Here at True Woman, we believe that children are a blessing from God. That we as women are uniquely designed as nurturers of life—whether it be our own children or other children in our sphere of influence. So today, as we’re celebrating five years of blogging, we’re featuring a post about motherhood that was especially well received by you, our readers, on October 5, 2010.
Being a mother is just plain, hard work. At times, it feels like slave labor! Moms can identify with the cartoon of a toddler looking at a wedding album with his daddy and saying, “So that’s the day Mommy came to work for us!”
In Titus 2:4, the apostle Paul instructs older women to train younger women to love their children. He must have known there would be times it would be hard to love our kids.
Do you ever wonder why it’s more rewarding for us to plan a themed ladies retreat for two hundred women than to plan an indoor picnic with our preschoolers on a rainy afternoon? I think it’s because the rewards are more immediate and the demands are not so relentless.
Remember, though, that God has called you to this ministry of mothering. He knows there are no neutral moments in your child’s life. Someone is going to influence your children, instilling values in their impressionable young minds. Let it be you!
God calls us to the ministry of character development in our children, and honors us with the position of a constant trainer in their lives (“Train up a child in the way he should go . . .”). Through your ministry, you get to pass on to the next generation all the values you treasure most: love, faithfulness, sacrifice, honesty, generosity, self-control.
You have received this commission from God. As a mother, your privilege is to teach your children how to respect their daddy and be kind to their siblings; how to choose good nutrition and wholesome entertainment; why they should value courtesy and orderliness; and which causes are worthy of their efforts, their reputations, and even their very blood.
God has called us to love our children from home-base (Titus 2:4–5), and we can’t improve upon God’s design. This means more than staying at home. It means fixing your heart on your home. It’s important to understand that we as women can leave our homes through more avenues than work or outside ministry. Cell phones, emails, and chat rooms can all take a mother away from her primary calling.
Mothering means being “all there.” It means rejoicing that you get to show your children how to peddle a tricycle, make their bed, build memories, and share their toys. You serve your family—and ultimately your Heavenly Father—by helping your child do that puzzle for the umpteenth time, washing those sticky fingers, planting a little garden, acting out Bible stories, and praying together.
Your ministry is one of answering those deep questions in the heart of your child: “Am I a burden? Unwanted? Unappreciated?” Or, “Am I loved with a love that cannot be broken? Is someone totally committed to me? Do I bring someone joy?”
Remember this: you have the privilege of passing on to young hearts a knowledge of the very character of God. And that, ladies, is worth getting totally exhausted for.
But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded." (2 Chron. 15:7)
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