Today, the church is making much of adoption! I praise the Lord for this trend! Nothing is more exciting than seeing God’s people driven by a love for God.  True religion is not eating potluck dinners; it “is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). The church should seek out orphans, “with a deep concern for their well-being and a clear commitment to care for their needs” (Platt 2015, 82). One of the most beautiful demonstrations of the gospel is a parent lovingly adopting a child.

Are Adopted Kids Better?

But as we talk about adoption, our message can get muddle. At FBCE all the talk about adoption has caused some kids with biological parents to questions their parents’ love for them.  These kids with biological parents know they were never chosen. And now, they can’t help but wonder if they are a little less loved and a little less wanted than their adopted brothers and sisters.

Understanding Love

To help our kids combat their doubts, we must keep adoption closely tied to love of God. In other words, we need to tell our kids that we are adopted into the family of God because God loved us. He demonstrated his love by selflessly dying on the cross for our sins. On the basis of his finished work, we are called his sons and daughters (I John 3:1). While adoption is a product of love, the cross is the greatest actualization of love. As defined by Christ, love is selflessness.

So are adopted kids loved more? No. True love is not tied exclusively to an adoption date or to a birthday date. It is tied to Christ.  It is freely given by a parent to a kid and continues throughout their lives. As parents we love our biological kids who wake us up at three in the morning because we have been loved when we were trouble. As parents, we also love our adopted kids who were once helpless orphans because God loved us when we were helpless.

We love because he first loved us. – I John 4:19

What makes our kids distinctly our kids is our commitment to love them. Any child who has parents that lovingly sacrifices time, income, emotions, and health for them is loved and wanted. Love (and not legal or medical paperwork) is the bond that unites all mothers and fathers to their children.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. – 1 John 4:7

Works Cited

Platt, David. Counter Culture: a compassionate call to counter culture in a world of poverty, same-sex marriage, racism, sex slavery, immigration, persecution, abortion, orphans, and pornography. Carol Streem: Tyndale House, 2015.