A Reminder That Children Are Gifts, Arrows, And Blessings -- By: Rachel Jankovic

Journal: Journal for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
Volume: JBMW 20:2 (Fall 2015)
Article: A Reminder That Children Are Gifts, Arrows, And Blessings
Author: Rachel Jankovic


A Reminder That Children Are Gifts, Arrows, And Blessings

Rachel Jankovic

Mother, Writer, & Author of Loving the Little Years
Moscow, Idaho

I think it is safe to assume that most believers are familiar with the many Biblical passages that speak of children as gifts (see especially Psalms 127, 128).

They are considered a blessing, and inheritance, like arrows in the hand of a man who wants arrows, they are referred to as fruit, and as a reward. There are promises surrounding seeing your children’s children–with the unspoken expectation that we just can’t even wait to see this layer of blessing.

But still, when we come to addressing the actual work of the actual children in our own lives, we fall back on our more understood framework of the culture around us. They are a gift from God, sure, whatever.

But can we afford them?

They are a reward, yeah, but is it one we want? I’m not sure that I am patient enough for kids, so maybe I should aim for something with a lower bar. I’ll get a cat! Maybe a gerbil. They are like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, but then again, we aren’t super mighty and I’m not really into bow hunting. It seems like we should just not worry about that bit. If anything is clear it is that Scripture does not really jive with what we actually experience in our lives. It just calls them a blessing, and never even mentions the toddler or the teenage years.

The Blessing Of Children.

And so we find that rather than adjusting our own instincts and desires to correspond to the clear teaching of Scripture on this subject, we tend to let the Bible fade into the background of our own narrative of life–letting the ways of the world and the ways of our own flesh creep to the forefront and

shape our behavior. We leave those Bible verses as something someone might have cross stitched for the nursery, or something you might see on a plaque that you wouldn’t buy. But we certainly don’t look at our lives, at our children, and at our situation with the wisdom that simply believing these passages would bring.

We treat children like an expensive leisure activity. We think it is only responsible to decide before conceiving a child whether or not you can afford all of the time, money, stress, and responsibility of actually having a child. The world has taught us that this is all our decision. That our fertility is something that we can and should have a mastery of–making the choices that are best for ourselves at all times. But in the bac...

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