“Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you…” – Deut 5:16
Mother’s day is such a wonderful opportunity to honor your mother. We also should honor those in our lives who have mothered us. Mother’s day is bittersweet for some of us because our mothers have passed away or we are estranged from them. For those of us blessed to have our mother’s, we should reflect on this day with gratitude. Jesus teaches in the scriptures that those who “God’s will” are his “brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:35) The LORD also teaches that “everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” (Matthew 19:29)
In God’s kingdom, we can have a family that is deep, strong, and meets our needs. Mother’s day is a day to honor both our physical mothers and our “spiritual” mothers “in the faith.”
GOD COMFORTS LIKE A MOTHER
“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” (Isaiah 66:13) God is tender. When a woman is a good mother she’s an echo of this powerful part of our God. He’s “close to the brokenhearted” and “saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18) God “heals the brokenhearted” and he “binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 109:16) It is really hard to lose in life – or in anything, for that matter. It is harder at times to admit losing in the first place. Clearly, the reality that there is a great deal of pain in life not lost on the nature of God. God wants to comfort us like a mother comforts her child.
When I was a child, I remember how my mother stayed up comforting me during the night when I had a severe earache. I will never forget her tenderness. We learn from the scriptures here that our God comforts tenderly like a mother. (Isaiah 49:13-16)
WE NEED TO LOVE LIKE A MOTHER
“As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” (1 Thessalonians 2:6b-9)
Paul, Silas, and Timothy wrote this letter to the congregation in Thessalonica. (aka. Thessaloniki, Modern Greece) They give us more qualities of what is “motherly” in a biblical sense. This scripture gives us a powerful example of how we are to love each other in God’s family. Firstly, we are not to burden to those we are loving like a mother! A loving mother is always inclined to give, to nurture, and to sacrifice for the needs of her children. A mother works tirelessly on the everyday things we often take for granted. For example, I’ve seen my wife and my mother both do the laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, dishes, vacuuming…and a dozen other chores. In short, these women meet the needs around them and do so through “toil and hardship” and they often work “night and day.“
Additionally, this example demands that we be “gentle among” each other “like a mother caring for her little children.” It’s important in principle to note that the scripture specifies “little children.” Am I truly gentle like this in demeanor with my brothers and sisters in the church? Am I gentle like this with my spouse and children? When we see a little child there is a natural endearment and joy evoked by them. As we age, in life and in the faith, it gets harder to hold this view of one another. A felt need for respect replaces the real need for gentleness. However, the Word of God calls us to give both to those around us! (1 Peter 3:15)
Jesus teaches that such a “childlike” view is essential to inheriting the kingdom of God! “He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:2-4)
HAVE A MOTHER’S VISION
In Matthew 20, James and John’s mother comes to Jesus and asks him boldly “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.” (Matthew 20:21) She had a spiritual vision for her sons. Many are concerned with a child’s success or even ensuring they are “doing what makes them happy.” We can easily miss giving children deep spiritual aspirations and inspiring them to have a real, powerful, and truth-based love for God. Compromise is the mother of dissension. We all must decide if obeying Jesus and living by his standards is more important than worldly success. Additionally, we must first decide to instill this conviction into ourselves, one another, and our children.
A loving mother’s vision is that her children will do their very best in life. God has this same kind of vision for his children. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col 3:23-24) A good mother also makes great plans for caring for her children both practically and in the future. It sometimes takes tremendous planning to get to church early on Sunday mornings! This is a very Godly heart to have, as God himself is a planner! “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
HONOR YOUR MOTHER WITH OBEDIENCE
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ – which is the first commandment with a promise— ‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.’” (Eph 6:1-3) We honor our mother in the clearest fashion when we obey her. Jesus honored Mary this way as a boy. Luke 2:51 crystallizes this, “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”
As a man, Jesus obeyed his mother by miraculously producing wine for the wedding in Cana when she told him “They have no more wine.” (John 2:3) This request was not on Jesus’ time. He did not want to be involved. We can see this from Jesus’ reply, “‘Dear woman, why do you involve me?’ Jesus replied. ‘My time has not yet come.’” (John 2:4) Even still, the LORD honored his mother and met her request obediently! And the LORD did not hold back in his obedience! He created roughly 120-180 gallons of the best wine!
HONOR YOUR MOTHER, BUT NEVER OVER GOD
The only time we see Jesus disobeying his mother is when she, along with his brothers, try to stop him from doing God’s will. The account of this in Mark highlights how Jesus’ family heard about a huge crowd gathering at the house he was staying in and then “went to take charge of him” as they had concluded that Jesus was “out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21) When they arrive, they attempt to “take charge” of Jesus, sending someone into the crowd to tell Jesus, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” (Mark 3:32) Jesus responds with “Who are my mother and my brothers?” (Mark 3:33)
The Lord further clarifies exactly what he means while looking at those seated around him, saying “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:33-35) At this moment, Mary and Jesus’ brothers were not doing “God’s will” because they thought that Jesus was “out of his mind” and were trying to “take charge of him” while he was doing “God’s will!“
HONOR YOUR MOTHER, EVEN WHEN IT HURTS
This interaction in Mark 3:21,33-35 was clarifying and yet certainly painful for Jesus’ mother, Mary. However, it must be noted that Jesus honored his mother and called his most beloved disciple to honor his mother as his own while he suffered on the cross. Even when we are in pain, even when we are suffering, we must imitate Jesus in how he honored Mary while he was suffering the agony of the cross. “Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:25-27)
Jesus’ example of honoring his mother while in excruciating pain had an eternal impact on Mary (and his brothers)! Mary and Jesus’ brothers are among the faithful believers in Acts 1:14! “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” In the end, Mary became Jesus’ disciple as did his brothers. Jesus’ two brothers, James and Jude, wrote their respective scriptural epistles! Furthermore, Jesus’ brother James became the first leader of the central leadership council in Jerusalem. (Acts 15:15) When we truly love God more than anyone and yet love everyone – the impact God will bring is undeniable!
HONOR YOUR SPIRITUAL MOTHERS
The Word of God highlights the need we have for spiritual mothers. Paul writes in Rom 16:13, “Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too.” Amy and I have had many dear spiritual mothers over the years. I’m so thankful for Elena McKean, Terese Untalan, Sharon Kirchner, Sonia Gonzalez, and many more who have been mothers to us. We have many memories, battles, and treasured moments with these women that have defined us! Their counsel and deep conversations during our times together healed and trained us. I thank God for these valiant women of God who have been a mother to Amy and I, too.
Let us take time in prayer to thank God for our physical and spiritual mothers! Let’s take time to reach out and remind them of the special place they have in our hearts!
