Saturday, January 23, 2016

Does the Bible Permit Family Planning In A Marriage?

Image via ucg.com
Pre-marital counselling sessions are eye opening. One gets to understand the need for some foundational materials needed to build a long lasting home. The need for husbands and wives to give themselves selflessly to each other is always emphasized. However no lesson quite prepares one for the reality of being married. One gets to learn firsthand lessons on emotional intelligence, financial management and so many others. Then, when the little ones start arriving, one is faced with making life changing decisions. Truth be told, things work better when there are well laid plans such as discussing the number of kids couples intend to have, agreeing on the kind of contraceptive to be used and also  the spacing between them. This is necessary so as to forestall irreparable emotional and financial drain on the two people involved.


Not all Christians agree on the use of contraceptives. Some conservative Christians think such concepts are alien to the values of the bible as portrayed in the now defunct hit TLC TV reality show ‘19 Kids and counting’. The show followed the lives of the Duggar family who are Christian conservatives that don’t believe in family planning. Like the name of the show depicted, the couple has 19children and were opened to having more kids should the wife get other pregnancy(s). What’s most fascinating about the show was their philosophy towards procreation. They believed no one ought to stop or disturb God’s natural process of conception.
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Psalm 127:3



 
While I respect their opinion, I don’t agree with them. There are many things God gave to us for our enjoyment but he also gave us the will and wisdom to be able to control situations around us. It would be wrong for instance for one not to control one's urge for food because it is a gift from God.
There are several reasons why people practice family planning including health, financial and economic reasons. 
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 1Tim5:8
 
Time is so much different from when our parents were raising kids. The economy has changed a lot since then calling for a reset in some of the old values.
There are different types of contraception that couples can explore such as natural conception which involves being intimate on the woman’s non-fertile days , and artificial contraceptives which is so many, kindly check HERE for options.

You should bear in mind that if you get pregnant despite your precautions, abortion is not an option.



Abortion, though a form of contraception is against the teachings of the bible .Jer 1:5 Exodus 20:13.

1 comment:

  1. I will start my comment with the normal menstrual circle which is twenty eight days, normal menstrual period is five days and out of remaining twenty three days, ovulation period is one day. This is what GOD created with women. If GOD doesn’t want birth control, he should have made the remaining twenty three days an ovulation period so that after normal five days menstrual period, woman can conceive anytime within twenty three days unless she abstain from sex or uses another means from getting pregnant and that would be an act of committing sin against what GOD wanted. But a woman who understands her body, and doesn’t want to get pregnant with mutual agreement with her man, will avoid sex during the ovulation period or uses contraceptive. There’s no sin committed by controlling the birth of how many children they wanted.

    Apostle Paul said; “Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” 1 Corinthians 7:5(NIV). This verse indicates that at a certain period, for certain reason, by mutual agreement, husband and wife can abstain from having sex.

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