Author: Don't Fear, Only Believe

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How Are You, Really?

How are you? Everyone says these three little words on a daily basis and the typical, easy answer to reply is, “I’m fine.” There is never a need to elaborate on that.  Many of us are private and reluctant to tell others about the issues going on in our lives. We have become such a private culture that even our family and friends are unwilling to ask us too many questions or to answer them when we ask. So many of us feel reluctant to disclose too much about ourselves particularly if it involves troubling issues. It has been researched that even when we go to the doctor, we may minimise or fail to mention the problems we are having. But why? Are we afraid to be helped or admit that we have problems just like everyone else? Do we really believe that no one really cares about what we say?

Offering Our Anxieties Up To God

This post goes out to all those who are anxious and feel like they have to constantly hide behind the “I’m fine” answer. But you’re never alone. God is in control. The Bible itself is filled to the brim with helpful and calming verses in it. “Put your trust in God…” (Psalm 56:3), “Cast all your cares on the Lord…” (Psalm 55:22) and the one I spoke about last week; “Do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:34). For some of my Christian friends in the past have been told that anxiety (or any mental illness) is a sin and that they had to have more faith, believe or pray more. Anxiety is NOT a sin and you are not a defective.

For many of us, our anxieties, our fears and our feelings aren’t things we can control on our own. At least, not straight away. It usually shows up unannounced, unwanted and takes up residence, like a stain you can’t get out of a pristine, white shirt. It’s a medical condition that needs care, intervention and management that goes beyond quoting a few Bible verses and saying a lovely prayer, thinking that they’ll be quick fixes. When it comes to anxiety and other overwhelming feelings like grief, fear and anger, our first port of call, particularly as Christians, is to shove them away as hard and as fast as we can push them. We use all manner of things for that to happen; prayers, scriptures, declarations. We play worship songs at full volume in our attempts to drown the thoughts out. But, as much as we try, we can’t change the thoughts we have.

Jesus Shifts Our Focus

In the Bible, in Matthew 6.25-26, Jesus starts the discussion about understanding the fears and anxieties buried deep in mankind, that we can all take hold of:

“Do not be worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they don’t sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they are?” (NIV)

Look up. There are five hundred million hungry birds flying around. They don’t sow, reap or gather into barns and yet your Father in heaven knows their need and feeds every single one of them. If God feeds animal, essentially His pets, will He not feed you? Jesus, in these verses, shifts our focus to the “more” in life – what our hearts crave. There is a different kind of life we experience in fellowship with our God that is supernatural. That’s where our lives become more than “food and clothing.”

These verses go on to say, in Matthew 6.27, “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” God is in control! The minutes, hours, days and weeks we spend being anxious amount to wasted, stolen time. Concerns from health, to money, to the future of the human race are all matters for God. He will be concerned about them  because He cares for you and wants to guide you into living a fruitful life.

Using Anxiety To Your Advantage

Breathe. trust. Transfer your anxiety to God and place your concern where it belongs; on the things of God. I used to hate having anxiety. Now I don’t mind it as much because in those moments when I wake up at three in the morning in a cold sweat, my mind racing with concerns of money, the past and the future. I roll of my bed to sit on the floor and pray… especially hard to do when you’re at your parent’s house and you sleep on a bunk bed. I ask God to transition my anxieties from the things of this world into the things that God is concerned about.

Thanks

Don’t Fear, Only Believe 

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Drunk

Don’t get me wrong, I do love a good alcoholic drink, but as I’ve got older I’d rather savour the taste of a good cider with friends than throwing it down my neck. Back in Freshers, the aim of a night out was to get completely drunk. The idea of spending money was all aimed on a night out at university. As the years have progressed, I don’t really go on many nights out. Getting drunk and having a hangover the next day doesn’t sound very appealing to me anymore.

For many of us, alcohol seems to be the solution of many problems. The amount of times I’ve heard or seen on social media, “I need a stiff drink after that,” or the act of having a full bottle of wine after a bad day at work, is not uncommon. Many, including myself in the past, have had a drink to take pain away, putting hope in a bottle rather than Jesus Himself.

