Articles
Thanks, Mom
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you hardworking, taxi-driving, lunch-making, laundry-folding, homework-checking, dinner-making, booboo-kissing, wise and wonderful moms. It’s not that dad doesn’t help, but we know who the real heroes are. A good mom sacrifices more of her self that just about any other category of person in the world, so it is fitting that we honor them.
For those of us who no longer have our mothers, the day may be a little less celebratory, but I look to the other mothers in my life; my mother-in-law, my remaining aunts, my sister, and my many sisters in Christ who are wonderful examples of godly virtue. I am especially thankful for my wife for her strength and sacrifice as a godly mother.
In the Bible we read of many great godly mothers. Ironically, but not without purpose, many of these great mothers of old were only able to conceive by miraculous means. God reminds us over and over that life comes through Him. He proves that all good things are blessings from Him & not the result of chance or the fruit of our own labors alone. The women who God chose to bless with motherhood through divine means usually shared a desperate desire for the role, but also the faith to trust that God could remedy their circumstance.
Sarah was not able to conceive until she was 90 years old. I have a hard time imagining a woman of that age carrying a child, but God made it happen. We have Rebekah, Rachel, Samson’s mother in Judges 13, the Shunamite woman of 2 Kings 4, Hannah in 1 Samuel 1&2, and even the mother of John the baptizer, Elizabeth in the New Testament. Besides the special circumstances that allowed them to become mothers, these women had something else in common. These mothers dedicated their children to the Lord some, to an extreme degree. Hannah was only able to keep her son until he was weaned and then “lent him to the Lord” for the rest of his life. These women dedicated their sons to the service of God.
Thoughtful mothers today can follow their example in so many simple and meaningful ways.
Teach your children about God and about His glorious Son. Read the scripture to them and then read them with them. It is never too early to show them the precious perfection of God’s word.
Pray with your children. Teach them that your faith in the One True God is real and allow them to get a glimpse of your relationship with Him. Teach them to pray. Teach them how and when to pray.
Love them. Love them by setting expectations, being fair, merciful, and just. Love them by keeping your word to punish bad behavior and praise good. Your job is not to be a best friend; it is to guide and protect and care for them in a role of authority over them. If parents do not teach their children the meaning and importance of submission, how will they learn to submit to civil, and most importantly, divine authority?
BE the kind of christian you want your children to be. The most powerful teaching tool is our example, but the most destructive obstacle to a christian upbringing is hypocrisy. Practice what you preach. Demand at least as much of yourself as you do of your children so that they can see the will of God in action rather than just hearing about it.
We believe that God answers prayers today, but His interaction with mankind is different now than it was in the days of old. There may be women of our generation who were only able to conceive through effectual fervent prayer to the Lord, but one thing we can be certain of; The qualities of motherhood that are most honorable, most effective and important in the sight of the Lord include devotion to God, and the desire above all others, that their children will learn to do the same.
Hug your mother today if you can. Thank her and remember to thank God for her. What a wonderful blessing God gave us when he created Mothers.
Strength and honor are her clothing; She shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
Proverbs 31:25-30
