Marks of a Godly Mother

Mother's Day Grades

As I think of this Sunday's upcoming Mother's Day, I remember someone once saying, “God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." There’s just something special about moms isn’t there? Mothers are teachers. Mothers are disciplinarians. Mothers are cleaning ladies (my mom excelled there) and some mothers are gardeners and mowers of lawns (unfortunately guys). Mothers are also nurses, doctors, psychologists, chauffeurs and coaches. Mothers are developers of our personalities and shapers of our attitudes. Little wonder why sports figures salute their mothers first and foremost on those sideline closeups.

That's why no one deserves a special day all to themselves more than today's Mom. A cartoon showed a psychologist talking to his patient: "Let's see," he said, "You spend 50 percent of your energy on your job, 50 percent on your husband and 50 percent on your children. I think I see your problem."Maybe that’s why all women were not cut out or will be, nor should be mothers. Not that motherhood doesn’t bring great reward. Psa. 127:3, Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

Though 1 Corinthians 7 tells us that singleness is a gift and many of you ladies have it (e.g. Miriam and Deborah), 1 Peter 3 reminds us that motherhood is a high calling for women. So for a woman who wants to be all God wants her to be as a mother- young or old, where do they go for advice in the scriptures? Not Genesis necessarily, where we read about Eve’s inauspicous debut, Sarah and her lack of faith and trust in providing the child of promise, or even Rebekah who played favorites with Jacob over Esau. This was not motherhood 101.

However, if you look at Proverbs 31, and you look at great godly women like Hannah (1 Samuel 1-2), you'll find out. This often-cited proverb is one to be memorized, as each of the final 22 verses begin with each succeeding letter of the Hebrew alphabet, making it an acrostic, serving as a great learning and memorization device. Therefore, this week we'll look at four marks of a godly mother from Proverbs 31 in anticipation of Mother's Day. 31:10 tells us the godly mother is costly- in the sense that she is quite valuable, "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." We can take that verse literally, as I think about the sacrifices to ego and self-gratitifcation that my mother and wife have made like so many, to stay home and manage a household of children and business. How valuable is a stay-at-home mom today? According to research from Salary.com, “if the typical stay-at-home mother in the U.S. were paid for her work as a housekeeper, cook and psychologist among other roles, she would earn $138,095 a year.” That by the way(BTW), is based on a 92 hour work-week, 40 at base pay, and 52 of overtime.

Second, Pro. 31:11 tells us this great, godly mother is trustworthy, "The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain." John Maxwell, the best-selling author on leadership suggests that “If you can’t trust someone, you can’t count on them….trust makes leadership possible.” He added in his book on the 17 Laws of Teamwork, “The greatest compliment you can receive is being counted on.” Therefore, being trustworthy means being someone you can count on. Hannah the mother of Israel's first prophet Samuel, was trustworthy and was rewarded, primarily becuase she was devoted to her God and to her husband (1 Sam. 1:4-8, 28-2:2).

What does that kind of devotion look like? Susannah Wesley, spent one hour each day praying for her 17 children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour every week to discuss spiritual matters. No wonder two of her sons, Charles and John, were used of God to bring blessing to all of England and much of America. Next time, we'll look at how a godly mother is to be holy and to be praised.