The Way to Life

We have each been made in the image of God, and I believe it is incumbent upon the Christian to affirm the sanctity of life. The world offers paths to death and destruction, and promotes ideas that are antithetical to the teachings of Scripture. We can be inspired to follow the Scriptural directive to choose life. In Matthew 7, Jesus teaches about the way that leads to life:
13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16a You will know them by their fruits.

With the third anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade being celebrated earlier this week, it gives us an opportunity to reflect on the significance of that decision.  While certainly it removed federal protections for abortion, the decision about the regulation of the horrendous practice was left with each individual state.  While some states, like Alabama, have implement strong pro-life laws, the promoters of abortion have found a new, risky path to the termination of a human life through chemical abortion.  

Now, in light of the Skrmetti decision upholding Tennessee's ban on gender treatments and procedures that are falsely characterized as changing a person's "gender," there has been a new precedent set that could positively impact the laws in over half of the states that prevent these types of actions in cases of minors, as Tennessee's law does.

There is new research that shows a majority of voters reject taxpayer funding of organizations, such as Planned Parenthood, that are involved in abortion and harmful gender treatments.  The Post Millennial website declares:

A new poll has revealed that American voters strongly disapprove of taxpayer dollars being used to fund abortions and child sex changes.

The Life Leadership Conference poll, obtained by Breitbart News, found that 64 percent of registered voters oppose "an organization that provides puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and other gender transition treatments for minors." This figure included 51 percent of voters who strongly opposed.

There was also a survey question regarding, as the article puts it, if "...voters would support taxpayer funding for 'an organization that provides abortions to minors without parental notification or consent..." The article notes, "67 percent said they oppose funding these groups, while 27 percent said they supported."

The article notes:

Respondents were also asked, "Now that you know Planned Parenthood is providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and other gender transition treatments for minors, would [you] support or oppose continued taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood?" This came after Live Action released an investigation in which they found Planned Parenthood had been providing hormone treatment to minors as young as 16, often with limited parental consent or medical supervision.

That question yielded these results: "60 percent said that they oppose providing taxpayer funds to Planned Parenthood, while 32 percent supported the funds going to the organization."  

In a recent op-ed at The Christian Post by Tony Perkins, President of Family Research Council, he noted that, "... 71% of Americans oppose experimental medical gender transition interventions for minors. The activists preferred to operate in the shadows, far from public debate. That debate has now happened — and they lost."  He described the decision on transgender procedures as a "cultural U-turn." 

That poll was published in January, about which National Review said: "An overwhelming majority of Americans support restrictions on the ability of mentally unwell minors to obtain puberty blockers and hormonal treatments, a new survey finds," adding, "Over two-thirds (71 percent) believe children under the age of 18 should not be prescribed puberty blockers or hormones..., according to a new poll from the New York Times and Ipsos."

I have said it multiple times throughout the years, and it should be a guiding principle for our lives: God's. Way. Is. Best.  Jesus said there was a way to life, but few find it.  The entrance to that way to life is through Christ, our door, through salvation by believing upon Him.  We enter into a life of the knowledge of God and the experience of His love - a life, as Jesus taught, of abundance, through which all the resources of God become available to the child of God.

And, I believe we have a responsibility to spread that life throughout our culture. The principles of Scripture are reliable, and society as a whole can benefit by embracing those principles.  When we lift up the presence of Jesus, we can see cultural transformation, and the exposure to the good of the Lord can hopefully draw people into a saving knowledge of Jesus to secure their future.  Our lives, built on Christ's foundation, can communicate the good that can only be found in Him.