Category Archives: Mother

A Godly Mother

There are many mothers mentioned in scriptures, from Eve, the mother of all living to Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots. Many of these were great women and proved to be notable examples of faith and service. Others, however, were quite the opposite. What a wonderful blessing a good mother is to a child, a home and a nation.

A good mother is first of all a good example to her child. Mary, who was chosen to be the vessel by which the saviour was to come into the world, was just such an example. Mary was a virgin, keeping herself pure against the day she would marry (Luke 1:27). She was also described by the angel of the Lord as highly favored and blessed among women (Luke 1:28). If such an example was important in the mother of our Lord, surely it must be to us, as well. The older women are to be in behaviour as becometh holiness that they may have the influence necessary to teach the younger women (Tit. 2:3,4).

A good mother comforts her children. The Bible speaks of the role of the mother as comforter (Is. 66:13). Women are made by God to be gentle, caring and feminine and it is these qualities that give her an ability to comfort a hurting child. In the days of Elisha, when a child fell deathly ill, the charge was to “Carry him to his mother” (II Kings 4:19). Thye knew his mother could comfort him best.

A good mother dedicates her child to the Lord (I Sam. 1:11). Hannah promised the Lord that if He would give her, who had been barren, a child, she would dedicate that child to the Lord. But every mother ought to desire their child be a servant of God. Under the law of Moses, all Levites were to serve the Lord when they reached the age of twenty-five until they were fifty (Num. 8:24,25). But Hannah dedicated her son to the Lord when he was just a few years old for the rest of his life. Think of what a better world this would be if all mothers dedicated their children to the Lord.

In line with the previous point, a good mother instills faith in God in her children. Think of the impact of Lois and Eunice on the world, all because they influenced Timothy (II Tim. 2:15). It is the scriptures that produce faith (Rom. 10:17). One of the things that Eunice must have done is to teach Timothy the scriptures, for Paul said Timothy knew the Holy Scriptures from a child (II Tim. 3:15). One of the songs which Hank Williams, Sr. sang had these beautiful lines: “I’ve just been to heaven with someone so true, I dreamed about mamma last night. She read me the Bible like she used to do, I dreamed about mamma last night.” What inestimable good has been done for the world because some faithful mother sought to guide her child toward faith in Christ.

A good mother also trains up a child in the way he should go (Prov. 22:6). The word train means to “narrow” or “initiate” or “disciple.” Training involves more than just telling someone something. It involves complete dedication to the cause. Moses described the work as beginning first in the parents’ heart. The parent must first be dedicated (Deut. 6:6). After the parent is dedicated, then the training can begin in earnest. That training is to be done at all times and in every place (Deut. 6:7-9). No parent who says one thing and then does another can be the kind of influence on a child they ought to be.

Discipline is another very important element in rearing a child. “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame (Prov. 29:15). Too many in our day seek first to be friends with their children and not their parents and so they never discipline lest the child be upset with them. A mother who loves her children will properly discipline them to give them life (Prov. 22:15).

It is often said that a child does not come with a manual. In many ways that is true because every child is different. However, in general terms God has given us a manual, His word, and if we learn it and study and apply it, then, with prayer and dedication, the future of a child is greatly enhanced, perhaps for eternity.

Eric L. Padgett

Carry Me To Mother

And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died (II Kings 4:18-20).

Carry Me To Mother

“Carry me to mother,” is the cry of every lad,
Who knows the pain of heartbreak, of a life that has gone bad.
For none can feel like mother, all the deepest cuts in life,
Or bind up all the wounds that come from facing down the strife.

Carry me to mother, when my heart is full of joy,
For no one cares like mother for the triumphs of her boy.
No smile can match her beaming face or the sparkle in her eye
when she cherishes the moment with a joy that makes her cry.

Carry me to mother when my tears begin to flow,
For how to make the hurting stop she always seems to know.
Carry me to mother when my laughter fills the air,
For I would know no happiness unless she’s always there.

Carry me to mother when I yearn for something more,
Than all the mundane trifles that life throws at my door.
For who but mom can manage to instill in me the hope,
To seek greater horizons and a life of broader scope.

Carry me to mother when the days are long and drear,
Let her sing to me once more the precious hymns I love to hear.
Let her read to me the word of God and open up my heart,
and with her kind encouragement the will of God impart.

Carry me to mother when my life fulfills its days,
When all the joys and sorrows cease and the sun shines no more rays.
And if the will of God I’ve done and a crown of life I win,
Then before the throne of God I’ll stand and see her once again.

Eric L. Padgett, 2014

Motherhood

The bravest battle that ever was fought!
Shall I tell you where and when?
On the maps of the world you will find it not;
‘Twas fought by the mothers of men.