A few weeks ago, was the Christian holiday of Pentecost. And for those who don’t know what happens on this day, it is a celebration of the Holy Spirit filling a room with a strong wind. When that strong wind had come, all the people in the room saw tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues and languages, just as the Spirit enabled them. The Holy Spirit is an amazing being and its really hard to explain, as it is the most indescribable thing to ever happen to you. I love Holy Spirit moments. When I speak to my friends who are not Christians, who ask questions, they can get behind Jesus – He is a man, a physical thing; they can sort of get behind there being a God – a divine being guiding you through your life; but when it comes to the Holy Spirit – they’re like “Woah, I’ve got to stop you there!” It’s a concept that many people can’t get there heads around.

Being Drunk On The Spirit

A lot of you are probably thinking right now, so where is this going? What’s the link between bad life decisions of being drunk and the filling of the Holy Spirit? Well, the Bible talks very strongly about this link in Ephesians 5:18:

“Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

I find this Bible verse incredible. I feel like this verse is saying that you should feel the same high from the Holy Spirit as you do when you are drunk. Being in a room filled with tons of people, who are each filled with the Holy Spirit is an incredible sight and to someone from the outside looking in, you would presume that everyone is completely drunk. People supposedly speaking gobbledegook (tongues), collapsing on the floor, uncontrollable laughing and crying. I admit I have the gift of tongues, I’ve had it for about 6-7 months now and honestly, it’s so amazing. Personally, I’ve never felt anything that makes you so happy or takes all your pain away than a glass of the Holy Spirit and a bottle of Jesus.

There are parallels between the two; we tend to see being drunk as a bad thing and we really don’t want it to happen to us in church. But here, God want us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and feel the gifts that it can give us. But, compared to alcohol, the Spirit gives you no sickness, doesn’t cause you to make stupid decisions, doesn’t lead to crime and definitely doesn’t give you a hangover the morning after, instead it makes you feel relaxed and helps you to know that the presence of God is always there with you.

There’s always that feeling of alcohol being a want not a need. Instead we should be needing the Holy Spirit not wanting it. We shouldn’t be able to go through our week, without needing God to be with us. For a lot people, alcohol is what they worship, a mini god to them. It’s so easy to get hold of and it’s pretty cheap. But do you know what is easier to find, is completely accessible and absolutely free? The Holy Spirit. There for when you need Him, not as a last resort or a temporary want.

The Holy Spirit – Way Better Than a Cheap Night Out

Don’t Fear, Only Believe

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How Much Does Your Life Cost?

Worth.

It’s such a powerful thing. The word is used to indicate how valuable something is, usually the value of an expensive car or your dream house. But also, commonly, it is used to describe a person’s life. We are constantly yearning and seeking to be worth something to someone else. In society, we are constantly told to live your life, your way – your worth being meaningful only to yourself. But you are worth more than anything to a guy called Jesus…

One inspirational woman who I have had the honour of seeing her legacy left behind, has been Lilias Falconer. The Falconer home has a special place in my heart and my family’s hearts, and I’m sure I’ve touched on this subject before in a previous blog. I got the amazing opportunity to visit this amazing orphanage a few years ago in Zambia. But this woman clearly showed why Jesus is worth it all! Lilias was born in 1915 in my home town, Manchester, and at the age of 15 she was telling her family that the call on her life was to go to Africa and to look after babies and children. For her to fulfil this mission, she applied for medical training to train as a nurse. All these applications were refused. In 1939, at the start of World War II, she was accepted into nursing training with the Salvation Army, and after a course in tropical medicine she travelled to Africa to a leper hospital in Zambia. There she saw the plight of little babies left to die when their mothers passed during childbirth. From this, she agreed to look after one baby but soon five babies were brought to her and one her own, she went further into the bus, establishing her Children’s home and Orphanage in the small village of Kabulamema. She died in 1998, and her grave is situated behind the house, in a beautiful lone building, signifying a constant connection to her work. This is a woman who gave up her whole life for Jesus.

