2) We're not ready to have kids emotionally/don't feel equipped or prepared to parent and raise children or physically don't feel we are able to raise children

This reason also played a small roll in us delaying having children. We lived in a studio apartment for the first year, where would we fit a baby, we thought and of course how could two 18-year-olds (or by the time a baby would have been in the picture 19-year-olds) be mature enough and capable of raising and caring for a baby?

3) Concerns about over population

Many people think our world is overpopulated and getting crowded so they feel it would be irresponsible to have more than just one or 2 children or any at all.

4) I don't want to bring children into an evil world that's only getting worse

We do indeed live in a fallen sinful world and a lot of people are concerned about bringing children into a world like that and even consider it to be a bit cruel.

What does the Bible say about this?

Marriage, Sex and their relationship to procreation:

There are a few main passages in the Bible I think are key to look at when discussing this topic. Let's start with the creation account in Genesis 1 and 2. When God created man and woman, He says a few things to them and about them, "be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it," (Genesis 1:28) and "the two shall become one flesh, and they were both naked and unashamed," (Genesis 2:24-25). We also see in Paul's letter to the church of Corinth in 1 Corinthians 7:1-9 that a husband and wife should have sex regularly and often to protect each other from falling into sin, he goes as far as to say that they should only refrain from sex so they can pray and fast more intentionally.

What does the bible say about children?

The bible says many things about children and all of them are positive things, I will leave a few verses here for you to reference. "Behold children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has a quiver full of them...," Psalm 127:3-5. "Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord." Psalm 128:1-4, This is included in a list of other blessings such as long life, community and personal prosperity, as well as provision from the Lord it is important to note this because I don't think it would be appropriate to uphold some of these things as blessings but then disregard another as an inconvenience or burden.

God's Sovereignty:

We also see that any time a child is conceived in the bible regardless of how, even in situations of sin, it is portrayed by the author in either a neutral or, in majority of cases, a positive light, this is a good reason to share the same view, no matter the intentions or actions of those who conceive a child they shouldn't affect our view of that child and the baby should be celebrated, or at least not frowned upon. The only time we see a negative view on conception is when there is none in the cases of infertility and barrenness. Another thing we see throughout the bible is God is the one who has authority over conception, no one conceives a baby without God doing it and likewise if God wants you to have a baby there is really nothing you can do to stop that child's conception this is why no form of birth control is 100% effective; (see Genesis 16-17, Genesis 20:17-18, Deuteronomy 7:13, Deuteronomy 28:11, Ruth 4:13, and Luke 1:57-58 just to name a few). Another thing we know and see in the bible is that God is in control of both life and death, no person lives or dies except by the hand of God, the best example of this is the story of Job (see Job 1-2, Job 14:5, Job 42:10-17). The devil was unable to take his life without God's permission, likewise he was able to take the lives of Job's children and servants but again only by the permission of God, and in the same way although by the end of all these things Job and his wife would have been fairly old, it says God blessed them with more children, 10 to be exact. I have seen this in the lives of so many people and I share about that more in my post, What is Birth Control and should Christians use it? if you haven't read that one yet.

My response to the specific arguments for postponing and preventing children:

Financial concerns:

I believe it is important to trust that if God blesses you with a child, He will provide for all your needs and also to keep straight our priorities, to invest in heavenly things and what more eternal than the souls of our children who will then invest the souls of their children and then they their children after and so on (see Matthew 6:19-25). I also thing many people take the verse talking about being a good steward of our finances out of context like we did, we always took this to mean we should wait until we had enough money for a baby to have one but I think this actually more is saying use what God gives you in a way this is wise and honoring to Him and He will take care of the rest, not deny God's good gifts because we don't think it is wise, God is wiser then we and will provide for the needs of that child if we are responsible with the resources He gives us.

Feeling ill equipped:

I am just going to be honest with you here, the only way you will be ready for certain things in life to jump in and experience them and parenting is one of those things, sure for some people it comes more naturally than others but even the most learned, and prepared people will tell you there were defiantly things they didn't expect when they had their first child and guess what each human is different so you will have to relearn many things each time a new child comes into your life no matter how prepared you think you may be, so why push it all farther along down the road? Why not jump in right now, if you will never be truly ready until you are in the thick of it. I also think God was intentional in doing this because it requires us as parents to press into God for His help and guidance and it also encourages us to grow as individuals. What wonderful blessings to become more like Christ and to learn how to more readily rely on the Lord. Parenting teaches your humility in that you cannot do it on your own you need God's help to truly do it well, and that is a very good thing. Being refined is a good and beautiful thing even if it is difficult, hard isn't bad.

Concerns about overpopulation:

If this is your reason to not want children or to limit the number of children you have, I would ask you this, when God said in Genesis 1 to fill the earth, did He make mention of when the earth would be filled and at what number that would be? I don't see that in there and paired with God's sovereignty over conception I think if there were to many people God would just prevent people from having more babies, but He isn't concerned about that, rather He tells us to, "go into all the earth and preach the gospel," Matthew 28:16-20. This includes the places that don't have many people but still some who need Jesus, like the wilderness and deserts, and if we truly invest in the lives of those people there will be many to move their lives to those places rather than staying huddled up in our busy towns and cities.

The state of our fallen world:

My one and only question here is, how do we expect the future to become any better if the people who have the ability to raise those who can change it decide not to have any children? We hold the future in our hands in that regard, the kind of future that we will have for our children depends on the people we put into it. The world isn't going to stop having babies, they love sex too much and like I already mentions birth control isn't fool proof, so why not out do them and tip the scales so there are more good doers and God followers than lovers and followers of self.

A comment on the exceptions:

I will put in a little comment that there may be some kingdom reasons to not have children and I understand that given, we do live in a fallen world. We do see in the genesis 2 account that although God commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply that sex between a husband and wife is also primarily for the purpose of unifying the couple and deepening their love for each other (I wrote a post on that, and it will be out soon so subscribe here to be notified when that is posted). We also see there that marriage is first and foremost for companionship so I don't believe that all situations of preventing pregnancy is a sin however it is a decision that should not be made lightly or hastily and the most important thing to consider when making the decision should be am I doing this for the kingdom of God or because of my own personal desires? When making this decision I also think it is important to be praying like Paul says and to be talking with mentors and other people of faith that you trust and look up to and ask them to also stand with you in prayer.

Resources:

More scripture on why finances shouldn't stop you from having children:

Jeremiah 29:28 This is in a letter to the Israelite captives in Babylon where they are told by Jeremiah to, "plant gardens, build houses and 'settle down,'" implying that they marry and have children, despite being in less-than-ideal circumstances.

Another example is Mary and Joseph, see Luke 2:22-24 which shows how poor they were when the consecrated Jesus at the temple. They couldn't afford the lamb for the offering so rather brought 2 pigeons or turtle doves instead as outlined in Leviticus 12:6-8. We also know from Matthew 13:55-56 that Mary and Joseph went on to have 4 more boys and at least 2 girls in addition to Jesus, money didn't stop them from having children.

All verse links from Biblegateway

Girl Defined:

Is it Wrong to Not Want to Have Kids? - GirlDefined

Rethinking Birth Control, Family Planning, and When to Have Babies with Candice Watters (Part One) - GirlDefined

My college classmate, Kirk Adams', paper on the subject which inspired much of this post: