Sanctity of Life

Unplanned pregnancies, orphans, people with special needs, human trafficking, poverty, the elderly, the terminally ill… every single life in this world that fits into any of these categories is an important life to God… and as children of God, these lives are to be important to us.  Every life is precious to Him – God knows and formed every one of them in their mother’s wombs and has already counted their days on this earth (Psalm 139).  Because of this, these lives (whether they are desired by society or not) should be precious to us…precious enough that we are willing to use our voices and our money and our time and our talents and our votes to be used by God in defending these lives and protecting them from others who don’t consider every life valuable.

This is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  “Since 1983, Americans have observed Sanctity of Human Life Sunday (SOHLS) as a day to celebrate the intrinsic value of all human life. Sanctity of Human Life Sunday is held on the Sunday in January that falls closest to the day on which the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions were handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on January 22, 1973.”  (Source: Carenet.org)

When we think of Sanctity of Human Life and of being “Pro-Life,” most of us immediately think of being against abortions.  That’s certainly a huge part of being Pro-Life, but not all of it.  Being Pro-Life means valuing every human life… from the unplanned lives to the lives with special needs to the lives that some would think too old or ill to contribute to society.  Being Pro-Life means seeing your own life as valuable to God and to His purposes in this world for the God-appointed days that you walk upon it (Ecclesiastics 3).  It also means joining forces with others across the world to end human trafficking and slavery, poverty, and parent-less-ness via adoption.  Being Pro-Life means being an advocate FOR each life that God breathed into being, because HE has a plan for each breath taken (Jeremiah 29:11).

God called His children to be a voice for the voiceless in Proverbs 31:8-9 ~

Speak out on behalf of the voiceless,
    and for the rights of all who are vulnerable.
Speak out in order to judge with righteousness
    and to defend the needy and the poor.
Prov. 31:8-9, CEB

So what can we do?  How can we do this?

None of us can do everything, but each of us can do something.  And when our “somethings” are done in obedience to God and empowered by His Spirit, He will use us and our somethings to change the world!

Where to start?  The opportunities are endless.  Focus on the Family offers tons of information and ways to be a voice.  For starters, watch this video from Focus on the Family – Be A Voice.  Then, join in making this pledge:

“I will honor each person as worthy of dignity and respect simply because they are created in God’s image.  I will be their voice when they can’t find their own.”

If you will be a voice for those who can’t speak for themselves, click here.

Next, check out a few other resources:

• Here are 6 Ways to Make an Impact for LIFE. (click for link)
• This is a fabulous FREE resource from Focus on the Family that holds answers to most every question you could ask about valuing human life and being a voice for the voiceless.  Sanctity of Human Life Guide 2014
• And, you can find age appropriate activities and lessons to teach kids and teens to value life from the very start:http://bit.ly/1bS4co5!

There are so many resources available, and so many needs to be met.  I offer a challenge to both you and to me:  Let’s get involved in fighting for the dignity and right of human life.  If you ask, and search, and knock, God will lead you to the definite place He has for you to be His voice, or His hands, or His smile, or His arms, or His feet… His heart.  

And sweet friends, if this day and this subject is especially hard on you because of a decision against life that you made in the past, this is one of many resources to help you find hope and healing.  Or just google “Hope and Healing after an abortion” or “Hope and Healing after ____”  to begin searching for resources.

OR…if anyone of you dear readers is struggling with an unplanned pregnancy, there is help! You are not alone, and God has HUGE plans for both you AND your baby!   In this video below, a doctor explains what happens medically to a woman and the baby during each type of abortion and the prolonged procedure that abortion really is. It’s not a quick fix like we are led to believe.   There is help.  There is Grace.  And there is someone who is praying to be able to parent your child at this very moment. 🙂

(If you can’t see the video, click here: Abortion Explained to go to the YouTube site.

How I praise the Lord that HE provides grace and help for every person… because YOU and I are just as valuable to Him as the lives with no voices.   God loves us all… And that’s something beautiful to celebrate on this day and every day~

For You shaped me, inside and out.
    You knitted me together in my mother’s womb long before I took my first breath.
I will offer You my grateful heart, for I am Your unique creation,
filled with wonder and awe.
    You have approached even the smallest details with excellence;
    Your works are wonderful;
I carry this knowledge deep within my soul.
You see all things; nothing about me was hidden from You
As I took shape in secret,
    carefully crafted in the heart of the earth before I was born from its womb.
You see all things;
    You saw me growing, changing in my mother’s womb;
Every detail of my life was already written in Your book;
    You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it.
Your thoughts and plans are treasures to me, O God!
I cherish each and every one of them!
    How grand in scope! How many in number!
If I could count each one of them,
they would be more than all the grains of sandon earth.
Their number is inconceivable!
    Even when I wake up, I am still near to You.

Psalm 139:13-18 (VOICE)