which one we should be following. But if we call ourselves Christians, then our lives and our beliefs must align with what God teaches us. God has given us His word, so that we can know Him and know His heart. It is true that the Bible never directly mentions abortion. But, it is clear that God values life, that He has a plan for every single situation, and that there is a certain way Christians need to respond to issues like this.

Life has immense value in the eyes of our Creator. God created human beings in His image. (Gen 1:26) After each day of Creation, God finished by saying “it was good.” But when He created mankind, He said “it was VERY good.” Right from the very beginning, God valued human life over anything else that He created.

There is no shortage of evidence sprinkled throughout the Bible that life begins in the womb. David says in Psalm 139:13-26 “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” Before we were even born, God already knew every single thing we would say and do. He knew who we would become before we took our first breath. In Jeremiah, the Lord says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” (Jer 1:5) God is our redeemer, who formed us in the womb (Isa 44:24), we are clay in the hands of the potter. (Isa 64:8) God made each of us and we are equally valued and loved by Him, right from the womb.

God has a plan for every life, even when we may not understand. The other day, I read the story of Lazarus. When Lazarus got sick and his sisters came to Jesus asking Him to help, His response was “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s son may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4) Reflecting on that, I couldn’t help but think, how many times do we want something to end one way and God has a different plan? He uses various situations to bring Himself glory. We may not see what He is doing in the moment, but one day it will make sense. (John 13:7) While many people in Christian circles can agree abortion is wrong when it is merely for convenience reasons, the conversation gets a lot more difficult when we reach tough scenarios such as rape or incest cases, or the health of mother or child.

There is a story in Ezekiel 18 that centers around whether a child deserves to die for their parents sin, or vice versa. The Lord states that the one who sins is the one who should die, not the one who is innocent. While both rape and incest are absolutely abominable, there is the chance for beauty to come from violence. There is no excuse for the murder of an innocent child.

The first sin, the one that got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden, was thinking that they could be like God. (Gen 3:5) When we take another being’s life into our own hands, we are stepping in to play God. We do not know what His plan may be for that situation.(1 Cor 2:11 – “No one knows the thoughts of God.”) Who is to say that God won’t work a miracle in the life of your unborn child, and you may miss out on that? (Job 38:2 – “who obscures my plans without knowledge?”) God values all life, even the lives of those who society deems “unfit for life.” A child who may be born with birth defects is not unloved by God, or a punishment for their parents sin. (John 9:2-3) Everyone that God creates has purpose and it is not our place to question Him. (Isa 45:9-11, Rom 9:20-21) It takes a great amount of faith to say “I trust in God’s plan for this, and I will allow this child a chance at life.” Our culture does not understand a faith like that, but as Christians, we need to be able to trust that God is in control no matter how hard the battle we face may seem.

So as followers of Christ, what should our response and our stance be?

Well, first, we must understand that we can never completely remove abortions because they are sin and this world will never be without sin until Jesus returns. But, we cannot view this topic through the lens of the world! (Romans 12:2) We are not to conform to or condone the actions and thoughts of those who live in darkness. (Eph 5:11)

“You shall not murder” is a clear commandment in the Bible, (Ex 20:13) and the Lord especially detests the killing of defenseless and innocent lives. (Pro 6:16-19).

The popular stance of our culture, that “it’s my body, so it’s my choice”, is not one that is supported by the Bible. Our bodies are on loan to us by our Heavenly Father for our time here on earth. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your bodies.” To follow Christ, we must give up control of our own bodies. That not only means sexual immorality, but also choosing what we do with our body, because it is not OURS. It is a temple of God. ( 1 Cor 3:16-17)

As our world continues to fill with more and more evil, things like abortion will keep becoming more acceptable by society. Those who are of the world will not be able to see the degree of wickedness, and we cannot expect them to. (1 John 4:5, 1 John 5:19) A time will come when people turn from the truth in favour of their own desires (2 Tim 4:3-4), when the wicked band together against the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. (Ps 94:21) But it is important that we remember our battle is not against other people, but rather against the evil powers that control our world. (Eph 6:12) It breaks my heart when I see videos of “Christians” outside of abortion clinics, hurling insults and condemnation on women. That is not the way Jesus would have reacted. When we turn to hatred and condemnation, we only stir up the conflict and repay insult with insult. (Pro 10:12, 1 Peter 3:9) Rather, we should take an approach of kindness, grace and forgiveness. (Col 3:12-14)

The Word tells us to “be imitators of Christ.” (Eph 5:1) It tells us to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.” (Pro 31:8-9) And Jesus says that “whatever is done for the least of these is done for Him.” (Matt 25:40)

It is not our job to condemn or force people to take our stance by hurling insults, our job is to love. To love people despite their views. To love the unborn. To share the truth with love. If we approach this discussion in a way of trying to butt heads and make our opinion louder, we are only heating up the conflict. But when we approach in love, kindness, and grace, we place a pebble in their shoe.

As Christians, we are to be set apart. This means not of this world. We are to look at things the way God sees them. If God values life, even while in the womb, if God has a perfect plan for every situation, if God calls us to be imitators of Christ, then the choice and stance we should take in this realm is simple.

God loves the unborn. God advocates for the unborn. And we must as well.