This past summer I was mulling over the fact that sometimes pregnancy is really hard on a mom. She can start out all sunshine and roses at the joy of growing a new life, and then soon as physical and hormonal changes (or later on, the rigors of labor) kick in, she thinks, "Wait a minute! I didn't sign on for this!"
But then I have realized something else. There is a verse that says: "Greater love has no man [or woman] than this: than to lay down one's life for his [or her] friends" (John 15:13). Laying down one's life can involve suffering discomfort for someone else. It can be "dying" to me-time, emotional stability, body image. But this is true love.
Another verse states: "By this we know love, because He [Jesus] laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for others" (1 John 3:16). Some moms find it totally re-structures the way they view the trials of bearing new life to think of the Savior and how He suffered and died so that we could have eternal life. His example gives us a feel of what true, lasting love is.
Pregnancy and childbirth, with all their discomforts, are a way of showing your baby "I love you more than my own comfort. You are worth it!" That is love.
But then I have realized something else. There is a verse that says: "Greater love has no man [or woman] than this: than to lay down one's life for his [or her] friends" (John 15:13). Laying down one's life can involve suffering discomfort for someone else. It can be "dying" to me-time, emotional stability, body image. But this is true love.
Another verse states: "By this we know love, because He [Jesus] laid down his life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for others" (1 John 3:16). Some moms find it totally re-structures the way they view the trials of bearing new life to think of the Savior and how He suffered and died so that we could have eternal life. His example gives us a feel of what true, lasting love is.
Pregnancy and childbirth, with all their discomforts, are a way of showing your baby "I love you more than my own comfort. You are worth it!" That is love.
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