I initially sat down at the computer with this question in mind: What are the Biblical reasons and arguments to support "permanent birth control" (tubal ligation, vasectomy)?
I knew there was no command that we should NOT to have this done. But for some reason, I wanted a list of reasons why we SHOULD consider it a good thing.
I should mention that this came completely out of nowhere. I had no reason to even be thinking about it right now. Chip and I are in full agreement at this point that our family isn't done.
I should also point out that I WANTED good reasons. I WANTED to know that when the time came, we were doing the right thing. Vasectomies are not a rare thing in the church. Neither are tubal ligations. And this is a big topic. So I set out to find the reasonings and logic behind a decision that so many Christians have made and been fine with.
I started my search and realized that there are so many "what ifs". Too many to count. Everyone is in a different situation. And this ISN'T a black and white/right and wrong thing. And so, instead of trying to figure out what everyone else should do, I decided to try to figure out what WE...Chip and myself....should do.
We obviously had reasons in our heads behind why we'd make this decision. So the obvious thing to do would be to ask ourselves: Are these reasons the RIGHT reasons? And so, I started to evaluate my OWN reasons.
I was in this alone, at this point. Chip had no idea what I was thinking about. Like I said, there was really no reason to be thinking about it right now.
So, I began to really think about MY reasons. Some of them are more valid than others. Most would seem like quite valid reasons if I were to tell them to a friend...but are much more pathetic when I try to tell them to God. I thought of the things that I have said recently in regards to "being done"....things like "we will be so young when our kids are grown up...we'll be able to do SO much". Or "we live in a little tiny condo...we don't have space for another baby". Or "I don't want to have to take care of a baby if I decide to homeschool...I need to be done before Kenzie is five..so we can fit in one more baby in before that." Or..."I'm tired of this baby phase..I can't wait until we can just get rid of all this "stuff" that comes along with babies." Some of you may think these things are valid. And some of these reasons might be quite valid for someone else. But not for me. Not in my life. I can see through all of these reasons. And I can tell you that when it comes to my heart, as much as anyone else may want to make me feel justified in these things, I simply cannot. The more I look to what God's word says, the more I feel these are just excuses. Excuses I know I will be supported in by the people around me. But excuses that won't hold any water with God. He knows my heart. He knows my motives. He is the one I will answer to in the end.
These are just a few of my "reasons". These are just a few of the things I have heard myself saying to people in the past year. But as I've thought through these and other reasons, I have started to ask myself other questions. And so, some of those questions will be looked at in the next several posts.
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