Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

~ James 4:11 NKJV~

The word of the day seems to be, as usual, insensitivity.  It amazes me the things people will post on social media in the name of justification of their own beliefs about a particular issue.  Pictures or sentiments that fail to see that choosing abortion is a very difficult decision and that women who are in the position of having to figure out what to do with an unexpected pregnancy are in enough pain and will continue to suffer long after the decision has been made no matter what they decide.  Never mind the very negative impact some of this stuff has on those of us who have miscarried or otherwise lost a child.  The constant verbal abuse and judgment being laid out for women who have or even consider having an abortion is just plain un-Christian.  That’s just not how Jesus would have handled it.  I’m sure.  I would never encourage someone to have an abortion, but I certainly don’t see the point of hurting or berating someone who has had one or who is considering one.  It isn’t as easy as just carrying the child to term and then giving it up for adoption.  That doesn’t always solve all of the emotional and psychological problems for the mother or the child in spite of what most may believe.  While it may be the solution for some, it isn’t necessarily the right option for everyone.  If you need proof of that, just look at all of the children who are currently waiting to be adopted or who are suffering abuse at the hands of unqualified foster parents or other caregivers.  And please don’t say that this doesn’t happen, because I’ve seen it and I know that this is a monster that does exist.  Sadly, even some of those who profess to want to do the Godly thing and adopt children to spare their lives are only doing so to collect a check or other benefits and have absolutely no interest in giving that child more than a mere existence.  Note:  I did say some.  Not all are abusive, but the existence of abusers needs to be acknowledged just as much as the existence of the alternative.

Whatever your own personal view is on the subject, it simply isn’t right to post something that shames or degrades a woman for her choices or her actions.  We’ve all made choices that were suspect and some of us continue to do so.  It would be nice to see Christian people lifting one another up and trying to help heal what drives a woman into a situation where she ends up with an unwanted pregnancy instead of stoning her repeatedly for a choice she should never have to make.  The ultimate failure in situations like these lies with those who know the love of Christ, but fail to share it.

I know that many of my friends are very much against abortion, some to the point of just being downright hateful about it.  And I can understand your outrage.  I used to be critical of each and every thing that I thought was wrong and I would say whatever I felt I needed to say to justify my own outrage.  It made me feel better.  It made me proud of myself.  That is, until I came back to Christ and saw that the words I’d been saying were hurtful and hateful and that I was not walking in love when I was criticizing my fellow man or woman for basically working with the tools God had given them.  Not everyone has a good spiritual foundation or even a good mentor to turn to.  Some people stumble for a very long time before they find even one individual who would take the time to help them to their feet.  And with the number of professed Christians in this world, that is a true shame.

I just want to remind you that we are all sinners and there is not one sin that is worse than another.  There are, however, many things that God hates besides abortion and these are spelled out in Proverbs 6:16.  He says, “These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.”  So, while it may seem that we are fully justified in battling the issue of abortion because it is considered to be the shedding of innocent blood, we must also be careful that our words and actions aren’t betraying our true nature and intent in doing so.  If we commit the other sins in the process of exposing one of them, then we are not operating in Christ, but in our own pride.  And when we are hateful to one another (yes, it is hateful to post pictures of fetuses covered in blood), then we are also committing our own murder in a sense.  For when we hate, we murder according to 1 John 3:15.  While it is perfectly alright to point out that something is a sin, we need to be careful that our judgment of the person who is in sin isn’t crossing over into hatred and that it isn’t being done to satisfy something in our own sin nature.  Often, the things we hate in others can be found in some form within our own character.  So, before we cast that first stone, we need to take a good long look in the mirror.  Are we reflecting something other than Christ?  If so, we’ve got more important things to do than chase down women who are considering abortion and bully them into doing our will.  God has a plan for their lives, too and most often, as with our own lives, that plan includes sin.

 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.

~Proverbs 10:12 NKJV~

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