As a member of the body of Christ, it is my absolute responsibility to make sure that what I say and what I do reflects the heart of God and the love of Jesus. It is my purpose to point people to Him in all things, and my sole mission in every conversation to draw people toward God, never causing them to withdraw or turn away.
Like you, I take this very seriously. So, before I say anything else, I need to make a few things very clear.
We both likely know women who have walked into clinics and made a decision that they will live with forever. Nothing you or I say can change the events that have already taken place, but our words can change how we interact with these women and millions of others like them. So out of love for them, I choose my words carefully. That being said, I will continue.
There has never been a time in the history of the Church where there has been a greater need for purposeful, passionate and intentional women’s ministry. I’m not talking about a specific time ladies can gather and converse, even though all hard conversations begin with friendly chats. I’m talking about women coming together and being raw and open with each other about the deepest places within our hearts. This is why.
The minute the Church recognizes that the end of abortion lies in the heart of the woman and not in the laws of the government, we will begin to see change take place in our nation. And we will then understand the role that we play in ending it. Because we can no longer stand far off and shout down large organizations and declare the evil of the abortion industry and big government without simultaneously looking hard into the eyes of the women who are keeping these organizations in business.
The truth is, fighting to close abortion clinics and make it illegal for women to abort their babies only buys us time. It does not change the heart of this issue.
The reality is, abortion clinics will go out of business the day that women decide to quit aborting their babies.
So, CHURCH. We must do a better job of looking women in the eye and saying, “Run to the Church and not the clinic. We have the answers you need. We believe in praying to a God who still performs miracles! We believe in a God who can change the diagnosis and replace it with resurrected life! We will help you. We won’t abandon you. You can trust us, and you can trust our God!”
Church, abortions are not just had by women who are “out there.” There are women we love and care for, ones that sit next to us in our Sunday services, who are making these life-changing decisions… who have already made choices of their own. And they are women just like us… women in desperate need of a Savior.
But here’s the thing… We must do a better job of offering not just open arms, but a community that helps after the choice for life is made. We must be a safe place. Always. We must be a shelter for the hearts of women and hurting women. We must begin a dialogue that allows women, those we love and strangers alike, the chance to encounter Hope. And then, we must be prepared to not only walk with them down the road that leads to life, but down the rest of the path after the decision for life is made.
Because the choice to keep a baby isn’t the finish line. It is the beginning of the journey. And we must be prepared for this. We must begin to see women right where they are, and then start walking right alongside them. We must make it so easy for women to choose life that it doesn’t make any sense for them to abort.
And this will begin the moment we stop seeing women who have abortions or who have had abortions as the problem and begin to see them as people. People Jesus died for.
Just like us.
So, I invite you to consider your heart on this. I’m actually not asking you to change your opinion of abortion. There are plenty of posts on the internet about that, and rarely do articles online really change our minds anyway. What I am asking you to do is consider how you can reach the heart of a hurting woman, the heart of a woman in a tough place, the heart of a woman who needs Jesus’s love just as much as you do.
Because I promise if you want to save a life, you begin by saving hers.
What does the end of abortion in America look like? It begins with prayer, and it ends with the Church doing its job. We must meet each woman right where she is with the love of Jesus and the support of our Body no matter what she is facing. Jesus is really good at changing lives. It is our job to make sure He gets the chance.
Grace and Peace, friends. God is good. You are Loved.
*Please note: All comments from now on will be disabled. Please feel free to discuss what you have read above with those who know you and your heart well. They will be less likely to misunderstand your perspective than strangers in a comment section, and it will hopefully lead to a healthy dialogue between friends.
