“So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth…”1 “Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table…”2 “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate…”3 “The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice…”4
“For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.”5“Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”6“And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him… And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.”7
God created the world in a majestic display of His power and purpose. Then He created human beings in His image, with righteousness and true holiness, and gave them absolute authority and control over the earth to care for it responsibly. For Adam and Eve, our first parents, to have enough hands to care for the universe responsibly, God blessed them and commanded them to “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth.” At that time, it was only Adam and his wife—just two people. But the world’s population today is over 8 billion. Real fruitfulness and multiplication!
Before Adam and Eve began to be fruitful and multiply, they fell short of God’s original holiness and righteousness through disobedience, becoming sinful in nature and in action. Therefore, all the children that Adam and Eve brought into the world were born with Adam’s sinful nature. They were born sinners from the moment the mother conceived them.8 The trend continues until today and till the world ends.
However, Abraham, in his day, believed in God, and God declared him righteous and called him His friend.9 God trusted Abraham to train and command his children to “keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment and to walk by faith as he walked: that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.” Jesus Christ was born in accordance with the promise that God made to Abraham that in Abram “all families of the earth be blessed.”10 He was born from Abraham’s lineage to save humanity from sin11 so that each person can have a personal relationship with God and be blessed beyond measure.
Godly children are those who are saved from sin and whose lives are modeled in righteousness and holiness after Jesus Christ. WLT empowers parents in eight dimensions, including spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, social, occupational, environmental, and financial, to raise godly children.
Responsible parenthood refers to the “intentional, wise, and loving stewardship of the gift of children, where parents prayerfully consider the timing, number, and nurturing of their children while seeking the well-being of the family and honoring God.
Birth spacing is also called interpregnancy interval (IPI) or healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. Birth spacing is defined as the “length of time between one birth and the conception of the next pregnancy.” It is the “time between the birth of the older sibling and the conception of the immediately subsequent pregnancy, or the time between the birth of the older sibling and the birth of the immediately subsequent sibling.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) “generally recommend waiting at least 18-24 months after a birth before conceiving again, allowing the mother to recover physically and emotionally.” Short birth spacing, which was measured as 18 months or less, was found to be strongly linked to unintended pregnancies and being between 15 and 19 years old at the time of conception. Studies show that short birth spacing between pregnancies can lead to harmful health outcomes for the mothers, including the increased risk of preeclampsia, maternal anemia, uterine rupture, placental complications, and maternal mortality risks. The harmful health outcomes of short birth spacing for babies include premature birth, low birth weight, nutritional competition between siblings, shortened breastfeeding duration, and increased risk of childhood undernutrition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) supports spacing pregnancies 18-24 months apart to reduce the risks mentioned above.
Healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies is both a public health practice and a Christian stewardship principle that helps families:
Christian couples may practice birth spacing using natural methods, breastfeeding, or medically supported approaches, guided by truths rooted in God’s word and health considerations. WLT uses evidence-based health information to provide interventions for birth spacing.
Follow us on our website, blog, social media, and at conferences, seminars, workshops, and community spiritual well-being events, as we use truths rooted in the Word of God to empower you to raise godly children and practice birth spacing. We also use evidence-based health education and health promotion interventions to provide equitable opportunities to acquire the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and insights needed to adopt and sustain healthy lifestyles and lead purpose-driven, transformative lives.
Dhamrait, G., Fletcher, T., Foo, D., Taylor, C. L., & Pereira, G. (2022). The effects of birth spacing on early childhood development in high-income nations: A systematic review. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 10, 851700. https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.851700