Autism Is Not a Good Gift From God: Part 5 | Your Child Is the Gift, Not the Diagnosis

Your Child Is the Gift, Not the Diagnosis

Distinguishing the Child From the Condition

When many parents receive an autism diagnosis for their child, instead of recognizing that the diagnosis is one thing and their child is another, they begin to combine the diagnosis with the identity of their child.

And before long, we begin hearing terms such as autism son, autism daughter, autism mom, autism dad, and autism family.

But there is something extremely important that we must understand.

Your child is a gift from God. Autism is not.

We must be careful not to allow a diagnosis to become the identity of the person who received it.

Scripture tells us:

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.”

Psalm 127:3 NKJV

Pay close attention to what scripture identified as a heritage from the Lord.

Children. The fruit of the womb. The reproduction of seed that He instructed Adam to reproduce in the earth through multiplication.

And when He said this, He did not put stipulations on what those children had to look like by the developmental milestones they haven’t reached, the ability to not be able to communicate, or any medical diagnosis.

Therefore, when we examine what Scripture says concerning children, we must begin with what God has already established.

Our children are the gift.

And an autism diagnosis does not have the authority to redefine what God has spoken concerning who they are.

Jesus Distinguished the Person From the Condition

When we examine the ministry of Jesus Christ throughout Scripture, we repeatedly see Him encounter individuals who were dealing with sickness (which includes disorders), disease, infirmities, and various conditions.

When Jesus encountered these people, He never reduced who they were to the thing that they were dealing with in their body. He never gave the thing the right to replace their value as children of the Most High God.

One of the most powerful examples of this is the woman with the issue of blood.

In Mark 5:25–34, Scripture introduces us to a woman who had suffered from a flow of blood for twelve years.

Did you catch that time frame? Twelve years.

The Word tells us that she had suffered many things from many physicians, spent all that she had, and instead of getting better, she grew worse.

But when she heard about Jesus, she pressed her way through the crowd, believing that if she could just touch His clothes, she would be made well.

And her faith proved that her press was necessary.

After she pressed her way through the crowd, the Word says, “immediately, the flow of blood stopped, and she knew in her body that she had been healed.”

While we will not diminish what happened, here’s what we want to hone in on.

Mark Described Her Condition. Jesus Called Her Daughter.

Mark, the writer recording this book in Scripture, introduced her according to the condition: The Woman With An Issue of Blood Twelve Years

That description tells us what she was dealing with.

But notice the distinction between how the writer described her circumstances and how Jesus Christ personally addressed her.

Mark described her based on her condition. Jesus called her daughter.

Now, why is that important? As always, I am so glad you asked.

Because Jesus Himself tells us why this moment is so important:

“Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.’”

John 5:19 NKJV

Jesus was not operating independently of the Father. Everything He did was in perfect agreement with the Father.

So, when we examine how Jesus interacted with people, we are also learning about the heart and character of our Heavenly Father.

And when this woman encountered Jesus Christ, He did not address her according to the condition she had been experiencing for twelve years.

He addressed her as daughter.

“And He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction.’”

Mark 5:34 NKJV

Now, you may be saying, well she did have a condition. Which we acknowledge that she did and Jesus did too. But how He acknowledged it is also important.

He acknowledged it when He declared that she was healed.

But He never made that affliction her identity.

And this where we draw the line in the sand concerning our own children.

Man may describe someone according to the condition they are experiencing; however, that condition does not get to decide who they are before God.

Lack of understanding has caused many parents to unknowingly allow a diagnosis to become intertwined with their children’s identities.

Instead of separating the child from the diagnosis, we begin combining the two.

Then we begin identifying our child and family based on a diagnosis.

But if you have ever noticed, people do this with Autism, but not cancer, diabetes, epilepsy or anything else.

And it is up to us to get back into alignment with the Word.

Jesus Christ is the example of how we should identify people.

By their identity in Christ or not. Because Scripture is also clear that Jesus referred to those who chose to walk in disobedience to the Father as children of the devil (John 8:44).

Why would we choose to identify our children according to a condition when Scripture has already established their value as people created in the image of God?

We should never allow a condition to become our identity when God has already established who we are.

We Are Sons and Daughters, Not Our Conditions

Now, there is something else that I want us to understand.

When we become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, we are not simply given a title.

We are brought into a covenant relationship with the Father, and with that relationship comes an inheritance.

Scripture tells us:

“And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

Romans 8:17 NKJV

Pay close attention here:

If we are children of God through faith in Jesus Christ, then we are heirs. This is why understanding our identity in Christ is so important.

We are not some lost strangers who have no relationship with Him, beggars asking God to acknowledge us as His step children. No.

Through Jesus Christ, we have been brought into the family of God.

And as sons and daughters, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.

We have unlimited access to the Father through Jesus Christ.

We have received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

And we can approach His throne boldly because of what Jesus Christ has accomplished.

Now, bring this understanding back to the woman with the issue of blood.

The writer described what she had been suffering from.

But Jesus called her daughter.

Her condition was something she had experienced for twelve years, but it was not who she was.

And the same is true for your child. They are not a diagnosis, medical report, developmental evaluation, or anything else.

Your child is a child of the Most High King. The greatest honor one could ever carry.

And as we follow the example of Jesus Christ, we must learn to distinguish the person from the condition.

What Are We Choosing to Identify With?

One of the things we must examine as believers is whether we have allowed temporary circumstances to become permanent identities in our thinking.

Yes, the woman had been suffering for twelve years and that is no small amount of time; however, those twelve years still did not change Jesus’ view of her as a daughter.

And that brings us to an important question.

Are we identifying ourselves and our children according to what we are experiencing, or according to what God has spoken?

As believers, we must allow the Word of God to shape our understanding of who we are.

We cannot allow the terminology of a diagnosis to become greater in our thinking than the identity and value God has established, no matter what our situation looks like.

Our identity as sons and daughters is not established by our circumstances. It is established through our relationship of sonship with Him.

Your Child Is the Gift

As we bring this teaching to a close, I want you to remember something.

Your child’s value was always there before receiving a diagnosis, reaching developmental milestones, or navigating through what they may be temporarily experiencing.

When Jesus encountered the woman with the issue of blood, He did not address her as though her condition was the sum of her identity.

He called her daughter.

When He spoke concerning her healing, He told her that her faith had made her well.

The affliction was addressed, but the woman was still there.

And that is something we are going to examine more deeply in our next teaching.

Because there is another important truth that we must understand concerning the healing ministry of Jesus Christ.

When Jesus removed the condition, the person remained.

I am going to say that again… When Jesus removed the condition, the person remained. Meaning, they did not die with the thing that Jesus’ took away.

We will examine what that reveals about the difference between the person God created and the condition they were experiencing.

But for now, I want you to remember this:

Your child is the gift. Autism is not.

And no diagnosis has the authority to take away the great value of what God gave to us. The right to be called children of God.