Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Mother’s Day is this coming Sunday and, while many will celebrate with their mothers, others of us will fondly remember our mothers and be grateful for those who were godly and led us in paths of righteousness so we could know that, despite their passing away from this life, they still live, as Jesus promised (John 11:25-27).
The name of the holiday is singular possessive because it’s set aside to honor each one’s mother, as is the case for Father’s Day, while Grandparents’ Day is plural possessive, likely because we all have several grandparents.
In honor of mothers everywhere, this article describes some famous Bible mothers remembering the greatest honor we can give them is to follow the example of godly mothers (our own or not) and adhere to their teaching (Ephesians 6:1-3; Colossians 3:20; Proverbs 1:8-9). The verses just cited were written to children of devout followers of God. Even when parents don’t act so godly, we can still honor the good they’ve done and avoid the poor examples, even after we’re grown (1 Corinthians 4:14-16; 11:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22). Anyway, the following is about some well-known Bible mothers.
First, we don’t know how good most biblical mothers were, but two were definitely not good – Jezebel and her daughter, Athaliah (1 Kings 16:29-3:4; 18:4; 21:1-16, 25-26). Although Jezebel’s mothering isn’t specifically described, she was obviously an evil schemer known for leading others astray (Revelation 2:20-21). Her example is likely why Athaliah turned out the way she did and eventually killed her own grandchildren (2 Kings 8:16-27; 9:27-29; 11:1-3).
Moses’ mother was the first example of a good mother I thought of because she did what she could to save Moses, even to the point of basically giving him up for adoption because she viewed him as very special (Exodus 1:1-22; 2:1-10; Hebrews 11:23).
Samuel’s mother, Hanna, also exemplifies good motherhood (1 Samuel 1:1-2:11, 18-21). Hanna not only prayed about having children, she also committed Samuel to the Lord because she was a woman of prayer.
I’m not implying good mothers always give up their children to be raised by others. Moses and Samuel were matters of dire circumstances and turning them over to God are merely extreme examples of what all parents should do for their children.
Timothy’s mother and grandmother raised him in the training and admonition of the Lord even though his father wasn’t likely a Christian and didn’t even appear to be in the picture (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15; Ephesians 6:4).
Mothers, are you raising, or have you raised your children in the training and admonition of the Lord? While we have no guarantee they’ll actually turn out right, we are assured they’ll take on some of your traits, good or bad (Proverbs 23:6; Matthew 23:15).
Fathers, I’ll write about us for Father’s Day, which might be a comeuppance, since Father’s Day comes after Mother’s Day. So, always be nice to your children’s mother and fulfill your godly responsibility in child-rearing.
Leonard Lauriault is a member of the Church of Christ in Logan who writes about faith for the Quay County Sun. Contact him at [email protected].