From the very beginning, God gave man the mandate to be fruitful and multiply – to fill the earth and subdue it. And this desire to generate new life through our very bodies runs deep. All the same, we should not shortchange our fertility to just baby making in the physical sense.
Of course, our bodies are amazing – producing around 1,500 sperm per second. And it’s nothing short of a miracle that we get to participate in the wonder of bringing new life into the world. This sacred duty of fatherhood is a journey to be honored in its own right.
At the same time, we embody the essence of fatherhood anywhere and everywhere we generate new life – at work, in our relationships, throughout our communities, and certainly in advancing God’s kingdom, for instance. As such, it’s proper to think about our fertility at these higher levels of reality as well.
Are we planting seeds of life and goodness through the work of our hand, cultivating passionate love in our relationships, and making our communities more beautiful, humane, and just? Likewise, are we generating God’s light throughout the dark corners of our world?
Certainly, it’s heartbreaking when we experience infertility physically, as this might not be a reality we can change. But we don’t have to settle for being infertile in these other areas. In fact, a life of faith and obedience requires us to fully exercise the generative powers God has given us. And we allow the world to remain a bit darker and barren when we don’t.
In the end, fulfill the mandate to be fruitful and multiply. But don’t limit your fertility to just the physical realm. Learn to view your fertility from the perspective of God’s kingdom, and generously generate new life throughout the realm of your influence.
