Mother's Day: 5 Day Bible Plan Sýnishorn

The role of the childless in God’s story

For me the best part of the Bible – the part that has most significantly changed my understanding of where I, as a childless woman fit into this story of God and His people – is found right at the beginning of the New Testament. Matthew’s gospel begins with a long list of names, a genealogy, beginning with Adam and ending with Jesus. The list includes those women who’d struggled with infertility who had gone on to have children, as well as prostitutes, murderers and adulterers – it’s not exactly a family tree to be proud of. The lines of names go on and on for ages until eventually we get to Jesus.

This is the last genealogy in the Bible, because after the birth of Jesus, family line and fertility have no bearing on anyone’s value, purpose or inheritance in God’s world. Jesus was single and childless. Paul, who after a dramatic conversion to Christianity went on to start the early church after Jesus’ death, talked about his calling to singleness because he believed marriage and children would hinder the role and purpose he believed he had here on earth. And still today, my friends who are infertile are some of the most fruitful people I know, because they have not let their infertility define their value or purpose.

There is a freedom that comes at the end of this genealogy; it’s a declaration that family line, marriage and fertility have no bearing on your role or value in God’s Kingdom. You are free to live a life of purpose and great value because of Jesus. I don’t know why we add more worth to the stories that work out, the ones that look perfect from the outside, rushing to disown the parts of our lives where we have struggled, burying the stories that have left us limping. I remember believing I needed to wait until I was healed so that I could finally begin living a life that was worth something, that my life would have little meaning until I was a mother. I still fall into that trap at times now, but then I return to Matthew and remember the value God has placed on my life and my future.

The Beatitudes have also helped me so much because they challenge a world that believes wealth, fertility, happiness and good health represent God’s favor and introduce the upside-down kingdom of God’s reign that can also be experienced here on earth. They promise a peace, hope and freedom that’s not dependent on your BMI, your marital status or size of your family. When you don’t measure your worth by these states, it frees up your life  to experience and embrace so much more because you’ve become a citizen of heaven here on earth. A God-follower who is no longer bound by the standards handed out through social media, the opinions of others or the criteria set by this world because Jesus has invited you to step into an alternative reality here on earth and to live by the values of God’s Kingdom. God is with you in the midst of your pain reminding you that your worth cannot be measured by what you do or what you have. Not even by the number of children you give birth to, but rather how much you are loved by the one who created you.

Spend some time reflecting on the passage in Matthew 1 and give thanks that this list ended with Jesus.

Ask God to help your heart accept the truth that your childlessness does not define your value and your role in this world.