How can we raise godly children in a culture that often opposes biblical family values?

In his devotional titled "Raising Children in Babylon," Dr. Joel Beeke emphasizes the biblical mandate to be fruitful and multiply. He challenges the modern view of family planning that prioritizes personal ambitions over raising a godly seed. Drawing from the practices of the Puritans, Dr. Beeke reminds us that children should be seen as blessings rather than burdens. Each child is a gift from God, deserving of nurturing and love, and raising them requires a willingness to sacrifice personal goals for the higher calling of nurturing a godly legacy.

Dr. Beeke also addresses the practical concerns of raising a large family in today's world. He shares anecdotes of families who, despite financial challenges, find joy and fulfillment in their large households. The biblical principle of having a "quiver full" of children is not just a command but a source of immense joy and community. Through his own experiences and those of others, Dr. Beeke illustrates that large families often cultivate selflessness and a deep sense of community, which are invaluable in a culture of individualism.

Psalm 127:3-5 (NKJV) beautifully encapsulates this idea: "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate."

You know, to build and to dwell and to plant in family life obviously means having a family. And the whole idea of either going through marriage childless or having say one child or stopping with two because I want to do my thing in life and living selfishly Is really foreign to the scriptures Scriptures tell us to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with a godly seed and so that this is this is critical and the way the reformers and Puritans handled this especially the Puritans was to see first of all that every child is a gift of God. That children are not burdens that impede my career or impede my time or impede anything. But children are a blessing. And so it's a blessing to sacrifice some of my life's goals in order to raise up a godly seed.

This is critical. So I want to get this thought across to you because it's so foreign to our culture. But when you read the Puritan book, something very interesting pops up. Here's what the average, if there was such a thing as average, godly Christian man in England would do with regard to children. He'd look at his wife maybe a year or so after they had a baby or maybe two years and say, honey, I notice your body's recuperated, you've gotten strength again, And psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, do you feel ready that we should try to have another child?

And if she said, well, you know, I don't feel quite, in those days it took a long time to recuperate too from a childbirth. I don't feel quite ready yet. Could you give me a few more months? He'd say, that's fine. Or she'd more likely say, yes, thank you for observing.

Thank you for bringing up this conversation, my dear husband, and I think I would be ready. And then they would have another child by the grace of God but they believe that every time the woman was expecting this was a gift of God this was God opening the womb as Psalm 113 says And so every child is looked upon as a great blessing. A child is someone to nurture in the fear of the Lord. What a responsibility. So that's first of all contrary to our culture's mindset.

So we published a book called, Sweeter by the Dozen, of a judge in Grand Rapids, Judge Heckman, who ended up with 13 children. And it's a powerful book because he shows how he gave up some of his dreams in life in order to dedicate himself to his family. Once the fifth child came along, he was going to be a pilot. And the dreams of being a pilot just kind of came crashing to the ground because he realized he couldn't do all these things on his free time and still be a faithful father. But then in the book, he actually goes on to show how he loves every one of his, he talks about every one of his 13 children, how he loves them, how valuable each one is, far more than being able to fly an airplane.

So it's a powerful book. And then he gives like 10 principles of scripture, why it's a blessing to have a good size family, and to have your quiver full of children. So that's number one here. And the divinely designed model for family life, therefore, is to be fruitful and to multiply in fulfillment of the dominion mandate. Now, the natural response to our secular culture is gonna be, but I can't afford that.

You know, there's too many kids and it's so expensive. This is interesting. Have you ever met a single family? Large Christian family that was starving? I've never met one.

Now when we grew up we just had five of us. My dad was not, well he was a carpenter, but I mean he gave most of his life to the church, so he wasn't keen on making a lot of money, so we didn't have much money. We couldn't have a whole hot dog in a bun, for example. We had to cut it in half the long ways. And then one hot dog served two buns, and that was our meal.

We just didn't think anything of that. Actually, when I was young, I thought everybody cut their hot dogs in two. I mean, you know, kids aren't going to die because they don't have whole hot dogs. So this kind of sacrificial life, when you have a lot of children, just comes naturally. But the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, even if you are relatively poor.

Because the joy of family life, the joy of the relationship of brothers and sisters, and learning as children how to be self-sacrificial. Have you ever noticed in large families kids don't tend to be as selfish as the small families because they have to learn how to share. So this type of thing. We see big families as a huge blessing. First, because the Bible says they are, and second, because we see it in practice.

Actually, just last week, I was in the home of my brother who has 13 children. All 13 children are now married. They all serve and love the Lord. Imagine having 26 children that love the Lord. You understand how happy, how joyous my brother and sister are.

And right now as I speak, they have 99 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And eight more are on the way. So if the Lord spares them, that'd be 107. And they love, they just love all those kids and grandkids and great-grandkids. And I mean, when you see them together, like in fact last Saturday night, we were sitting around in a circle with 13 of them we had the most spiritual godly wonderful happy conversation interestingly in none of their houses is there any focus on entertainment.

They're entertainment to each other. They go visit each other's houses and they fellowship about the Lord and the good things of life and laugh and cry together and speak about real things together. Blessed is the man that has his quiver full of them. They shall serve the Lord in the gates of the city.