Mother
A Godly Example
As a mother have you ever stopped and asked yourself, “What kind of an example am I to my children?” We know that our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect example of living the Christian life, but how do we affect our children by the way we live?
In the Bible the Apostle Paul recalls with joy his fellowship with Timothy, his spiritual “son in the faith.” The apostle may have stayed in Timothy’s home during his extensive missionary journeys, and his love for this young man undoubtedly grew out of his respect and admiration for Timothy’s mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois. These two women had a strong and sincere faith in the Lord and a mutual love of Him. The Holy Spirit had revealed to them the true Messiah in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they had taught Timothy well. He had been taught to love God and to have love and respect for others. He had been trained well as a child, which training involved an in-depth knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures, and when Paul needed someone to take the place of John Mark, he thought of Timothy, his spiritual son.
When it was time for Timothy to leave home at Paul’s beckon, Eunice and Lois allowed him to go with no strings attached. Humanly speaking, he may have been the centre of their lives up until that time, but they were not selfish and full of self-pity. We don’t hear much about Eunice and Lois other than about their sincere faith in the Lord. Possessing such faith brings about in our lives many other sterling qualities.
As Christian mothers we can do no greater thing than to have a home where real love is. And real love is never demonstrated merely by the material things we give our children, for real love neither spoils nor pampers. Rather, it trains, guides, strengthens, and teaches spiritual and moral values, yet still leaves one free to grow and develop. Real love is a giving love — the kind our Lord Jesus displayed toward us when He suffered, bled and died at Calvary. If Jesus Christ is the centre of your home, then real love is there, and nothing is able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
We read in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go and, when he is old, he will not depart from it.” What a wonderful promise this is. In view of it, let us faithfully love and train our children, teaching them the way of salvation. Then let us show them by loving example the way our Lord would have them live in this world.
We must daily commit them to our Lord for His guidance and protection. Then, as Christian mothers, we know we will be bringing up our children the way God wants us to. There is no greater privilege than being a mother, loving and caring for the family God has given to you. Then, too, what a joy it is as a grandparent to watch your children do the same for their children.