Throughout 2024, the feature articles are devoted to hearing stories of God’s redemption within our Rosedale Network churches. We pray these stories fuel your love for the Lord and lead you to greater service in His Church.
~Kelsey Jurkovich, Publication & Literature Committee
Saved Through Childbearing
“But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty” (1 Tim. 2:15 NLT).
My redemption story is the story of motherhood.
For the last nineteen years, motherhood and redemption have been so interwoven in my life, that it’s hard to think of one without the other. Really, it’s ironic that something so many think of as restrictive and burdensome—childbearing—is really what has set me free. But isn’t that how God works in His upside-down kingdom, just the opposite of how we expect?
While the world thinks of motherhood as a prison, for me it has meant life.
Bible scholars have been a bit stumped about what 1 Timothy 2:15 means when it talks about being “saved through childbearing,” but any way you slice it, it describes my story of redemption perfectly.
There’s the Jesus interpretation: the faithful childbearing of women of the past—Eve, Sarah, Leah, Ruth, and ultimately Mary, the mother of Christ—have brought about the redemption of all mankind through their role in the family tree of Jesus. His blood spilled means salvation for me and you. Freedom from sin and death and hell. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
The crucible of motherhood has refining power.
But there are other ways this verse rings true for me.
I am “saved through childbearing” daily. The crucible of motherhood has refining power. As I follow God’s lead, He makes me holy. Weak and sinful as I am, motherhood forces me to draw strength from God. I need Him desperately to help me work out my salvation with fear and trembling.
In this way, I am saved from selfishness, greed, laziness, and wasting my time on less important endeavors. After all, children have a way of urgently demanding our time and attention, whether we feel like offering them or not.
But I haven’t just been saved from some of my own mistakes and selfish inclinations. My redemption story of motherhood has saved me from the negative consequences that a life lived for myself would have brought about.
I would have missed the blessings.
I have been saved from loneliness, from purposelessness; saved from missing out on the joy and richness of living my days on earth God’s way. I have been saved from seeking something less worthy: earthly accolades, climbing the career ladder, a growing bank account, a squeaky-clean home, a body that’s perfectly toned. I can think of a thousand things I could strive for that would be a distraction from God’s plan for me. But motherhood has crowded those things out.
Childbearing is my redemption.
Some scholars interpret the “saved through childbearing” as meaning that God sustains women through the challenges of motherhood. While Eve’s sin brought the curse of pain in mothering, the Lord brings strength to endure. God’s strength redeems.
I have been able to experience the incredible opportunity of offering my body as a living sacrifice nine times, partnering with God to bring eternal souls into the world, echoing Eve’s words from Genesis 4:1, “…With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man” (NIV). This was not by my own logical choice but by a call from God.
Sitting under (and being married to) a pastor who, week in and week out, teaches faithfully from scripture is a huge part of my motherhood redemption story. My resolve to pursue radical motherhood is reinforced by hearing regularly from the pulpit that the life of a believer means being sold out for Jesus. It is clear that God’s call on my life was to throw out my own plans and open myself up to what God had for me. And sure enough, my plans went out the window!
Praise the Lord, I’ve been set free.
I am redeemed.
3 Responses
Thank you, Rachel, for expressing what “mothers of many” have experienced.
All grace and glory from our loving Savior Jesus!
My apologies in being late to read and comment, but I really appreciate the spirit of your article, which brings a word desperately needed in our day. Often what we think will enslave us, God uses to help set us free in Christ.
I LOVE this! While I have never been a mother, your positive way of interpreting this verse, and your placing a high view of motherhood is refreshing in a world where being a stay at home Mom is looked on with condescension.
A young woman at my place of work, in a discussion among her peers, said her dream job is being a stay at home Mom. The others looked at her like she was nuts. I applauded her on her dream, and I think I got the same look. And silence.
So thanks for sharing so beautifully about the sacred high calling of motherhood!