Reflections on Motherhood - Part 1

This is the first of three posts about God's plan for Motherhood.

The Gift of Motherhood

I didn't want to begin with a dictionary-type definition of Mother, so as I was browsing through various articles and devotionals, I found the description that seemed to be a good overall summary of that word.

• “Mother means selfless devotion, limitless sacrifice, and love that passes understanding.”

From the time they are toddlers, most girls think about becoming mommies. They “mother” their dolls, their puppy dogs, and their younger siblings. As they grow older, they dream about their future children – how many, what sex, what names. Then, for most, that day finally comes when that tiny new life is put into her arms, and the enormity of the responsibility of motherhood begins to set in.

Let’s think about the idea of that innate nurturing need and the biological need to be a mom. Now to be fair, not every female has a strong sense of nurturing. I didn’t like dolls all that much when I was a little. I was much happier playing cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, and army maneuvers than dressing a doll and pushing a toy baby carriage. But when I did become a mom, that nurturing thing kicked in. That sense of nurturing and the biological need to have children is a God-planted seed in us placed there in the very first woman, Eve, and passed down throughout generations to us.

Non-believing scientists will tell us that it is simply nature’s way of propagating the human race. And it is – with a twist. The twist being God – it is His way of continuing the humanity He first created.

With that spiritual twist, we see that motherhood, parenthood, is much more.

Motherhood is a gift from the Father of life!

·     Psalm 127:3-5 – Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the womb His generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! (MSG)

And besides continuing the human race, He gives us the gift of children to teach us about the character of God.

We learn about who God is through those parental, familial relationships. The fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal. 5 is a snapshot of God’s character – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those words are all nouns – things. God is love; God is peace; God is patience, etc.

·     Eph. 5:1 – Imitate Christ, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.

If we are to be imitators of Christ, WE are to be love; WE are to be peace; WE are to be patience, etc. All of those take on a deeper meaning when one becomes a mom. As we understand what it is to love someone enough that we would give our lives for her/him, we begin to understand the Father’s great love for us. As we understand the patience it takes to teach a little one right from wrong, we begin to understand the patience the Father has for us as we continue to miss the mark of what He desires for us.

The other aspect of being imitators of Christ is that legacy part of Psalm 127. Just as Jesus taught the twelve disciples about God and prayed for and with them, we are called to do the same with our children. That is our legacy. Leading our children to salvation and a life lived by faith.

·     2 Timothy 1:5 – (Jesus writing to young Timothy) I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.

That is a legacy of faith!

All of us know mothers in all stages of motherhood.

Some are young, not very far along on their journey. Hopefully, they are hearing some wise words about how God wants them to parent – By being an imitators of Christ, asking themselves and Him what He would do in various situations they find themselves in as parents.

Some facing the empty nest, hoping they've prepared their children for independence, making their own decisions and choices. Hopefully, they are hearing that they never stop modeling Christ-like behavior and attitudes. And they never stop praying fervently for their children.

Some have nests have been empty a long time. Their children are adults with families, jobs, and responsibilities of their own. Hopefully, they are watching the fruit of their labor (their legacy) live successful and God-honoring lives. But even in those later years, parents are to continue to be imitators of Christ. That means they continue to live and model Christ-like behavior and attitudes, and most importantly, continue to pray fervently for their children and now their grandchildren.

Many Christians would stop there and think this been a good uplifting message to mothers around Mother’s Day. But that would be ignoring the elephant in the room. However, I am led to write a word about that elephant and to the mothers of those elephants.

That will be posted in Part 2 of this 3 part series on Reflections on Motherhood.

For now, remember that Motherhood is a gift from the Father in which we get to participate with Him in the creation of life. It comes with tremendous responsibilities, of which, being an imitator of Christ in our home has the most eternal effect on our children.