Who wouldn’t want to experience God’s blessing? So, then, how can we step into the blessing of God? One of the straightforward ways the Bible teaches us that he blesses us is through children. Look, for instance, at the book of Genesis, where blessing is directly correlated to having children:
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen. 1:28)
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” (Gen. 9:1)
The angel of the Lord also said to [Hagar], “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” (Gen. 16:10)
And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations.” (Gen. 17:15-16)
“As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly.” (Gen. 17:20)
“Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven.” (Gen. 26:3-4)
Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him… “God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples.” (Gen. 28:1, 3)
When the LORD saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb. (Gen. 29:31)
Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” (Gen. 30:22-23).
And [Israel] blessed Joseph and said, “…and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.” (Gen. 48:15, 16)
God’s first blessing is followed by his first commandment: “Be fruitful and multiply: (Gen. 1:28). The book of Exodus (which follows Genesis) picks on this very theme in its first chapter, “But the people of Israel were fruitful and increased greatly; they multiplied and grew exceedingly strong, so that the land was filled with them” (Ex. 1:7).
Many have been duped into believing that children are not a blessing. In 1960, the first birth control pill, Enovid, was approved by the FDA. Three years earlier, in 1957, 122.9 children were born per 1,000 women ages 15-44. The birth rate plummeted over the 60s and 70s and continues to decline. In 2023, only 54.5 children were born per 1,000 women ages 15-44.
The Lord blessed Adam and Eve and told them to “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it” (Gen. 1:28). The contemporary Western world has twisted that blessing and subdued our reproduction, not the earth.
There are reasons, of course, to be wise in stepping into the responsibility of having children. The call to multiply is connected to the covenant of marriage, so if God calls you to be single (a good thing! See 1 Cor. 7:6), he isn’t calling you to multiply. It is often wise for couples to wait a couple of years into marriage before having children to grow in emotional and spiritual intimacy. There are health reasons for couples not to have children. There might be reasons of abuse or severe financial hardship.
But, for many, the choice to not have children is because they don’t trust God’s promise that children are blessings. We might fear that the world is too dangerous or evil a place. We can become anxious about the financial burden or the commitment of time that children will require from us and we subdue God’s blessing. It is not a surprise that the lowest birth rates are from those who are not religiously affiliated. It is also not a surprise that more active Christians have higher birth rates than those who do not regularly attend church.
There are repercussions for us not trusting God. Consider the rapid rise of Islam in Europe over the past thirty years. In 1950, 2% of the European population was Muslim. That doubled to 4% in 1990. That number was at 6% in 2020 and is projected to hit 14% by 2050. Part of the reason for this has been immigration, but a significant portion of the growth has been secularized European’s dramatically low birth rates (1.46 children per woman) compared to Muslim’s very high birth rates (2.9 children per woman).
These statistics illustrate Paul’s strange words that children are made holy by believing parents (1 Cor. 7:14). Paul does not say that a believer’s children receive salvation through their parents. But, we ought not be surprised that God is often faithful in extending his blessing from believing parents to their children. We ought not be surprised that it is more often the case that children of Christians put their trust in Christ than those whose parents aren’t Christians.
On the campaign trail, the media skewered Vice Presidential nominee JD Vance for his dig against prominent Democrats as “childless cat ladies.” His jab wasn’t nuanced or empathetic, and has made the conversation around birthrates tinged with bipartisan rancor. But for Christians, it should not be. While we ought to have sympathy and understanding for those who cannot or should not have children, Christians ought to be those who embrace the gift of children.
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). As it was in the beginning, may it be again.
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Photo by Nihal Karkala on Unsplash