Saved Through Childbearing

1 Timothy 2:15, "But women will be saved through childbearing and by continuing to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty." The term "saved through childbearing" used to confuse me. I did not understand how having children could save me. Now I have a glimpse of this. My children are still very young and I know that I have a long way to go, but I have already learned so much about myself, since I have had children. I have discovered just how far I still need to go in becoming more like Christ. I have learned about my patience and how little I really have. I have discovered how much I think about me and what I want. I have learned about love and how to trust. I can see how important it is to serve and have a servant like attitude. I have also learned about submission and what it brings to my life.

When my first son was about 6 months old, I still had a very hateful attitude towards men. One day my husband and I were talking in the front seat and our son was in the back; I was going off on how "pathetic" men were and my husband said, "What you say about men, pointing to the back seat, he is going to turn out to be." My worst fear was staring right into my heart, and right there, my heart broke. I had so much animosity and disgust towards men that every word I said, was awful about them. My wise and gentile husband opened my eyes, through my son. Through "childbearing you will be saved." I had to change. I had to see the hate in my heart, before I destroyed my own young man. He was not just my baby, my little boy; he was a man and what kind of man was I going to turn him into? My first step was to change what was coming out of my mouth, then my heart followed. My attitude was checked and my heart was revealed.

Patience is a virtue that I cannot boast about. I fail in this every day. My children take the brunt of my inadequacy. How quickly I can snap at them. How I have learned the failure of my part in this. God has shown me more patience than I could ever deserve, and yet I can have so little when dealing with my children. I am the first impression that they will have of Christ. I know this because when you talk to grown people you can understand how their parents raised them by talking to them about God. If they see God as a strict disciplinarian, then you can assume that their parents were strict. If they see God as loving and kind then you can assume that their parents were loving and kind. I have to constantly ask myself how my children saw me that day. Was I loving in disciplining them, or was I harsh and strict? Did I lose my cool and threaten them, or was I calm and controlled? I am constantly checking myself. How are my children seeing me? How are they going to see God?

"You will be saved through childbearing." I have found out so much about myself through how I treat my children and what I say around them. Do I dress modestly around them. They will be attracted to the same kind of woman that I display. Do I want them to be attracted to women who flaunt their figure and dress inappropriately, or do I want them to see the woman's heart. If I had little girls, would I want them to act and dress as I do? Your children will grow up by watching you, it does not matter what you say. What matters is how you act! What are my boys seeing in me? I want them to be mighty warriors, men of integrity, gentile and strong. What am I teaching them? What does this say about me and where my love for my God really is? If you will open your eyes and watch what your children are seeing in you, "you will be saved through childbearing." Your eyes will be opened to what your heart is really saying. As a mother my heart has had to change. Everything about me is selfish, but having children has made me have to think of others first. I cannot go about my day with, just me on my mind. I have had to watch how I conduct myself not only in public, but in private, because with children you are really never alone. I have had to develop a relationship with Christ, not only to help me get through the day myself, but to teach my children to love Him as well. God gave me my boys at just the right time, so that I could be saved!