{originally published July 2020}
Our son came into the world during the height of the COVID pandemic. It was a strange final few weeks of pregnancy battling the anxious thoughts that come when experiencing a world entrenched in fear and panic. As new information poured in from news outlets and health officials, we were unsure if my husband would be allowed to be with me during delivery, how the virus might affect our unborn baby, or if the hospital’s medication shortage would be replenished before my due date arrived…it was a strange season indeed!
But delivering a healthy baby boy and holding our son in my arms for the first time was such a sweet, special moment. I loved those first quiet hours of snuggling him and admiring the incredible gift God had graciously chosen to bless us with. God had allowed me the opportunity to bring forth this little life into the world!
“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.”
Genesis 3:20
What a blessing that, as women, God has allowed us the ability to give life!
We give life physically through nurturing and bearing children.
We give life spiritually as we disciple, encourage and care for those God has placed in our lives.
We give life through cultivating homes that are hospitable, nurturing, and safe places of refuge.
There are so many different ways we may be life-givers to the world around us! But it can be challenging to view life-giving as a blessing sometimes, can’t it?
Just a few verses prior in Genesis 3:16 we see God say to Eve that He:
“will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth children; yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
Any woman who has given birth can testify to pain in childbirth! But even after labor and delivery are over, it can be painful to raise and bring forth children. We know it is a blessing to give life to others, but our sinful hearts rebel against the Lord. In my sinfulness it can be painful for me to sacrifice my time, energy, and things I want to do in order to nurture and care for my children, and it is painful to diligently discipline my toddler and be patient with her every day. Yes, being a life-giver is a blessing, but it is also painful. And in moments when we most deeply resonate with this pain and struggle to be a life-giver, we must focus our eyes on Jesus.
Jesus Christ gives life perfectly. He is the life-giver:
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.’” John 14:6
“Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
Romans 6:4
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)…”
Ephesians 2:4-5
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Bringing life to our children and those around us is a sweet way that we may imitate Christ, and so we must fight for joy in being life-givers! We have to fight for this joy daily through prayer and time in the Word, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can bring life to others around us. Don’t let the lies of the world sneak into our hearts and steal the joy of being a life-giver! Persevere to imitate Christ, fight sin, and share life and joy!
In love,
Jackie
