Right after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God said to Eve, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children . . . .”At first glance, this looks like a punishment. It looks like God making Eve (and all women) suffer for what she did.But some personal spiritual experiences I’ve had recently make me wonder whether childbirth has to be framed as a punishment.Instead, I’m starting to see it as a gift given to Eve to help her understand Christ’s redeeming love.I know that childbirth, more than anything else, has helped me come to understand Jesus’s sacrifice and how He feels about us.Eve needed this understanding of Christ’s love more than anyone else, because more than anyone else she was set up to feel immense shame for her decisions.And to this day, women tend to be the most hard on themselves, the most perfectionistic, the most prone to shame.What if childbirth is not the punishment to further condemn us, but rather a gift to help us taste redeeming love?Scripture References:Genesis 3:16Moses 5:11Hebrews 12:2Genesis 7:12 (40 days and nights of rain during the flood)Exodus 24:18 (Moses on Mount Sinai for 40 days)Numbers 14:33–34 (Israel wandering for 40 years)Matthew 4:2 (Jesus fasting 40 days)Acts 1:3 (40 days between Jesus’s resurrection and ascension)Moses 1:39Resources Mentioned:Walk Beside Me episodes on Punishment: Episode 15 and Episode 16

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