Nay not with the cannon of battle-shot,
With a sword or noble pen;
Nay, not with eloquent words or thought
From mouth of wonderful men!

But deep in a walled-up woman’s heart —
Of a woman that would not yield,
But bravely, silently bore her part —
Lo, there is the battlefield!
(–by Joaquin Miller)

What a wonderful blessing from the Divine Plan a loving mother is! God’s book tells us more of His will for Motherhood.

Mothers should be Married. When a woman begins motherhood, it is God’s plan for that woman to be married to the father of the child (Heb. 13:4). God designed the home so that a man and woman leave their father and mother and cleave to one another, beginning a new family (Gen. 2:18-25). Unfortunately, God’s plan for the family has become less popular these days. The birth rate to unwed mothers in our country is at 40.7 % (National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 61, No. 5, October 3, 2012, p. 4). While it is possible for a woman (either because of a scriptural divorce (Matt. 19:9), death of the husband (Rom. 7:1-4) or her husband separating from her) to be a good, loving single mother, it is not God’s idea will and it is not what is best for the child. A child needs a mother and father’s guidance (Prov. 1:8, 4:3, 6:20, etc.).

Mothers Oversee the home. While the man is the head of the house (Eph. 5:23) it is the woman who manages it (Tit. 2:5; Prov. 31:10-31). This is no small task. It is an important work that should not be diminished in any way. Those who claim that the Bible is archaic in it’s treatment of women or that it teaches men to treat women poorly either fail to recognize the importance of the role God has assigned them as mothers or they are simply being rebellious against God. The task of training up a child in the way he should go is neither archaic nor meaningless (Prov. 22:6). It is not easy, either. When mothers and grandmothers turn out young men like Timothy, it is because of their devotion to God, their personal character, and hard work (Acts 16:1; II Tim. 1:5; II Tim. 3:15-17). If mothers would work as hard in rearing up their children as they do in building a career, their children might turn out better and call her blessed (Prov. 31:27,28).

Mothers Teach their children. God placed upon all Israel the obligation of training their children (Deut. 6:1-9). While the father plays a very prominent role (Eph. 6:4), the child has the obligation of honoring father and mother and obeying them both (Eph. 6:1-3). Timothy had learned from a child the truth of the holy scriptures, not from his Gentile father, but from his godly mother and grandmother (II Tim. 1:5; 3:14,15). This training must begin when one is very young and impressionable. Jane McWhorter has this sage advice: “Take your baby to the services of the church regularly from the time he is a few weeks old. Even though he is too young to realize what is going on, he learns that worship is important and is expected of us” (She hath Done What She Could, 1973, p. 73). A good mother teachers the young (Tit. 2:3,4). Someone once said: “The mother’s heart is the child’s schoolroom.”

Mothers are Holy in behavior. Paul told Titus that the aged women are to be in “behavior as becometh holiness” (Tit. 2:3). He instructed Timothy that while men are to lift up “holy hands” women were to “likewise “adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works” (I Tim. 2:9-10). A Holy mother will pray for her children and dedicate them to the Lord, as did Hannah (I Sam. 1,2). A woman has great impact on the reputation of her husband (Prov. 31:23). Many mistakenly think a woman should take on the characteristics of a man to be strong. But the strength of a woman is the force of her character (Prov. 31:17,23-31).

Godly Mothers Eliminate partiality. Partiality in a family is devastating. The Bible says: “Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours” (Genesis 37:3). This caused a terrible situation in that family such that Joseph was hated by his own brothers (Gen. 37:5). Eventually their hatred led them into selling him into slavery. But Jacob got it honestly because his own father loved Esau better while his mother loved him (Gen. 25:28). If children are the product of a genuine, loving relationship between a man and a woman each child should be understood to be a gift from God and loved equally (Gen. 4:1; Ps. 127:1-3).

Mothers Reprove those who do wrong. It is an unsavory part of being a parent but it is something that must be done. It does not signify a lack of love (though it can if administered in anger, hate or jealousy), but an abundance of it (Prov. Prov. 13:24; 22:15; 23:13,14). A child left to himself brings shame to his mother and therefore needs guidance (Prov. 29:15). When a child is young and impressionable he must be taught, while there is yet time (Prov. 19:18). If the child is taught well from a very early age (preventive disciple), then there will be less need of what is sometimes called “tough love” (corrective discipline) later on. Many mistakenly believe that “discipline” means “punishment”. But the word comes from the Latin “disciplina” and means “instruction given to a disciple.” (discipline. Dictionary.com. Online Etymology Dictionary. Douglas Harper, Historian. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/discipline (accessed: May 11, 2013)). All loving mothers who want their children to grow up to be successful, productive and happy must be those who discipline their children in love.

Thank God for loving mothers.
Eric L. Padgett