Conviction About Our Creator

We each have been made in the image of God, the One who gives to each of us the breath of life.  In Psalm 139, we find a passage of Scripture that reinforces the notion that each of us has value in God's eyes:
14I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.15My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.16Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.17How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
The Bible teaches the sanctity of life - we each have value before the Lord.   Every person is created with the potential to serve the Lord, to inherit salvation through Christ through an act of their will, and to be used of God for His glory.  Sure, we can choose to reject it, but consider what wonderful things He has in store for us if we would only believe in Him.  If we believe in the sanctity of life, we recognize the higher call that is wrapped up in that philosophy, and how that can shape our attitude to take our eyes off ourselves and develop more compassion for other people.  It can also motivate us to take up the cause to defend the defenseless.

In Job 31, Job is elaborating on a set of moral principles, and he poses a very important question surrounding the sanctity of life.  Let's pick up at verse 13:
13"If I have despised the cause of my male or female servant When they complained against me,14What then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him?15Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same One fashion us in the womb?
The question in verse 15, "Did not He who made me in the womb make them?"   This is consistent with the teachings of Scripture in other books of the Bible concerning the value of life and how every life is precious. And, that phrase is key today...

You may be aware that I have a great amount of respect for the Duggar family.   The parents, Jim Bob and Michelle, are people of conviction who have integrated Biblical principles into the way they raise their children, and you're beginning to see, as the next generation reaches adulthood, that you have Duggar children who are also reflecting the faith upon which the home in which they grew up was built.

They have been featured for years on their television program, called, "19 Kids and Counting," and I believe their approach to living reflects a unique dedication to reflecting Christ's love - and truth.   And, Jessa Duggar, who has gained a bit of attention these days because of her upcoming wedding, drew attention for some Instagram comments following a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC.  From a LifeNews.com article, here's part of what she wrote:

“I walked through the Holocaust Museum again today… very sobering. Millions of innocents denied the most basic and fundamental of all rights—their right to life. One human destroying the life of another deemed ‘less than human.’ Racism, stemming from the evolutionary idea that man came from something less than human; that some people groups are ‘more evolved’ and others ‘less evolved.’ A denying that our Creator—God—made us human from the beginning, all of ONE BLOOD and ONE RACE, descendants of Adam..."

She concluded by saying:

"...May we never sit idly by and allow such an atrocity to happen again...Not this generation. We must be a voice for those who cannot speak up for themselves. Because EVERY LIFE IS PRECIOUS. #ProLife.”

Of course, there has been criticism, but as the writer of the article, Sarah Zagorski, points out: "The word “holocaust” is defined as the destruction or slaughter of people on a mass scale. Some pro-life people think its fair to say that the killing of over 57 million people through abortion fits the definition."  The report also relates that Jim Bob Duggar used the word in a similar context at last year's Values Voter Summit.

Meanwhile, sister Jill Duggar and husband Derek are expecting their first child. And, she demonstrated her conviction that every life is precious in what could be regarded to be an unconventional way - announcing their pregancy at just eight weeks. She is quoted on the Page Six website as saying, "Understanding that the majority of miscarriages happen within the first trimester, and believing that every life is precious no matter how young, we decided to share our joyful news as soon as we could." She's also quoted as saying that, "We knew that we weren’t going to prevent having children, so when we found out we were expecting within our first month of marriage, we were thrilled!”

And, finally, there's even more Duggar pro-life news.  Bryan Kemper, youth director of Priests for Life, wrote on the LifeNews.com website about some t-shirts that he provided to the family.  He had met several of the Duggars last January at the Students for Life of America Conference and gave Jessa one of the "I Survived Roe vs Wade, Roe vs Wade Will Not Survive Me” t-shirst, and later sent a box to the whole family. There have been photos of the family wearing the shirts. And, some of the shirts ended up on an episode of "19 Kids and Counting."

Needless to say, Kemper was excited to watch the next episode to see if more shirts turned up. And - they did!!   However, as he writes, "I was shocked when I saw the shirt again but this time I was shocked because they had actually blurred out the message." He goes on to say, "Knowing how dedicated to the pro-life cause the Duggars are, I expected to see the shirts many times on their show. It really amazes me that TLC would censor this; it’s not like people don’t know the Duggar’s [sic] beliefs."   This is probably not the last you'll hear on this developing story.

Convicted - for life.  That is a phrase you could use to describe these stories involving the Duggar family. And, they have been given a platform through which family members can share their deep faith in the Lord. These comments and actions can challenge each of us.  If we believe that every life is precious, which is a point of view based in the Scriptures, then we can be challenged to speak out and act in a manner consistent with that core belief.

If you say every life is precious, then you may want to demonstrate it through involvement in pro-life activities.  There are numerous opportunities, through getting involved with a local pregnancy help center, or perhaps volunteering to stand in prayer in front of an abortion clinic through "40 Days for Life." There may be action that can be taken in the political sphere by contacting your legislator about pro-life bills. 

And, if we believe that every life is precious, then that can also be expressed through the way we treat other people.  If we behave selfishly or even in a less-than-compassionate manner toward other people, if that is a viewpoint that we carry through life, then we have to consider whether or not we see others as creations of God.   We have to make sure, as children of God, called by His name, that we do not callously look down on others because they are different than we are.   Rather, we can strive to look at others through the eyes of compassion, consistent with the view of our Creator.