Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Cor 13:4-7)
While driving on the highway, a truck pulled in-front of our car then rapidly stopped. Slamming on the brakes, I instinctively placed my right arm across the chest of my 24-year-old son; I wanted to protect him, the seat-belt didn’t matter. Thankfully there was no accident. He held my arm for a moment, and then thanked me.
Twenty-seven years earlier, before Ben was born, before knowing Jesus, before meeting my future wife Jennifer; my arm didn’t raise to protect my un-born child who was aborted at second trimester.
The truth is, we are made in the image of God, woven together in our Mother’s womb, honored, precious and loved. May we be the recipients of His mercy and grace as we gently, lovingly, and persistently pray and lead the lost from darkness into truth. (Gen 1:27, Psa 139:13, Isa 43:4)
The movie, Unplanned, reveals how strategic communication can hide the truth. For example, the un-born child is a clump of cells or that abortion simply removes a pregnancy. For many, the truth has, or will remain, hidden and cloaked by deception; the truth needs to be persistently shared with love.
The movie opened with Abby assisting an abortion procedure, where she saw the truth that had been hidden until now. She immediately sought comfort from those who had gently and persistently loved her every morning through the facility-protestor fence.
Like Abby, I also saw the truth when our friend pre-maturely delivered a beautiful baby at 22-weeks. For several months our hearts cried out to God and we prayed and prayed. Efforts to preserve his life were heroic and complex. His time on earth was short, and amazing.
Reviews of the movie Unplanned are plentiful and seem to cover all the facts and opinions of pro-life, pro-choice, and everything in-between. But do they reveal the truth? We are least effective when the enemy escalates us to anger and division. Because of love, and not judgment; because of prayer, and not bullying; Abby’s eyes were open to see the truth that day, before she ran to the kindness of other believers.
It’s so tender that in John 8:6-7, […] Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” [Emphasis mine]. I believe Jesus bent down to be close to her, as He did with me, and will with whomever else needs Him.
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