We Were Adopted

 

It's National Adoption Month. Here at Family Policy Alliance,
adoption means a lot to us: it's a critical part of who we are
both as individuals and as an organization. Here are 3 reasons why.

1. Adoption is an important part of our pro-life, pro-family
vision.
At Family Policy Alliance, we believe that every person has
inherent value that is worth honoring from the moment of their
conception till the moment of their natural death. That's
why we take a strong stand on both abortion and end-of-life
issues: No person should be denied a fair chance at life,
regardless of the circumstances of their conception, their
physical ability, their sex, or any other characteristic. Every
life matters. Period.

But while many legislative battles happen surrounding the first
and last years of life, we don't only care about those
two points in a person's life. We sincerely believe that
every person's life matters - and that they should
not only have a chance at life, but that they should have the
chance to be loved by a family as God envisioned it.
That's what adoption is-giving a child the
chance to be part of a loving family, regardless of the
circumstances of the family they were born into. It's an
opportunity for love to transform both child and parent. And
supporting it is one way we can tangibly be pro-life from
conception through life to natural death.

2. Faith-based adoption is at risk.
Historically, Christians have led the way in adoption, seeing
it as a privilege and as a Biblical command (James 1:27). In
ancient culture, it was not uncommon for parents to abandon
baby girls simply because they were girls. Often it was the
church that rescued those precious infants. Over the centuries,
Christians have continued to care for orphans in numerous ways,
and that holds true today. One 2013 study revealed that
practicing Christians were more than twice as likely to adopt
than the general adult population.

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And there's great need for adoption (and foster care)
right here in America. As of April 2019, an estimated 443,000
children were in the U.S. foster care system. That's
significant. Those children could replace the population of
Minneapolis. Of those, over 123,000 are considered to be
available for or awaiting adoption. Each of those children is
precious. And many Christians are eager to adopt or care for
them!

Sadly, though, faith-based adoption and foster care agencies
are under attack. As some localities begin to include sexual
orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination
laws, those laws can be used as a weapon against faith-based
agencies and families, the very people who are statistically
more likely to adopt than the general population. Why? Because
as matters of faith and conscience, they may decline to tell a
girl that she is a boy or they may try to place children in
homes with one mother and one father. These simple principles
- driven by faith and the best intentions for children
- do not align with radical LGBT ideology, and local
governments may ask agencies to either violate their
consciences or stop serving children in their communities.

That's not right, and the issue is so important it went
before the Supreme Court earlier this month. You can read a
little about that case here. We pray for an outcome that
affirms the right of these foster agencies and families to live
according to their consciences while serving children in need.

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3. Adoption is critical to who we are as Christians.
Most importantly, adoption is critical to our identity as
followers of Christ. We believe that without the hope of the
Gospel, we are spiritual orphans, eternally separated from God,
and unable to get to him on our own, much less to participate
in his kingdom or inheritance.

Yet we rejoice that God, in his love and mercy, sent his Son to
live and die on our behalf and to raise him from the dead so
that we could be called children of God. As Paul says in
Galatians 4:4-6, "...God sent forth his Son ...
so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are
sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
crying 'Abba! Father!'"

By his grace alone, we can call God our father. We can share in
the eternal inheritance and glorious kingdom he has for his
children. We can live not as orphans, but as the fully loved
children of God through his gift of adoption.

That's why adoption means so much to us. Some of us have
taken part in an earthly adoption process. All of us rejoice in
our spiritual adoption as children of God.

As you may know, we often like to conclude our emails with some call
to action, often of a political nature. But this time, our call is a
more contemplative one. In this National Adoption Month, would you
prayerfully consider how the Lord would have you involved in adoption,
whether spiritual or physical? Perhaps he's called you to adopt
a child or support a family or agency involved in that process.
Perhaps he wants you to embrace the spirit of adoption that you have
as a follower of Christ-to  know that you are fully loved
and can live with the freeing knowledge that you will inherit a
heavenly kingdom. Or perhaps, you realize that you can't call
yourself a child of God - and God is just waiting for you to ask
him.

We praise God that he adopts us, and that we at Family Policy Alliance
can share in that vision of adoption - both spiritual and on
earth as it is heaven.

In Him,


Meridian Baldacci
Policy and Communications Strategist

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Mailing Address:
8675 Explorer Drive, Suite 112
Colorado Springs, CO 80920
(866) 655-4545
FamilyPolicyAlliance.com


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