The “Waste” of Expensive Perfume

The work of missionaries and people who give up their ordinary lives for extraordinary lives reminds me of a story from the Bible that shows us why Jesus is worth it all…

Clutching the jar tightly in her hands, the woman stood in the doorway and looked into the room. Her heart beat intensely. Her eyes darted back and forth. Her anxiety was at its peak. The room was packed with me, most of them who knew her for the job she did. A prostitute. She consider running away. At that moment, she saw Him. Everything else vanished, the world stopped. Nothing mattered anymore. Running into the room, she fell to the ground, tears forming in her eyes. Breaking her jar open, she poured the expensive perfume in it all over the man’s feet. She loved Him. She was a sinner. But this man, this Jesus, had shown her forgiveness. Everyone else stared at this random woman, shocked by her actions.

“Why have you wasted all that? You could have sold it it and given it to the poor,” the disciples shouted. Then Jesus spoke above the fuss, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done something beautiful for me. You won’t always have me, but you’ll always have the poor. This woman is preparing me for my burial. Listen to me, when the gospel is preached, the memory of her will also be told.” (Matthew 26.6-13).

The Reaction

Imagine if you were one of the disciples. Would you have been angry at the woman? She would have wasted perfume that had cost millions of pounds. But then again, much like the woman in the story, how do we respond to the story of Lilias Falconer? Too often we would respond as the disciples did. When we hear about people giving up their lives in rich, western countries to honour and serve God, we question their choices. Too often we see it as a waste of potential. We may never say it in words but in reality, we are asking the same question the disciples asked, “Why this waste?”

As Christians, we are taught to present our lives as living sacrifices, demonstrating God’s perfect will. Many people, and many Christians, would say if you presented your life in such a way, that you would be vulnerable to the devil and forces of evil. But Paul in Philippians 4.19, clearly states:

“And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” (NIV)

So, in answer to How Much Does Your Life Cost? I think it costs an infinite amount. We have worth because one man spent His worth for our all and so it is never a waste to give Jesus anything. And looking at it this way; it is our only reasonable response.

Thanks for reading.

Don’t Fear, Only Believe 

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Be An Ordinary Radical

"Don't be afraid," he said, "For you are very precious to God. Peace! Ne encouraged! Be strong!" As he spoke these words to me, I suddenly felt stronger and said to him, "Please speak to me, my Lord, for you have strengthened me." Daniel 10:19 (NLV)

One 16 year old girl has been my inspiration to show strength and courage over the past two weeks. She has stood up for what she has believed in, being an even louder voice in a loud crowd. She has spoken in front of the UK Government and the United Nations. And when people have said, "You're too young" or "You're voice won't be heard", she has proved her critics wrong. If you guessed correctly, I'm talking about the Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg. If you've never heard of her, you really need to check her out. The first time I watched one of her lectures, I was blown away with her resilience. I constantly wish that I can show a strength like hers in what I believe in; God. 

She is an ordinary radical.

Each day, every one us has choices to make when we wake up. The option that most of us take, often unconsciously, is to continue with the status quo, grinding it out in the way expected to us by family, friends and colleagues. Over the past few days, I have found this pretty hard, to be perfectly honest. This week I have got BUCS Regatta, the biggest university rowing regatta in the world. But leading to this, requires a large amount of training and a unchanging routine. Get up, row, work, row, sleep, press stop and then repeat. I'm sure for a number of you, you have a constantly repeating timetable that you wish for one day you could break free from – a timetable that usually leaves you frustrated or down approaching the weekend. But do you ever get the feeling you were made for more than going through the motions on autopilot? Is there something missing from your day-to-day life?

Hold up! There's another way. The way of the ordinary radical. Ordinary radicals are around us every day, but they often go unnoticed. They tend to go under the radar and that's the way they like it. Ordinary radicals seize each day as an opportunity. "Do small things with great love" as Mother Teresa once said. They don't need huge amount of money, loads of spare time, tons of resources and energy to make a difference. They're like you and me – full-time jobs, bills to pay, to do lists to complete. But these ordinary radicals, as Shane Claiborne once explained, are set apart by their ability to see and understand the opportunities presented to them every day to bless those around them, to speak up for the voiceless and to comfort the hurting. These people are rarely thanked, applauded or shown in the media. One of my favourite books, and minor prophets, in the Bible is Daniel. I would describe him as an ordinary radical who didn't bow down and worship an oppressive dictator but instead stayed true to his God even if it meant being thrown into a den of lions.

