• Mothers teach us about logic: "If you fall out of that tree and break your neck, don’t come crying to me."
• Mothers teach us about maturity: "Eat your vegetables or you’ll never grow up."
• Mothers teach us about religion: "You better pray that comes out of the carpet."
• Mothers teach us about time travel: "If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!"
• Mothers teach us about contradictions: "Shut your mouth and eat your dinner!"
• Mothers teach us about contortionism: "Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck?"
• Mothers teach us about perseverance: "You are going to sit here until you eat every last piece of that broccoli."
• Mothers teach us about genetics: "You’re just like your father."
• Mothers teach us about the weather: "It looks like a tornado swept through your room."
• Mothers teach us about the circle of life: "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."
Mothers! What a blessing to have a loving mother, one who takes her role very seriously. I read an article the other day that said, “By the time a child reaches 18, a mother has had to handle some extra 18,000 hours of child-generated work. In fact, women who never had children enjoy the equivalent of an extra three months a year in leisure time! You girls need to think about that for a very long time!!! It takes work to be a good mother! I’m reminded of a father going over his wedding pictures with his 4 year old daughter.
He explained the whole wedding service to her, then, asked if she had any questions. She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, “Daddy is that when mommy came to work for us?” Mothers, what a blessing! I heard an old quote that goes like this; “If daddy ain’t happy, who cares? If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!” I realize this morning that Mother’s day is a difficult time for some of you. Maybe you want to be a mother but you can’t be for some reason. Perhaps some of you have not had the best mother in the world. Some of you have had a mother who has died. Some of you mothers have a child that has passed away. Some of you mothers feel the pain of a wayward child, this morning. Some of you are flying solo as you work hard to nurture your child’s faith. I pray that God will give you comfort and grace today. I want to introduce you to a woman named Eunice, found in our text this morning. She was raised in a God-fearing home and was greatly impacted by her mother Lois. As she approached her teenage years, she was still focused on spiritual matters, but she became attracted to a young man who was not into religion at all. He was a Greek, and was no doubt a part of the heathen Idol worshipping society. It is not known why she married outside her Christian faith, but it is evident she did not forsake her walk with God.
They gave birth to a son named Timothy. In this particular scripture text Paul mentions the mother and grandmother but does not mention the father, which indicated that either he remained in an unconverted state, or had passed away already. So the emphasis here is that Timothy’s mother and grandmother trained him in the Christian faith by themselves. No doubt they told him the old stories of the Old Testament as well as the stories about the miracles of Jesus, and how He died on the cross for their sins. Paul greatly emphasized the impact they had upon Timothy’s young life. I believe Timothy’s mother and grandmother taught him the Holy Scriptures from the time he was an infant. Instilling in him the Word of God, doing everything they could to provide him the opportunity to learn the principles of God’s Word.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Mothers, it is never too early to start instilling God’s Word into the hearts of your children. God wants to use you to instill into your children respect for God’s Word, for the House of God, for the Pastor and teachers of the church. If you yourself do not respect these things don’t expect your children to love God or the church when they grow up. Mothers, what kind of bible are your child reading when he or she observes your life? Remember, you can make a major impact on your children with or without the help of a father. If you want to instill authentic faith in your children then you should take your own faith seriously. If you are just going thru the motions, you can rest assured your children will see it and tragically, may do the same thing when they grow up. A pastor was talking to a man who wanted to join the church. He asked him, “What did I say that convinced you to join the church?” The man said, “It was nothing I ever heard you say. It was the way my mother lived.” I think about how fortunate Timothy was for having a mother and grandmother who were more interested in him knowing the bible than becoming a great statesman of his day. How wonderful is a mother today who is more concerned about her children’s souls than about their future careers. How wonderful is a mother today who is more concerned about her children’s eternal life than their success in life. A mother who is more concerned about their relationship with Jesus than their popularity in the world. A mother who is more concerned about their standing before God than their standing in social status. A mother who is more concerned about their spirituality than their intellectual, musical, or athletic accomplishments. I had a friend in church one time that had two girls. He placed them in sports. They were good at it. He began to take them to sports events on Sundays. It wasn’t very long until the whole family was away from God. Both girls turned from God and began to live a life completely away from God and the church.My friend the price is high when you don’t set a good example before your children. Timothy went down in history as a man of faith. I think it was largely because of a praying mother and grandmother who were devoted to God. Thank God for mothers today who will set a good example for their children. Even if the father doesn’t set a good example, the mother should stand firm in her faith teaching the children the way of life and following the example of Jesus Christ. If you are here today and have had the privilege of having a godly mother, you are fortunate indeed. I want to close this morning by reading a poem entitled, “My Mother.” I apologize for not knowing the source of this poem.
My Mother
Your love, I know—I’ve seen your tears;
You’ve given to me my life.
You’ve walked through hours and days and years
Of heartache, toil and strife.
To see that I could have the best
That you could give to me,
You gave up needs and often rest—
You viewed eternity.
To do His will my highest call
And by your special care
I stood and walked and did not fall,
You held me up in prayer.
Though strands of gray may brush your hair,
And miles divide our way,
I know that by your quiet prayer
You’ve helped me day by day.
You’ve shown me how to give, to share
To put my own needs last.
You’ve helped me see and be aware
That life is so soon past.
To spite your love I would not dare,
For there’s not another
Who spreads her gentle love and care
Like you—My Loving Mother.
