Pro-Life Purity

The first young lady I kissed became my wife, and the Lord gave us over 53 years together before she went home to be with the Lord. The second lady I kissed became my second wife, and we have now been married for over three and a half years.

In all our opposition to abortion and in our pro-life campaigns, have we been missing a vital ingredient?

There was a report from the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee Republicans dated December 11, 2017, titled “Love Marriage, and the Baby Carriage: The Rise in Unwed Childbearing.”

Here are some astounding conclusions from this secular source:

• A healthy family life is the foundation for a healthy associational life
• “Births to unwed mothers stands at 40 percent – up from 5 percent in 1960.”
• Nearly six in ten first births to women under the age of 30 are outside of marriage
• Two in three first births are from non-marital conceptions.
• “Because of higher rates of sexual activity, improper contraceptive use, and the increasing acceptability of unwed childbearing, non-marital pregnancy rates are over one-third higher than in the early 1960’s.”

The Ethics and Religious Liberty  Commission of the  Southern Baptist Convention posted an article on May 6,  2022, titled, The Demographics of Abortion in America. They cited 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• Adolescents aged 18–19 years accounted for the majority (70.2%) of adolescent abortions and had the highest adolescent abortion rates (8.6 and 12.2 abortions per 1,000 adolescents aged 18 and 19 years, respectively).
• It was found that 14.5% of women who obtained an abortion were married, and 85.5% were unmarried. The abortion ratio was 46 abortions per 1,000 live births for married women and 394 abortions per 1,000 live births for unmarried women.”

Here is the shocker in this listing of statistics:

MOST WOMEN WHO ABORT SELF-IDENTIFY AS CHRISTIAN. About 25% identified as Roman Catholic, 17% as mainline Protestant, and 13% as evangelical Protestant. About 8% identified with a non-Christian religion, and 38% did not identify with any religion.

The word “Christian” typically refers to those who center their faith around the Bible and Christ. Generally, all of these individuals claim to believe that Christ was a real historical person, that the Bible is the primary book for Christians, and that they accept the Ten Commandments.

While we should condemn abortion and stand for pro-life causes, are we missing something much more important? Christian concepts have increasingly been pushed out of public schools and out of public life since the 1960s’. But this might indicate that families had already pushed Christianity out and eliminated it from their homes. We may bemoan the elimination of prayer and Bible reading from school life. But what about Bible reading and prayer in our homes? What about parents teaching Christian concepts and exemplifying moral standards in the home?

Here’s what the Bible says:

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

The teaching role primarily falls to the parents, with the prime responsibility designated to the father. We need to instill the truths of God in children’s hearts so they grow up with genuine personal convictions. They should not say, ‘This is what our church believes,’ or ‘what my parents believe.’ But, instead, this is what I believe.

They need to understand that the Bible is the infallible, inerrant, authoritative, inspired Word of God. Parents should teach them, from an early age, to trust Christ as their Savior. They need to know, with personal conviction, that God’s moral commandments concerning others are absolute. They should know the meaning of the words murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and coveting and that these sins are all prohibited by God. They should know that God gives these commands for our joy, happiness and success in life and not to hurt or deprive us of anything good.

Our children should never feel the need for an abortion because they have remained pure. Children should learn that pre-marital sex is sin and abortion is murder. The baby in the mother’s womb already registers as an important person in God’s book. Psalm 139:14-16 declares, “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book, all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”

The New Testament is very clear about sexual sin. Jesus said, “Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery (sexual relations with the spouse of another) with her already in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28). Paul wrote, “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication (all sexual relations outside of marriage – includes both adultery and pre-marital sex): That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4).

Parents should guard their children from the temptations and enticements of sex. They should insist that their young girls and boys wear modest apparel. (1 Timothy 2:9). While definitions of modest apparel may vary, be careful. Someone has said, “Sex appeal is sex revealed.” The more flesh you expose, the greater the temptations.

Teach love and respect toward the opposite sex. Teach them to reserve the hugs and kisses for the right one that God has for them.

Instruct children that marriage is a permanent covenant. There are to be no “trial marriages,” though that may be a popular idea today. In Matthew 19:4-6 Jesus was asked about divorce. He answered, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Adolescents should consider courtship and marriage carefully from a godly, Scriptural basis, not based on their hormones. The prospective life partner should be a born-again Christian. (2 Corinthians 6:14). A beautiful or handsome face or physique does not guarantee a happy marriage. Proverbs 31:10, 30 gives this wise counsel: “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. – –  Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.” (Proverbs  31:10, 30). Although these verses refer to a woman, you could apply the words to a man.

Yes, we need to keep advocating for pro-life and anti-abortion. But more important is that we build strong families for the future. Parents, teach your children about purity, love, respect and obedience to the Word of God. Model Christ and a Christian marriage before them. Teach them to reserve their bodies, their lives and their commitment for the one to whom God directs them.