For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
Linda Russell
I agree with Mrs. Mitchell response LOVE THEM THROUGH IT and let GOD LEAD and definitely have the Baby!
Shamarion Dow
To keep it simple....with WISDOM, LOVE, PATIENCE & UNDERSTANDING.The Word says... LOVE covers & it also says that we all have been given the ministry of reconciliation. She'll need to know unconditional love from her parents. Everyone will need to exercise wisdom & patience in the journey to reconciliation & to rebuilding trust.
Lisa Ramos
I agree that grace and truth is called for here, shown in love. All support should be given the girl and her baby and the evil of abortion should be avoided at all costs.
However, often the need for fruit in keeping with repentance is ignored, and a current practice that I struggle with is honoring these girls with baby showers. Yes, give financial support where needed and even private gifts that are needed to care for the baby. But honor and a party? That just seems out of place. As Proverbs 26:8 says, like one who binds a stone in a sling, so is he who gives honor to a fool. Our modern Christianity often seems to confuse godly love with carnal, permissive love. We must pursue love AND righteousness.
Brian Ansell
With Love of course.
Lynda Hickman
A baby shower is not to honor the mother, it is to honor the expected birth of one of GOD's greatest blessings.
To refer to Prov 26 is to imply the young lady in question is a "fool." Since the circumstances of her pregnancy are not known, that is wrong. In fact, to presume anything about this young lady is very wrong & equally wrong to assume that the pregnancy of every married woman is right. For we all know there are many unwanted babies born to married women.
Remember, Joseph faced the same dilemma. His options were limited. He could have Mary stoned to death, his legal right OR because in the eyes of Jewish law, an engagement was as binding as a wedding, he could "quietly" divorce her & send her away, OR he could obey the LORD & take her as his wife. Joseph, an honorable man, honored the LORD by his obedience.
When the wise men came to see Jesus, the gifts they brought were to honor Him, not His earthly parents.
A baby shower for the young lady in question should be a joyous occasion to celebrate & honor the expected birth of one of GOD's most beautiful gifts. What greater way could the love, grace & mercy of Christ be demonstrated.
Anyone who presumes that the young lady has done wrong, who speaks ill of her, should consider the words of Solomon in Prov 26:2, that the words spoken are flitting like a sparrow, like a swallow in flight that they "do not alight." Matthew Henry suggests that those hurtful words can return onto the head of the one who spoke them!
Danny Hickman
Thank you, Lynda Hickman for your words. I had the same thoughts. One broken person should never routinely refer to another broken person as a fool. The Author of the scriptures isn't a broken person, and is free to refer to us any way that might help us to acknowledge our brokenness. That answers the question of why Jesus says calling a person a fool puts a person in risk of hell, and the scriptures referring to persons as fools. Besides that, getting pregnant out of wedlock doesn't make a man or a woman a fool. It reveals their humanity, which is as normal as birds and bees.