Sanctity Of Life Sunday 2014

Today has been designated as Sanctity of Life Sunday

On a January 13, 1984 proclamation, President Ronald Reagan designated January 22, 1984 as the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day. The date was chosen to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that first recognized the constitutionally-protected status of abortion in the United States.

Before I start, I want to share something with you. One of my seven sisters had an abortion as a teenager. In high school she was very vocal and adamant about sexual purity until marriage. Eventually, she started to date a non-Christian who had other thoughts. One thing led to another and she became pregnant. That ended his interest in her except for one last demand. Get rid of it.

Ashamed she told no one and eventually ended up at an abortion clinic where she was treated as a hardship case because of her inability to pay. She was all alone. Boyfriend gone.

For decades she dealt with overwhelming depression even though she had confessed the sin to the Lord and asked for forgiveness she was still continually haunted with thoughts about the baby. She was sure it was a boy although there was no way of knowing. Her mind kept careful track; how old would he be now, what color would his eyes have been, would he have freckles, would his teeth be straight, etc?

I believe that she was harassed by demons, hearing a baby cry in the middle of the night even though no baby was there. Believing that she never deserved to be happy again. Punishing herself by never getting close to another man again. This went on for decades.

About 5 years ago she found the courage to stand before a congregation of family, friends and fellow Christians and confessed this sin that had been plaguing her for so long. It has been a long healing process with the prayers and support of her family and friends and we can now see true joy in her face but without Jesus and the body of Christ she would have suffered the rest of her life and probably committed suicide.

Abortion is devastating to the woman who has the abortion.

Teens who have abortions are 10x more likely to commit suicide.

Adult women - 6x more likely.

One reason for this is that once the reality of what has happened comes to the forefront there is no punishment as there would be if you killed someone else. And, you become your own judge and jury; witnessing against yourself and condemning yourself.

This is devastating and we need to pray fervently for those who have made this awful choice and forgive and love them into reconciliation with Christ.

Life is precious in the sight of God.

How I love the Scriptures and our memory Scriptures go with us absolutely everywhere and at least one of them always seems to apply to one situation or another, for instance …

Matthew 22:37-40

“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.

“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Life is precious in the sight of God. “Love your neighbor as yourself.” What an awesome commandment!

Now, we know that this applies to more than just our neighborhood neighbors, right?

But, what if it did only apply to those who lived close to us? Then we must love them because loving them is important to the Lord and because we love Him with all of our heart and soul and mind it should be important to us as well.

So, if the lives of our neighbors are as important to us as our own because God loves them, what about our children? Of course the lives of our children are important to us because they are even closer to us than our neighbors. And, if the lives of our children are important to us because they are closer to us than our neighbors are what about the children in the wombs of our families? You can’t get any closer than that!

We all get aggravated when we read Matthew 2:16.

“When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under …”

Can you imagine the grieving that took place in Bethlehem that day? Caused by the unjust murder of innocent lives ordered by a king who murdered his only family members whenever it suited him?

Abortion is a hidden, festering pain that only the Lord can heal. Let’s be part of that healing process with the help of the Lord for the sake of those who need to find forgiveness and healing.