“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward<\/em>” (Psalms 127:3).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n It isn’t until very recently that we, as a society, have changed the way that we talk about children. Our self-indulgent, me-first culture has really changed our perspective. We encourage young married couples to wait to have children so they can savor their youth, not be burdened, and so they can focus on their careers. We encourage people to have fewer children so that they can take more vacations, have nicer things, and enjoy their golden years sooner and longer. Disparaging remarks are often made to those with larger families, even from other Christians.<\/p>\n For us as Christians, this has to stop. We need to see children as God sees them: a blessing and a heritage. We must start openly discussing how wonderful it is to be blessed by God. We must prioritize them over careers, nicer things, and vacations. We need to raise them as straight and virtuous arrows to be sent out into the world to be a blessing to others. Let’s be different as Christians and change the way we think, talk about, and act toward children.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Chadwick Brewer “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward” (Psalms 127:3). For most of history, having a large family was viewed as a blessing. For example, when Job’s wealth was listed in Job 1, his most prized and valuable blessing from God was his seven sons…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,1028],"tags":[665,110,29,107],"class_list":["post-67897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-parenting","tag-child-rearing","tag-children","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":410,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/410-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":67897,"position":0},"title":"How were Isaac and Jacob blessed?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 19, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How were Isaac and Jacob blessed? Answer: In the times of the Old Testament children could inherit two things from their parents: property and a blessing. If your parents had three children, then on their death their property was divided four ways (one more than the number of living\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55477,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-children-of-ones-youth\/","url_meta":{"origin":67897,"position":1},"title":"The Children of One’s Youth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bryan Matthew Dockens The name Jamie Lynn Spears was unknown to me until the sixteen-year-old actress and younger sister of Britney Spears recently announced that she is expecting a child. This news has predictably brought increased attention to the issue of teen pregnancy. Allow me to submit for your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Young-Love-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":26814,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-will-your-children-remember\/","url_meta":{"origin":67897,"position":2},"title":"What Will Your Children Remember?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Lowell Blasingame The Psalmist said that a man's children are \"a heritage of the Lord,\" (Psalms 127:4). Most admit that there is something badly wrong with parents who do not love and value their children as such. Parental love motivates us to be concerned about our children's welfare and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/family2-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":44115,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-daughter-is-planning-to-marry-someone-we-do-not-think-is-suitable\/","url_meta":{"origin":67897,"position":3},"title":"My daughter is planning to marry someone we do not think is suitable","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Jeff, I stumbled onto\u00a0Do you need her parent's blessing before marrying?\u00a0I was looking for information to present to my children living at home why I can't attend a marriage between my daughter and a young man whom she feels is \"perfect.\" My husband did not give his blessing for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21377,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-the-bible-say-about-infertility\/","url_meta":{"origin":67897,"position":4},"title":"What does the Bible say about infertility?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian and want to know what verse should I read to encourage me about infertility. Answer: The inability to have children has long been a problem for couples. The first mention of barrenness was with Sarah, Abraham's wife (Genesis 11:30). In their case, it was a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60394,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thoughts-on-parenting\/","url_meta":{"origin":67897,"position":5},"title":"Thoughts on Parenting","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Adapted from a study by Ralph Walker via\u00a0The Exhorter, Bulletin for the Henderson Blvd. church of Christ in Tampa, FL June 2009. Parenting has never been easy. But ask yourself this question. Do you really think your parents had as tough a time rearing you as you have with your\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/family-300x200.webp\")
For most of history, having a large family was viewed as a blessing. For example, when Job’s wealth was listed in Job 1, his most prized and valuable blessing from God was his seven sons and three daughters.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/large-cajun-family-on-farm-south-of-crowley-louisiana-65868c-640-300x247.webp\")
But beyond how we talk about large families is how we treat children. Moms often rush back to work as soon as they can after the child is born. Grandparents and daycare spend more time, on average, with the children than parents do. We openly discuss their cost, how much they negatively affect our peace and the burden they bring.<\/p>\n