Closing a Lion's Mouth

The Bible story of Daniel teaches us about the promises God has for us all but, in turn, talks about Daniel's refusal to bow down to man and instead persist in something he believed in. If you've never heard the story, go and read it, but I'll break it down so you have an idea of what's happening…

King Darius was the ruler of Babylon at the time and had appointed several men to help him govern his land. Daniel was one of these, the lead advisor, who believed in God and followed the Lord's commands, But the other men didn't like him one bit and didn't want him in charge so they hatched a plan to get rid of Daniel. These men knew that Daniel believed in the God of Israel, in a society that didn't. A bit like today. They convinced the king to make a new law that meant that the people could only worship and pray to the king and if they worshipped and prayed to anything else, they would be thrown in the lion's den. The lions would eat the one that broke this law. Daniel knew this law but committed to remain strong in his prayer and praise to God. He prayed in front of his open window three times a day. When the men saw Daniel praying, they brought what they had seen to the king. King Darius was devastated. He highly favoured Daniel. But he knew he couldn't change that law and Daniel was thrown into the lion's den.

To cut a long story short, God sent an angel who kept the lion's mouths shut, leaving Daniel unharmed because he trusted God. This showed the king and the people that God is real. The king then threw the accusers in to the den, a pretty gruesome end. If you think about it, Daniel was just an ordinary guy who persisted with courage for the God he believed in. He didn't need to be famous to live life differently. An ordinary radical.

Today and tomorrow, you have a choice: Will I take the everyday opportunities I am given to live my life as an ordinary radical? What will you choose? 

Thanks

Don't Fear ,Only Believe 

To check out my latest blog posts and projects, please visit dontfearonlybelieve.wordpress.com 

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Conspiracy Theory or Not?

When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we ere asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. (Matthew 28:12-15)

I do love a good conspiracy theory. As I’m studying a postgraduate degree in criminal investigation, I’m very keen on having many hypothesis and theories when researching a case that has multiple conclusions, so that each can be eliminated to find the right answer. What about the events of 9/11 or the disappearance of Madeleine McCann? Does the Illuminati actually exist? The whole Flat Earth Theory? The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370? How about the one where Jesus’ body was stolen from the tomb?

The Bible itself contains the first mention of the Stolen Body myth. After the Resurrection, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb reported to the chief priests what had happened. The chief priests bribed them to say the body had been stolen while they slept.

Hide-and-Seek

Some people today still imagine that the disciples played a game of hide-and-seek with Jesus’ body. But a load of facts make this conspiracy theory impossible to believe. The stone, for example, that sealed the tomb wasn’t the kind of stone you can skip across a pond. According to textual information and the calculations of two Georgia Tech engineering professors, it might have been a five foot high circular stone weighing around two tons. When the tomb was first prepared, a team of labourers likely would have set the stone in place, using a wedge to keep the stone from rolling down a trench that sloped down to the opening of the tomb. When Jesus was buried, the wedge was removed and gravity did the rest, sealing the tomb so it could only be reopened by a gang of noisy, grunting, strong men. That’s why the women, on the way to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, wondered who could roll the stone away.

Mark 16:1-3 says,” When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

As well as this, the chief priests requested a detachment of soldiers from Pilate, the Roman governor, to guard the tomb. The Roman guard unit could have numbered as many as sixteen highly trained soldiers. Those who entertain the Stolen Body myth suppose that a scared little group of disciples confronted a guard of heavily armed, battle-trained soldiers. The disciples either overpowered the soldiers or snuck past them in their sleep to heave a two-ton stone up an incline without waking a single man. Then, so the theory goes, the disciples carted off Jesus’ body, hid it and – over the next several decades – endured torture, ridicule and martyrdom to spread what they knew to be a lie!

