by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you<\/em>” (Exodus 20:12).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It is appropriate to think about the roles of father and mother as those who have had the most impact on our lives. While we often focus on the men who were integral to God’s plan revealed in the word, we should equally remember the great influence of women. From Eve to Mary or from Ruth to Eunice, women’s roles in shaping both the world around us and our salvation in Christ are beyond measure.<\/p>\n
Paul’s reminder to Timothy highlights the importance of this on a personal level: “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well<\/em>” (II Timothy 1:5). This made it so that “from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus<\/em>” (II Timothy 3:15). Never underestimate the value and significance of what mothers (and grandmothers) do.<\/p>\n
Let’s think briefly about mothers in the book of Proverbs. First, note that both folly and wisdom are personified as women (see chapters 7-9). While the warning against following lady folly is critical, the exhortation to listen to lady wisdom is just as important. Read Proverbs 7:1-5 and note the need to treasure wisdom as a sister and friend. In this context of listening to wisdom, hearers are told to listen to their mothers. A mother’s teaching is not to be forsaken (Proverbs 1:8). It is the foolish son who is a sorrow to and despises his mother (Proverbs 10:1; 15:20). One who chases away his mother brings shame and reproach (Proverbs 19:26), and the one who curses father and mother has his lamp put out (likely a reference to a shortened life – see Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:1-3). Mothers are not to be despised (Proverbs 23:22), but should rather be able to rejoice in their children (Proverbs 23:25). Godly mothers and wisdom go hand in hand.<\/p>\n
We should also appreciate that a mother gives instructions to her son in Proverbs 31: “The words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught him<\/em>” (Proverbs 31:1). Note, too, that her son was a king. Yet he still needed to listen to his mother. She taught her son not to give his strength to women or wine. He was told to open his mouth for the mute and judge righteously, defending the rights of the poor and needy (Proverbs 31:1-9). Also in this context is the great passage that brings Proverbs to a close: an acrostic about the woman of virtue (Proverbs 31:10-31). What was personified as Lady Wisdom earlier in the book is now brought to life in a worthy woman who blesses her home and others as she fears the Lord. This is all part of a mother’s instructions to her son (yes, the passage on the virtuous woman was taught to a young man!).<\/p>\n
The point to take away is that there is a connection in Scripture between a righteous mother and the wisdom that emanates from God. Children who listen to their mothers (and godly fathers) will be blessed. They honor and obey their parents. They bring to fruition the wise, godly attitudes and counsel that their parents sought to instill within them. Parents are not to be despised or forsaken as they age. Rather, they are to be cherished, loved, and given due credit for their part in raising children who ought to bring blessings to the world.<\/p>\n
There are reasons why we know something about the mother of Jesus. She was especially chosen as the mother of the Lord as He entered this world. When Elizabeth greeted Mary (both of whom were with child), she said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord<\/em>” (Luke 1:42-45). Mary believed and was blessed, and she had the privilege of being “the mother of my Lord.<\/em>” She raised Him as God desired. She suffered when Jesus suffered; she was pierced through when He was pierced. She stayed close to Him all the way through.<\/p>\n
Let us honor our mothers who rejoiced with us, cried with us, suffered with us, and will love us to the end. A godly mother is one of the greatest blessings given by God. Listen to her wisdom and counsel. She longs to protect us from harm and will always love us. We ought to be deeply grateful. And remember, though we may lose an earthly mother, we have many more in the Lord by whom we are richly blessed (see Mark 10:28-30).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Doy Moyer “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). It is appropriate to think about the roles of father and mother as those who have had the most impact on our lives. While we often focus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[198,550,1311],"class_list":["post-87124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-honor","tag-honor-your-parents","tag-mothers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/honor-your-parents\/","url_meta":{"origin":87124,"position":0},"title":"Honor Your Parents","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Whit Sasser In the list of things worthy of death found in Romans 1:30 is disobedience to parents. Proverbs 30:17 says, \"The eye that mocks his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley will pick it out, and the young eagles will eat it.\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60478,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-word-to-fathers\/","url_meta":{"origin":87124,"position":1},"title":"A Word to Fathers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant Men have some very important roles to fulfill in family life. There are quite a few passages in the Bible, both Old and New Testaments that mention their responsibilities. This article is focused on the relationship with their children that God has given fathers. One of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1710,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/honor-your-father-and-mother\/","url_meta":{"origin":87124,"position":2},"title":"Honor Your Father and Mother (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 12, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton The command to honor your parents was carried over into the law of Christ intact. \"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. \"Honor your father and mother,\" which is the first commandment with promise: \"that it may be well with you and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43658,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-mother-thinks-im-too-young-to-get-married-must-i-obey-her\/","url_meta":{"origin":87124,"position":3},"title":"My mother thinks I’m too young to get married. Must I obey her?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good day, I am 21 years old, born again and spirit-filled. I'm currently in a relationship with a Christian sister, who is also born again and Spirit-filled. She is 18 years old. Though our relationship is based on the Word of God, we have the don't and the do's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":19060,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-person-give-his-contribution-to-his-unemployed-mother-instead-of-to-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":87124,"position":4},"title":"Can a person give his contribution to his unemployed mother instead of to the Lord?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: As far as the collection goes, would it be wrong to take the money one would put in the collection plate every Sunday and give it to his unemployed mother, who is living with her daughter, which would be his sister, instead? Answer: What is happening is a person\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14168,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-protestants-honor-mary-as-catholics-do\/","url_meta":{"origin":87124,"position":5},"title":"Why don’t Protestants honor Mary as Catholics do?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The original question was: Why do Protestants not honor Mary as Catholics do? We are to imitate Jesus Christ, are we not? Well, Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law perfectly, and part of the Law is the Fourth Commandment. Jesus honored his Father and his Mother, so we should do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87124\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}