Long ago the psalmist wrote of the pain of rejecting God's standard, saying, "Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law" (Psa. 119:136). A recent news article published in the New York Times, entitled, "For Women Under 30, Most Births Occur Outside Marriage," reports the following:
It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal. After steadily rising for five decades, the share of children born to unmarried women has crossed a threshold: more than half of births to American women under 30 occur outside marriage (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/us/for-women-under-30-most-births-occur-outside-marriage.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&hp).
What are we to think of these trends? Consider a biblical response to the rise in out-of-wedlock births and the perception that such a condition is the "new normal." According to God's plan for the family, out-of-wedlock births:
1. Should never be viewed as "normal." The word "normal," when used as a noun, is defined as having reference to that which is considered "the standard" (http://dictionary.reference.com/). However, God's standard is very different from that which has come to be the accepted standard of society. According to the word of God, the family environment as God would have it involves "wives" and "husbands" who are joined to one another in marriage and who have "children" for whose training they are responsible (Col. 3:18-21). The fact that more than half of the children born to women under thirty in this country are born outside marriage in no way changes the standard concerning marriage and the bearing of children that God has established. This recent trend is simply another of many examples demonstrating man's rejection of God's standard.
2. Are the result of immoral behavior. According to the Lord's design, "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Heb. 13:4). Sexual immorality is the sin of sexual activity between individuals who are not lawfully married to one another. When children are born to unmarried women it is most often the case that the pregnancy resulted from an immoral encounter. In other words, the steady rise in out-of-wedlock births is a direct indication of the steady rise in the rampant sexual immorality that has engulfed our modern society. The Lord's solution to the problem of sexually immoral behavior is as follows: "Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband" (1 Cor. 7:2). If followed, the Lord's plan would eliminate nearly all out-of-wedlock births.
3. Penalize the innocent. The true victim in the out-of-wedlock birth is the one who has been born into such a circumstance. These children did not ask to be brought into the world under such conditions and are not responsible for the arrangement in which they are raised. However, without the benefit of a family as God would have it, they will suffer the negative consequences of not having a father who is married to their mother to "bring them up" as God's plan demands (Eph. 6:4). The news article notes that, "The shift is affecting children's lives. Researchers have consistently found that children born outside marriage face elevated risks of falling into poverty, failing in school or suffering emotional and behavioral problems." What is happening is that innocent children are being placed on the receiving end of the consequences of selfish choices made by men and women. Jesus warned, "Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 18:10).
Conclusion. It is neither "normal," nor is it good news that out-of-wedlock births are on the rise. While God's plan works, man's rejection of God's plan leads only to failure and misery for those involved. When it comes to the Lord's arrangement concerning marriage and the family, we would do well to remember that, "Good understanding gains favor, but the way of the unfaithful is hard" (Prov. 13:15).
- Truth Magazine, September 2012