“Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.” 1 Timothy 2:15
I believe 1 Timothy 2:15 applies to more than childbirth. Raising my children for the Lord is a continuation of childbearing. I want to be saved in childbearing and see my children go on for the Lord. Although I need and count on God’s grace, God has laid out my responsibility, which is to continue as one with my husband (notice it says “if they continue”).
Let’s also understand, with some help from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, the four virtues in which we should continue:
Faith: Being persuaded and having moral conviction.
If we aren’t fully persuaded in our own minds (Rom. 14:5), then how can we expect our children to go on in the things we are teaching them? They will only learn what we live out each moment.
Charity: Love, affection or benevolence.
Am I being affectionate toward each of my children and showing kindness both to them and also to others around me?
Holiness: To be characterized by purity.
Am I being careful that the things coming into our home are pure?
Sobriety: To have soundness of mind and show self-control.
Is my schedule so crowded that my busy life distorts my thinking and above all my communion with the Lord Jesus, and thus I really have little or no moral power with my children?
Let us ask the Lord’s help today to be one with our husband and to show these four things in our life and in our homes.