1 Tim. 2:15
“But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”
God has purposefully designed women for the amazing ability to carry and bring forth children. The bearing and rearing of children brings about the beautiful work of sanctification in our lives. It is through them that we are pruned and grow in Christ-likeness. The word “preserved” here means “sanctified”. It does not mean we will escape all pain and trials in the process. It means that through this process, Christ will make us fit for His presence.
Secondly, it reveals the truth that being a wife and mother is the role God designed for women, and walking in that role we will find our fulfillment! Interesting to note: it says “children” in the plural. Are we limiting God’s design by taking the number of children we have into our own hands? It does not say, “women will be preserved through the bearing of a child”. Just a thought.
Lastly, we must walk in faith, love and self-restraint. I think God knew what areas women would struggle in the most. These seem to be them.
Faith – we must be fully reliant upon God with childlike trust and dependence. We must trust that the pain and struggles of child rearing are working a perfect work within us. Faith is trusting in God even when we cannot see the future, we cannot see the results of our labors. Worry and anxiety are the opposite of faith.
Love – sacrificial love. Rising in the middle of the night for a teething baby, making meal after meal for a hungry family, and washing one more load of laundry…each task must be done in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. Isn’t that interesting? Love ties in with faith.
Self-restraint – in my book this is self-control. Whether it be food, appearance, emotions…each area of our lives must be managed with self-control.
What a beautiful work God has created women to do!
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I love your blogs! Keep up the good work of informing ignorant women like me of great things!
Hello,
I hope you don’t mind me commenting on an older post here. I’m a newer reader and am loving your blog! This post in particular is really standing out to me. I don’t know if you’re up for posting a discussion of birth control… this post hints at “quiverfull”, would you consider yourself that? I’m only asking because its something I’ve really been studying and asking God about lately. Not so much the different forms of birth control, but control meaning deciding how many kids I am going to have- is that mine to control? Do I just trust God for however many children he brings? Or is there a balance in there somewhere of realizing children are gifts from God and desiring many of them but planning when they come? lol Sorry for bombarding you with my thoughts. Thanks for the insightful post.
What about women who can’t have children?
I believe if God has closed the womb, He can bring other children into your life through the wonderful gift of adoption, or opportunities to minister to other people’s children. This would produce the same blessed fruit of sanctification.
This is not to say that growth in sanctification can only come through raising and training children, as God uses many other means, but this is a promise to the child-bearing mother that God uses this in her life to bring about good fruit, pruning, and making her more into his image. In that light, mothering is to be pursued with joy and hope that God is doing a good work in and through her.