Selfish dreams about children soon disintegrate under the pressure of reality. We are seeing this everywhere in our culture today. On the other hand, the Bible does not hesitate at the same time to say that children are not a blessing no matter what . Wicked children, children who throw off the yoke of Christ when they are older, are not a blessing but a curse. Cain, Esau, Hophni and Phinehas, Absolom are just some examples of the children of believing parents who brought grief and harm to their families and to the world.
Nothing can so surely break a Christian man or woman's heart than a rebellious child.
It is not reproduction, in general, that the Lord seeks, but a holy seed, born, raised in covenant faithfulness, and finally mature and bearing fruit for the kingdom of God. Populating hell is no blessing for anyone and no pleasure to God, who does not desire the death of the wicked. What is more, the Bible recognizes that at certain times, and in certain circumstances, bearing children and having babies is, or can be, a bane not a boon. At the same time the Bible clearly recognizes the calling of some Christians to remain unmarried, or, if married, to remain childless. There is no indignity in this and the proof of that, of course, is that our Savior himself lived such a life.