The Glory of Fatherhood and Motherhood

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I write these words as a husband and a father of three, watching with growing concern as our culture in the Upper Peninsula and far beyond continues to twist and redefine what God Himself has declared good from the very beginning of creation. In a world that enthusiastically celebrates “fur babies,” “cat moms,” and carefully worded surrogacy contracts as though they carried the same weight as sacred covenant realities, the Church of Jesus Christ must speak with clarity and conviction. Motherhood and fatherhood are not mere feelings, legal contracts, or lifestyle choices we get to customize. They are a glorious gift straight from the hand of our Creator, inseparably rooted in the bearing and raising of human children for His glory. There are no mothers apart from the bearing of human children. That statement is not harsh; it is simply true, and it is profoundly liberating.

God Designed Fruitfulness

From the opening pages of Genesis, God’s design for fruitfulness stands unmistakable. In Genesis 1:28 (NASB95), right after creating humanity in His own image, the Triune God commands the first man and woman: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” This was no casual suggestion or optional path for the especially religious. It was the first command given to our first parents. Adam and Eve were not instructed to acquire pets for emotional fulfillment or to outsource reproduction through contracts and third parties. They were called to bear children—image-bearers who would carry the glory of their Maker across generations and across the earth. Eve received her name because “she was the mother of all the living” (Genesis 3:20 NASB95). Right there in her name we see the heartbeat of motherhood: it is tied to the womb that carries and brings forth human life. Fatherhood flows from that same divine mandate—to lead, provide for, protect, and disciple the children God entrusts to the marriage union.

Psalm 127:3-5 (NASB95) captures the wonder of this reality: “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; They will not be ashamed When they speak with their enemies in the gate!” This is the ordinary, beautiful, high calling of Christian marriage. Scripture and faithful confessions like the Westminster Confession describe marriage as being “for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with legitimate issue”—that is, human children born from the one-flesh union. Anything that departs from this pattern is a distortion of God’s good design. I know this joy personally. My wife and I are raising our three children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and there is simply no greater privilege on earth than stewarding their young souls for Christ. Yet even in our own home we feel the constant pressure of a culture that insists family can be whatever we feel it should be.

This is not optional for the serious Christian. It is the ordinary, beautiful, high calling of marriage. The Westminster Confession of Faith echoes Scripture when it describes marriage as “for the mutual help of husband and wife, for the increase of mankind with legitimate issue.” Legitimate issue—human children born of that one-flesh union. Anything less is a distortion. This is from real experience with my own children, it is wonderful to have them pray with me, quote things from the scripture, grow and learn. My daughter often corrects my singing of “Jesus loves Me” because I will add my own verses and she knows they are what “mommy taught her”. There is no greater joy than sharing in worship with children, in hearing my children sing the Doxology at the end of service each week, especially Elisabeth who can barely pronounce the words.

The Lie of “Fur Moms” and “Pet Parents”

Walk into almost any store or scroll through social media and you will quickly encounter women proudly identifying as “cat moms” or “dog moms,” complete with matching holiday cards and elaborate birthday celebrations for their animals. Some churches have even begun offering formal “blessings” for pets as though they were covenant children. While this may seem like harmless fun on the surface, it is not. It represents a quiet rebellion that ultimately cheapens the image of God. And this is not simply because these women are somehow more sinful than the rest of us. The deeper tragedy is that the whole world around us has deliberately chosen to keep our sons and daughters zealous in sin and sluggish in righteousness. We have taught an entire generation to hate children. We have done it through no-fault divorce that treats covenant vows as disposable, through the casual complaining about our own children as if they were burdens rather than blessings, through the refusal to actively help our daughters find faithful husbands who will cherish them, and through the raising up of young men who see a woman’s womb not as a sacred trust but as something to be avoided or used only for personal pleasure.

In such a soil, is it any wonder that many turn to pets as substitute children? Animals are indeed part of God’s good creation (Genesis 1:24-25), and we are called to care for them with kindness (Proverbs 12:10). But they are not children. They do not bear God’s image. They do not possess immortal souls, and they cannot be raised in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. A beloved dog will never grow up to preach the gospel or one day rock its own grandchild to sleep. To call yourself a “mom” to an animal is to mock the profound glory of the womb God designed specifically for human life.

If you have no children and find yourself pouring all your nurturing instincts into pets, you are not a mother—you are a caretaker of creatures. The ache so many feel in that void is real, and it should drive us to honest prayer before the Lord rather than to clever redefinitions. God does not command every person to marry or bear biological children, but where He sovereignly withholds, He calls us to contentment in Him rather than to pretend that a substitute equals the real thing.

Surrogacy: The Commodification of Wombs and the Denial of Motherhood

Even more troubling is the growing industry of surrogacy. Wealthy individuals or couples pay a woman to carry a child—often using donor eggs or sperm—so they can bypass the physical realities of pregnancy. Contracts are signed, rights are transferred, and the surrogate walks away after delivery. This is not motherhood. It is the renting of a womb. Scripture knows nothing of such arrangements. The very act of bearing a child creates a profound, covenantal bond that no legal document can erase. Surrogacy treats the child as a product to be commissioned and the woman’s body as a vessel available for hire. It severs what God has joined and denies the surrogate the very title her body has earned while pretending the paying party has somehow achieved motherhood through a financial transaction. This practice stands in direct rebellion against the God who “formed my inward parts” and “wove me in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13-16 NASB95). It reduces the miracle of life to a commercial exchange. We must reject it outright, even when it is cloaked in the language of compassion or “family building.” True motherhood cannot be purchased or contracted. It is a divine gift granted through the mysterious union of husband and wife, conception, pregnancy, and birth.