This is hilariously ridiculous! I was reading an article this week about the research of a Harvard Law professor called Simon Greenleaf. He lectured for several years on how to break down testimony and to determine if a witness was lying. He said, “It was… impossible that [the disciples] could have persisted in affirming the truths they narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact.”

What Does This Means To Me?

As Easter Sunday is tomorrow where we remember Jesus’ resurrection, I find it incredible how one man can be raised from the dead. This cements itself in my mind that Jesus WAS and IS the Son of God, the reason for my existence and the purpose of my life. Like the first Christians who saw that open tomb with their very eyes, I can have complete confidence that my Christian faith is based on the solid, historical fact of the empty tomb and the risen Christ… and that is why I believe in the right answer!

Happy Easter!

dontfearonlybelieve

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Why I Would Never Choose Invisibility as my Superpower?

“One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer–at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 

(Acts 3:1-3)

It may sound like a typical nerdy question when you ask someone, “If you could have any superpower you wanted, what would it be?” I’ve asked this question so many times to young adults as like an ice-breaker to get a conversation going. And the superpower that most of them have said is – INVISIBILITY. But why this superpower out of all them?

I had a careful think about this question this week after I watched the first Guardians of the Galaxy. And I came to a possible conclusion. No one can see you. You’re there but not there. You could be in the same room with someone, standing inches away from them and they would never realise it. If they wanted to, they could reach out and touch you – but why would they? They wouldn’t know you were there! You could do tons of random acts of kindness, but no one would see you and it would look like magic. But you could also abuse it… it would be very easy to rob a bank and be totally unnoticed.

In movies, invisibility is portrayed as this awesome superpower where the superhero can disappear to protect themselves from getting hurt, reappearing on the other side of the room completely unharmed. But imagine if that character was always invisible. How could they connect with anyone? How could they make friends? How could they live a happy life if no one could ever see them? The answer is they wouldn’t. The only reason this superpower is cool in films, is that it can be turned on and off whenever the superhero wants it to. It may be fun to not be seen every so often, but I assure you that a whole life of invisibility is no superpower at all.

To BE invisible in movies = POWER

To FEEL invisible in life = PAIN

What does the Bible say?

This blog post all stemmed from a Bible passage I had read last week, being Acts 3:1-3, which talked about an invisible beggar. Consider a few things about life for this man. He was lame; couldn’t walk or stand. What this really meant was he sat on the floor ever single day, begging for small change. All day. It also reminded me of a homeless person sat outside Sainsburys. Everyday tons of people walk past them and ignore them, not even offering them a smile, pretending that they don’t exist. A smile can do so much more than people realise. A person once taught me to never ignore a homeless person, they are still human beings. If you are asked for money and don’t have any, to acknowledge their presence, politely say no thanks and smile. In this passage, this guy was treated as invisible constantly.

I think many of us can relate to this beggar more than we think we do. We aren’t homeless or lame but we can feel invisible. Sometimes it can self-inflicted – we try to be invisible to cope with out own thoughts, feelings and emotions. But being invisible can leave us sad and upset. I know too well. I am quite a shy, introverted guy who likes to keep things to myself, avoiding confrontation. So staying invisible sometimes works for me. But being invisible all the time doesn’t. I have hid myself away in the past at the lowest points, thinking that it’s been the best for myself when really I had needed to be visible. A feeling of community when times have been tough.

How can I take off my cloak of invisibility?

What can I do? Why should I live as a visible person? Once we look up like the beggar did in Acts, we’ll be more sensitive to the people with their heads still down. We’ll get the opportunity to be like Peter and John and engage with the downcast. This is a whole life thing, whether you are in school or work, at the supermarket, or even walking down the street…And this is why I would never choose invisibility as my superpower!

Thanks

Don’t Fear, Only Believe

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Love is Patient, Love is Kind

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 neighbour as yourself.’

Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV)

Yesterday I was lying in bed, listening to my Spotify and the song, “Same Love” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis came on. And normally I just let the music play, usually I have a good dance or sing, but in this moment, I felt like I was being called to listen closely to the words. The song is about homosexuality, which I will talk about in a future blog post. But, as the song came to the end, “Love is Patient, Love is Kind” were the words that were sang as the music faded out. These words reminded me of what my God is; patient and kind. But is also reminded me of the thing I struggle to show to those around me. It reminded me of the second most important lesson in the Bible, the underlying theme in a large amount of Jesus’ parables, the thing I wished the world would show – LOVE.

