The Bible doesn’t say anything about population control. Instead, humans are told to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:22,28). Psalm 127:3-5 tells us that children are a heritage from the Lord and that the fruit of the womb is a reward from Him.

At the time of this writing, there are approximately 7.1 billion people in the world. There are about 7.5 trillion square feet of land in the state of Texas alone. This means that, theoretically, every person in the world could fit in the state of Texas, and each person would have 1,056 square feet of living space—4,224 square feet for a family of four! One might say that the problem is not the number of people but rather the lack of resources (food, water, etc.) and the ability to distribute them.

If all the people on Earth could fit in Texas, imagine all the room people would have if they spread out over the entire United States. This would allow plenty of living space plus access to water, arable land, and roads and other infrastructure.

Of course, there are locations in the United States that are not habitable. However, there are many places around the world with plenty of arable land and fresh drinking water. In reality, the population should not need to be “controlled.”

Those who advocate population control usually support ungodly methods of control, such as abortion, euthanaisa, and forced sterilization. Schemes such as forced abortion directly conflict with the Bible’s teaching that human life is sacred. Promoters of population control advance policies that presuppose the problem is too many humans, while the real problem is ignored.

The problem is neither population size nor resource availability. The problem is sin. Selfish, sinful, and power-hungry people have misused God’s creation. God intended that man have dominion over the rest of creation (Genesis 1:26). Men were to be stewards of the earth, and 1 Corinthians 4:2 adds that “it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy” (ESV). Sadly, corrupt governments, rather than acting as trustworthy stewards of a country’s resources, often hoard food, mismanage resources, and squander money instead of seeing that their own people are fed. Large corporations, too, strive for more and more control of the food supply and seem more willing to strike lucrative deals than to benefit society.

The biblical answer to “over-population” is not to demand fewer people. It is to honor people enough to provide for their needs (see Mark 12:31). Greed, lust for power, and foolishness lead to the mishandling of resources, and millions of people suffer as a result.