Trillia Newbell: Transforming your mind

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Monday, March 11th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher. WORLD Radio commentator Trillia Newbell has some thoughts on the glory of a new outlook and a changed mind.

TRILLIA NEWBELL, COMMENTATOR: Last year, I read an article featuring women who regretted ever having children. These aren’t isolated opinions. You can find several articles on this topic and even a Facebook group established to support women who regret having children.

I want to cautious us not to vilify these mothers. Although I disagree with their conclusions, I don’t know their circumstances. At our lowest parenting moments, I think it’s fair to say we all battle ungodly thoughts.

What grieves me, though, is that these women confess to hating having had children. They see their children as a mistake.

Of course, Scripture has something very different to say about children. It says not one is a mistake. It says God knew us before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).

The good news is that these unwanted children got a chance to live. For that I am thankful. Hundreds of thousands of unwanted children never get that chance—and I would have at one time supported that choice.

I was pro-choice. I believed that a woman had a right to determine what was best for her body or situation. I did not think anyone but the mother should be allowed to control the outcome of an unwanted pregnancy.

I thought the baby was a fetus of cells that weren’t fully developed and therefore disposable. There wasn’t anything in my mind that would have convinced me otherwise.

Something radical happened to all of my perceived notions of rights when God captured my heart with his gospel at the age of 22. Nothing was the same. As my heart was transformed, so was my worldview.

As I opened the Word, I discovered that what I thought was a bunch of disposable cells was actually the created work of God knitting and molding in a mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). A person made in His image.

My own miscarriages would later drive home this point. I got it. I understood that my loss was real. I mourned the deaths of those babies because I knew that children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward (Psalm 127:3). And now that I have two vivacious children, I understand the joy of a human being that has been born (John 16:21). Oh what joy!

Lately, as the topic of abortion has reentered the public square with great ferocity, I’ve found myself weeping. I weep for those babies who lost their lives. For the doctor, nurses, and staff who performed the procedures. For the countless mothers who are mourning the loss of a child because of their decision to abort.

But we don’t mourn as those without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). God sent his son Jesus as a propitiation for our sins, and he will return, vindicating his righteousness. He will make all things new. And we hope in that future grace because we know that his Word is true… and powerful. I am living proof.

For WORLD Radio, I’m Trillia Newbell.

(Photo/Creative Commons)

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