LOVE. Different from the love that you feel in romantic relationships. It’s such a hard word and it’s sometimes really hard to show love to people you don’t think you should show it to. People who have hurt you, made you angry or upset, annoyed and frustrated you. But Jesus’ second most important lesson was to love your neighbour as yourself. I have had to face this dilemma multiple times when something hasn’t gone how I have planned it, or someone has hurt me whether it be through a breakup, an argument between mates or just by someone who has not thought about their words before they say them. And still loving them after this has happened is definitely a challenge, honestly.

When life gets hard, I retreat. I put walls up around my heart and I don’t want to let anyone in, especially if I know they’ll challenge me. Maybe it’s because I’m a tad introverted, or maybe it’s just because I’m afraid of anything unfamiliar or potentially messy, but I’m good at pushing away when I feel vulnerable. It can be easy to classify people (sometimes without even realising it) and therefore not love others truly as our neighbours. At these times, it can be easier to withdraw from community when times challenge us instead of building relationships with people who are different than us. If everyone had the same view as us, there would be no argument against it to challenge us, no open conversations.

“It’s not community until someone you don’t like shows up.”

I read this quote yesterday. This simple and powerful quote made me think hard. A lot of the time, it’s easy to want to extend love and mercy to the ones who seem needy and helpless, but it can be so much harder to extend that same love and mercy to the people you don’t see eye to eye with or don’t get on. You’ve got to think of it like this; if someone speaks up about their beliefs or opinions than look nothing like mine, I’m tempted to shut down or push back… but true community looks like pressing in and engaging them.

Sometimes “loving your neighbour” will mean loving those who have been the first to accuse, humiliate or abandon you. 1 John 4:12 puts it really clear one how to be the bigger person, to forgive and to carry on loving. It says, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” While loving other through heartache or anger, you will bridge a really scary (but conquerable) gap between pain and life.

If there is one thing I have learnt about His love is that it casts out fear. His love draws life. His love is life. God’s love is patient and kind. If He can extend that to me, then I can extend it to everyone else, most importantly those that have hurt me.

Thanks

Don’t Fear, Only Believe

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Teenage Pregnancy

Pregnancy

Well pregnancy is not a sin. Teenage pregnancy is also not a sin. In fact, Mary, the most revered woman in the church, was pregnant as a teen.

The Church cares a lot more about why a teen is pregnant. Regardless of why though, the Church recognizes the life of the child in the womb and advocates against abortion. The life of the infant can also be seen in the case of Mary when she visits her cousin Elizabeth and John leaps in Elizabeth’s womb at the presense of zygote Jesus.

Here are some reasons that the Church finds to be acceptable for being pregnant as a teen:

  1. You didn’t have sex, but instead God told you that you’ll have a child, and that child is the Son of God. Unsurprisingly, this one is a little rare.
  2. You are already married (young marriages can be a thing, they’re just not common in our culture)
  3. You got raped. Rape is one of the most horrifying crimes that a person can commit against another. But if a woman is pregnant because she was raped, then she is not at any fault. Of course, society has the unfortunate masogynistic tendency to disagree, even within the Church.

There is only one unacceptable reason, but this is the most common today:

  1. You had consensual sex outside of marriage. If this is the case the Church strongly desires that both the father and the mother go to Confession and work to amend their lives to be lives of virtue. Two requirements of that new life of virtue include a renewed committment to chastity and a committment to care for the child to the best of their ability.

Regardless of the circumstances of the child’s conception, the Church urges all involved to acknowledge the child that is coming into the world as a gift from God and not as a problem. True, there may be some difficulties associated with his or her entrance into the world, but ultimately it is good. Pregnancy is a beautiful thing, and it’s one thing that is uniquely exclusive to women. Pregnancy doesn’t always happen in the best of circumstances, and can be a product of sin, but is in and of itself a beautiful thing which should be met with joy and not condemnation.

 

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