Spiritual Motherhood

Proverbs 1:8-9, “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” Many different thoughts and feelings are evoked on Mother’s Day. There is not room in this space to devote to the myriad of relationships that exist surrounding the term Motherhood—entailing everything from godly mothers to abusive mothers, living mothers to mothers who have passed, having children to being unable to have children, and so on. I praise God for my own mother and seek to honor her—indeed, for my dad as well—but this being Mother’s Day, I’ll focus on my mom 😊. Praising God for and honoring my mother was not always something I did or even aspired to do. In my youth, I fought and rebelled against many of the things she taught me and definitely against her discipline. It was only when Katie and I wrestled with the same decisions for our children that my eyes were opened to the wisdom of her teaching. We need to constantly emphasize the biblical role of motherhood. Paul, in his letters to Timothy, highlights its importance. 1 Timothy 1:5, Paul reveals how the faith that dwells in Timothy has been passed down through 2 generations—his grandmother to his mother to him. In this case, it did not come from his father as we see in Acts 16:1—Timothy had a believing mother and an unbelieving father. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul told Timothy what would come in the last days. When persecutions and deception will reign supreme, Paul tells Timothy in verses 14-15 to continue in what he has learned, knowing from whom he learned it, and how he was acquainted with scripture from childhood. Paul is exhorting Timothy to not forsake his mother’s teaching. He desires for Timothy to continue in what he has learned from his mother and remember that it was she who taught him what he knows of the faith—it was from childhood that he has been equipped for the days to come. Mothers, and those who are or aspire to be spiritual mothers, know the Word and teach it diligently. Sons and daughters, do not forsake your mother’s teachings. Honor them and honor her. In doing so, we glorify God and prepare for the days to come. Pastor Jesse