What is the true purpose of having children according to God's design?

Mala Chindongo explores the common temporal reasons parents consider when having children, such as legacy and support in old age. In many cultures, including in Africa, children are seen as a type of retirement plan, where parents invest in their upbringing and education to ensure they will be cared for later in life. While these are important considerations, they fall short of capturing the full purpose of having children.

God's purpose for children extends beyond the temporal and touches on the eternal. He desires us to have children so that we might raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord, contributing to the creation of a people set apart for Him. Through the Christian family, God is building His kingdom and the Church for His Son, Jesus Christ. This divine purpose is about aligning our family lives with God's greater plan, enabling children to grow up knowing God and participating in His work in the world.

Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV): "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

What are the things parents think about in terms of having children? Well, they're temporal things that parents think about in terms of having children, things like legacy. You want the name of your family to continue. Where we are in Africa, children are like your retirement package. So you raise your children, you raise them, you educate them so that when they are older and working, they can support you in your old age.

So it's sort of like your retirement plan. But God has a better purpose, why he wants us to have children and Why he wants us to have children and why he wants us to have more children is because God is creating a people for himself and part of that happens in the home where children, Christian parents have children and they raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord so that they may grow up to know who God is and be a part of all that God is doing in the world today, creating and making a kingdom, the Church, for His Son Jesus Christ. It's a greater eternal purpose.