Without Excuse: Grace is Born (Well, for the first time at least!)

My blog has been a bit quiet lately, as my little one arrived! Just 5 hours short of her due date, Grace Jean Cortright made a prompt appearance into the world. Luke and I couldn’t be more overjoyed.

I have to spend at least one blog post talking about Grace, since becoming a mom is one of the biggest events in my life. Grace’s birth is also the perfect timing to talk about a subject more personal and meaningful to me than anything else- the biblical idea of being “born” and being “born again.” I know that this is a somewhat taboo topic, but with Grace having just gone through her first birth, it’s been on my mind a lot.

The idea of these two births comes from John 3. A man (Nicodemus) comes to Jesus and tells him that he knows that God is with Him. Jesus then answers by saying, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

This stumps Nicodemus. He knows that he’s been born once, but the idea of a second birth makes no sense to him. He asks, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter into his mother’s womb, and be born again?”

John 3:5-6

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Now, flashback to Grace’s birth. I went into labor late Sunday evening into Monday morning. I had been going through mild contractions for many hours when my doctor decided to break my waters. That was the most unique experience of my life. I won’t go into the gory details of water breaking, but let me assure you- when Grace was born, she was born “of water.” Lots of it. All over the place. The first birth that Jesus talks about here is being born “of water.” Nicodemus must also have understood that the first birth was referring to a physical first birth, since he doesn’t question that aspect of what Jesus says.

Someday, though, I hope that Grace will be born again. No, I’m not hoping for her to crawl back into my womb (like Nicodemus proposed). Once was enough for that. She’s already been born of the flesh; eventually, she’ll need to be born of the spirit.

Right now, Grace has a dead spirit. That sounds incredibly strange, given the amount of time she spends wiggling and crying, but it’s true! She has a soul and a body, but she has a God-shaped hole in her heart. Someday, when she’s old enough to understand spiritual ideas, I hope that she will recognize that she has sinned (hey, we all have, after all!), that there is such a place as hell, and that she doesn’t have to go there if she accepts Christ as her savior. When she does this, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of her. She has a spiritual birth!

I know this is a tricky and complicated subject. Feel free to email me, comment on this blog, or contact me whichever way works best for you if you have any questions.