Barrenness and Bereavement

To every sister whose womb has remained empty despite deep longing, and to every mother who has suffered the silent grief of miscarriage, please hear this clearly: these words are not written against you. They are written for you. Your desire for motherhood is good and godly. Sarah laughed in disbelief, yet the Lord opened her womb in His perfect time (Genesis 21). Hannah wept bitterly before the Lord and received Samuel (1 Samuel 1). The barren woman of Isaiah 54 receives promises of fruitfulness and joy that far exceed her sorrow. God is not indifferent to your tears—He collects them in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). If you never carry a child in this life, you are not less of a woman, but this modern trend of hating your womb is abominable. Your worth is found in Christ alone, not in fertility, nor hatred of your fertility. Many of the most faithful women in church history channeled their maternal hearts into the spiritual nurture of younger believers, pouring themselves out in discipleship, teaching, and sacrificial service. And to those who have carried a child only to lose that precious life early—you are mothers. The womb that held that life, however briefly, testifies to the goodness of God’s design. Grieve honestly and deeply. Cling to the Savior who wept at the tomb of Lazarus and who has promised to wipe away every tear in the end. Rightly pursued, adoption can be a beautiful reflection of the gospel. It does not, however, redefine the biological reality of motherhood. It participates in God’s merciful work of placing the fatherless in families (Psalm 68:5-6). We rejoice in every faithful adoptive mother while refusing to blur the clear lines Scripture has drawn.

The Worthiest Calling

In an age of careerism and self-fulfillment, we must recover the biblical priority. There is no higher earthly vocation than to be a faithful mother or father. Titus 2:4-5 (NASB95) calls older women to train the younger “to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.” This is not oppression; it is glory. Fathers, you are not optional. Your leadership, provision, and discipline shape generations (Ephesians 6:4). Mothers, your sacrificial love in the daily grind of diapers, meals, and bedtime prayers is the very heartbeat of covenant homes. The world parades influencers, CEOs, and activists as the pinnacle of success. God says the woman who fears the Lord and builds her house is to be praised (Proverbs 31:30; 14:1). I have watched my own wife pour herself out for our children in ways the world would call “unfulfilling.” She is not diminished—she is exalted. And I am a better pastor, a better man, because I stand beside her in this calling. This is the ordinary means by which God builds His kingdom: one faithful family at a time.

Men, hear this especially: you must not hide your wives or your daughters from children or from the realities of marriage and family. You cannot be afraid of children. You cannot be afraid of marriage for your daughters. You cannot shrink back in fear from having children with your own spouse. Do not shun your girlfriends from baby showers out of some dread of “baby fever.” It is no less a sin than the rebellion committed in the garden to use your spouse for your own pleasure while denying her the deep desire God has placed in her for motherhood and fruitfulness. A man who fears the fruit of the womb is a man who has not yet learned to fear the Lord. Lead your home with courage. Show your daughters what men are worth having, show your sons men worth being. Embrace the blessing of children as arrows in the hand of a warrior. Delight in the wife of your youth and rejoice in the legacy God is pleased to give through her. This is part of your calling as a faithful husband and father.

Conclusion

Saints, let us live this truth out with joy. Let us disciple our children faithfully, support the tired parents in our midst, and speak the whole counsel of God to a confused and rebellious culture. Motherhood and fatherhood are not burdens to escape—they are the front lines of the Great Commission. May the Lord grant us grace to embrace them fully and gladly. If these words stir your heart, I invite you to join us at Christ the King Church this Lord’s Day. We worship as families, we preach the whole counsel of God without apology, and we long to see the Keweenaw filled with homes that shine with the glory of King Jesus.

A Prayer for Us

Heavenly Father, Sovereign Lord of the womb and the cradle, we thank You for the glorious gift of motherhood and fatherhood. We praise You that You have not left us to invent our own paths but have clearly revealed Your design in Scripture and in the fruitful union of husband and wife. Forgive us where we have compromised with the lies of our age, where we have celebrated pets as children or treated wombs as commodities. Turn our hearts back to Your Word. We lift up every barren woman who longs for a child. Fill their wombs, O Lord, according to Your perfect will. Comfort those who have miscarried; heal their hearts and remind them that their brief motherhood was not in vain. Grant them either the joy of seeing their desire fulfilled or the surpassing peace that passes understanding if You call them to another path of fruitful service.

For those who mock motherhood and fatherhood, those who parade childlessness as liberation or redefine family in open rebellion against Your creation, let their houses be desolate. May the emptiness they have chosen expose the folly of their ways, that they might repent and turn to the Giver of every good and perfect gift. And Lord, crown with glory every mother and father who has faithfully carried us to this day. Bless the weary but faithful who labor unseen in homes across the Keweenaw and far beyond. Raise up a generation of arrows who will fear You and subdue the earth for the advance of Your kingdom.

May Christ the King be glorified in every nursery, every kitchen table, and every bedtime prayer. In the strong name of Jesus, who was born of a woman and who calls us His brothers and sisters, we pray. Amen.