Life begins at conception. God has a plan for each and every little child. Without question, people are God’s greatest creation. We are His crowning achievement. As the psalmist David beautifully expresses, “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well” (Psalm 139:13–14).
From the moment of conception, each human life is a unique and precious gift. God’s intricate design and meticulous care are evident in every detail of our being.
This masterpiece of God’s creation, the human being, is incredible. Scientists estimate that adult human bodies contain 16 trillion cells, each performing its specific function in harmony. Consider these statistics about the human body and the amazing things it is capable of:
- The nose can recognize 10,000 different aromas.
- The tongue has about 6,000 taste buds.
- And the brain contains 10 billion nerve cells.
- Each nerve cell connects to as many as 10,000 other nerve cells throughout the body.
- In fact, the body has so many blood vessels that the combined length could circle the planet two and a half times.
- God has custom-designed each of us with our own unique DNA blueprint, which every cell contains. And if you were to write out your individual blueprint in a book, it would require an estimated 200,000 pages. God, of course, knows about every word on every page.
Scripture reveals that God has a plan for each of us, even before we were conceived. The prophet Jeremiah wrote, “Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4–5).
We have the astounding capacity to store millions of bits of information, keep it in order, and recall it when necessary. We are “wonderfully complex,” as Psalm 139 tells us.
These scientific facts and verses, among others, certainly lay to rest any warped concept that the Bible would somehow allow for abortion.
Did you know that the first person to recognize Jesus was an unborn child? John the Baptist in the womb of his mother Elizabeth jumped in the womb when Mary walked into the room pregnant with Jesus (Luke 1:41-44).
This is personal to me because I myself was conceived out of wedlock. I was the result of a one-night stand my mother had in Long Beach, California. But thankfully, my mother did not choose abortion—she chose to give me life.
The Democratic platform used to be, under President Clinton, that abortion should be “safe, legal, and rare.” But today, at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, you can get an abortion on demand. What has happened here? We don’t value life as we ought to. We “terminate” these pregnancies, as we say, but in reality, we are taking the innocent life of an unborn child.
I remember an occasion that happened a number of years ago. I was on the beach with my family, and my little grandson Christopher, who was probably a year and a half old, was playing by the water. There was no surf to speak of, but a little wave rolled up, and he toppled over. I was going to go to him and pick him up, but his mother was already there before I could fully get out of my chair. I’ve never seen a human move so fast! Why? It is called maternal instinct. It was her instinct to get to her child and save him.
We say, “Well, what if the mother’s life is in danger if she finds herself pregnant?” Most mothers would put themself in danger in order to save the life of their child. What about when the child isn’t born yet?
Let me tell you a story of a mother who lived in Samoa. Her name was Mia Matia, “Tiva” for short. Her name actually means “poor thing.” Tiva got pregnant, and as it turns out, she had a rare blood disease for which there was no cure at the time.
She was told by her doctor if she delivered this baby, she would surely die. Her family came in, and everyone encouraged Tiva to abort the baby to save her own life. She agreed to it and signed the papers to do so. After her family left, Tiva called the doctor back in, and she told him she did not want to terminate her pregnancy and take the life of her unborn child. She asked the doctor to go ahead and deliver the baby.
The doctor delivered the little baby, and tragically, Tiva died giving birth. She named that little baby Moses, who was then adopted by Tiva’s sister. Moses Katina went on to marry, and his wife had 12 children, 34 grandkids, and 21 great-grandkids—that’s 67 in total. All of those descendants of Tiva have come to Christ, and 14 of them are in Ministry today.
In fact, the wonderful singing band “The Katinas” is part of the legacy of Mia Mativa. Even though her name meant “poor thing,” she ended up doing a great thing. She made the ultimate sacrifice, but look at all of the lives that were impacted as a result of that sacrifice.
We don’t think these things through. We think, “Oh, just go ahead and get that abortion. It won’t matter.” You don’t think about children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. And you don’t think about the pain it will cause you.
Suicide rates are far higher among women who have had abortions than those who have not. Sometimes, the impact of taking the life of that unborn child does not fully dawn on the mother who did so until later in her life. I think of one lady I know who still struggles this day, years after she had an abortion.
Here’s the good news: God can forgive all sin, and if you’ve had an abortion, you must call out to the Lord and ask him to forgive you, and you can rest assured in this promise that you will see your child again. That child is with the Lord, and if you put your trust in Christ, you will see them in the afterlife, in heaven.
In the strongest terms I can find, I say to any mother out there: if you find yourself pregnant, don’t abort that child. Don’t take the life of that innocent child. They’re made by God, and God has a plan for their life. I’m glad my mother made that decision.
Ephesians 2:6–7 tells us, “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.”
God wants to spend all of eternity revealing to us His kindness, goodness, and grace. He wants to spend eternity showing us how much He loves us.
