
But mothers do so much more, don’t they? Moms in particular and women in general tend to put their own personal stamp on a household. Look around any home and unless you happen to wander into the typical man’s domain – the den complete with deer heads and fish on the walls or workbench area complete with every tool and outdoor accessory imaginable – apart from these places, you’ll find the woman’s touch is everywhere. The pictures on the walls, the color schemes in each room, and the general neatness of things probably owe their existence to the woman of the house.
I find it interesting that many of the things for which we praise and honor our mothers don’t get a lot of print in Scripture. There are no recipes in the Bible, unless you like to serve the Passover meal on occasion. Cooking, resourcefulness and household management are all mentioned in Proverbs 31, which describes, “The wife of noble character.” But I don’t ever remember Jesus complimenting someone on how wonderful the meal was or how clean the house was or how beautifully decorated it was. I do, however, remember him saying on different occasions to different people, “Woman, you have great faith.”
Same thing here. When referring to Timothy’s mother and grandmother, Paul doesn’t ooh and aah over their cooking, he doesn’t gush over their fancy china, he doesn’t even comment on their clean house. He praises their faith: “I remember your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced that it also lives in you.” (2 Timothy 1:5)
We don’t know much about Eunice and Lois. This is the only place they’re mentioned by name. But it’s clear that their faith lived on in young Timothy. In fact, they’d instructed him in the true faith his entire life. “Continue in the things you have learned and about which you have become convinced. You know from whom you learned them and that from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:14,15) Mom and Grandma provided faithful teaching!
Perhaps you have been blessed with a mother and grandmothers whose faith is or was sincere. What a powerful witness, what a tremendous impression it makes on children for their parents to go to church on Sunday and read their Bible at home! Never underestimate the impression given to children when God’s Word is (or is not) the highest priority in home and family!
To speak of things in terms of “just like Mom used to make” doesn’t mean that parents create faith. That’s the Holy Spirit’s work. However, the phrase, “Just like Mom used to make,” can serve as a reminder that as mothers tend to put their own personal stamp on a household through day-to-day activities, a mom’s faith, or lack of it, has an incredible impact on her children as well.
If the Lord has blessed you to be a mother, you have no greater responsibility than to raise your children in God’s Word. Your family’s spiritual needs come first. Career accomplishments, community involvement, work outside the home – all these things can be important and appropriate, but none of them hold a candle to the importance God places on the work you do inside the home. This goes for fathers, too.
And don’t get caught up in the quality time vs. quantity discussion. Quality includes and demands quantity. Your children won’t remember you for your job and career. They’ll remember your faith, or lack of it; they’ll remember your example and life, whether God-pleasing or not; they’ll remember whether you sat at the feet of your Savior or whether you sat in awe of the world and its ways.
Happy Mother’s Day to all of you who are so blessed! May you give the honor and praise that comes your way to your Lord! May you thank him for the precious privilege of nurturing precious, eternal souls!
In Christ,
Pastor Stephen Luchterhand