A Godly Woman

This Sunday is Mother’s Day. If this statement is news to you, you are welcome. You now have two days to do something nice for your wife and for your mother. Sorry, I don’t think Shari’s Berries will be able to make your delivery, but I have been told you have a friend in the diamond business at Shane Co. If you are just now making Mother’s Day preparations, go ahead and see how good of a friend  Shane is…you earned it with procrastination.

Sorry for the digression. Mother’s Day is a special day. It is a day that first began to be recognized in 1908 as a memorial for a mother in West Virginia. By 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation making the second Sunday in May a national mother’s day. Good history right?

Well, I find it fitting to do a couple of things as we look at Mother’s Day this coming Sunday. First, I want to look at a couple of mothers in the Bible and talk about their legacy. Then, I want to thank moms all over the world for being mom. And, I want to encourage many who are hurting on Mother’s Day for one reason or another.

2 Timothy 1 gives a pretty good picture of the influence that a godly mom can make. You will read in Paul’s words to Timothy about Lois and Eunice, a mother and a grandmother that taught young Timothy about Jesus. There are countless things that this world finds as being valuable for the young mind to learn and to which society says they should be exposed. But, Lois and Eunice walked Timothy into the footsteps of Jesus. Timothy’s dad, we understand, was a Gentile and not of the faith. However, Lois and Eunice carried a strong faith.

I am convinced that God has used many “Lois and Eunices” over the centuries in our churches. I can think back to my younger years at the godly mothers and grandmothers who, not only taught their own children the Way, but shared that faith with us at Northside Baptist Church in Tifton, GA. I can see how Lois and Eunice have been carrying much of the nurture at FBC Fairburn. Moms, I believe that you play such a vital role in shaping the faith of your child. You, like Lois and Eunice, have given a “sincere faith” through the generations.

That is one of many reasons why I want to thank you. What you do on a day by day basis seems to go unnoticed. Maybe you don’t do what those moms do or can’t be the mom that this other lady is, but you are not supposed to be! See, Lois and Eunice didn’t have to deal with social media, but they were women, too. They had the pressure of motherhood (and grandmotherhood!) on their shoulders as well. How did they handle it? They went to Jesus. They took Timothy to Jesus. Moms, thank you for taking your child to Jesus.

I watch my wife and I wonder how she does it all. She raises the kids to be respectful, she feeds them, she teaches them, she nurtures them. I look at my mother and my grandmothers. They did the same thing. So did their mothers before them. It would be easy for them to consider themselves and unfit or unworthy because kids mess up, but instead mothers all over the world press on. They seek to raise that next generation, to put the good and well being of their child ahead of their own. Mothers know a sacrifice like no other.

Sometimes it seems like the accomplishments are seemingly distant. There doesn’t seem to be that crowning achievement, that looming promotion, that accolade for a completed project. Whether you are a working mom or a stay at home mom, the cost of motherhood does not seem to get the recognition that comes with the workplace. I will argue time and time again that being a mother is harder than any other job in the world. I see what you do as a mom. I want you to know that you accomplish so much more in the lives of your children than it seems.

That is why we say thank you.

For mothers that pour Jesus into their children, I want to say an extra thank you. If being a mother wasn’t hard enough, taking the extra effort to demonstrate Christ to your kids who are exposed to every other form of godlessness is a wearisome task. Let me encourage you to continue to show them Jesus. Show them how Jesus changed you! Some of you already do it and you do it well. Thank you!

For some of you, this day is a hard day. There are many reasons why it may be hard. Perhaps you have lost your mother and today is a bittersweet day. Maybe you tried real hard to become a mother, but pregnancy never came. Maybe you have lost a child, a pain I wish no one had to endure. In each of these scenarios, pain is real. Please allow me to encourage you to still celebrate motherhood. If your mother has passed away, celebrate how she showed you Jesus and showed you love. If having a child was never given to you, can I encourage you to find a hurting child and love them? No, it is not the same. But, spiritual motherhood is vital for our children to know Jesus! In the pain of losing a child, I pray that Jesus becomes the anchor of your soul (Hebrews 6:19) as you wade in those tough waters.

There is much to celebrate. There is great reason why mothers are worthy of our celebration on Mother’s Day. As we gather to worship King Jesus this Sunday, our moms give us another reason for gratitude in His presence.