Motherhood

Motherhood

May 8, 2005

Introduction

Today is Mother’s Day, as I’m sure we are all aware. I suppose that Mother’s Day is slightly different for each of us, because our mothers are different, and we’ve had different experiences with mothers. There are some who have had mothers who honestly, were poor mothers. Some have had mothers who really did not want them, and that is truly tragic. So today, as we celebrate Mother’s Day, I think that most of us think pleasant thoughts. Thoughts of good things like: Love, Sacrifice, Care, Softness. Guidance, Support, Encouragement, and Acceptance.

Where do these warm, caring thought come from? They come from God. They are qualities that make us better. They are qualities that we appreciate in mothers, but many of these are qualities that we need to nurture.

Body

I. It all begins with love.

God is love.

(1 John 4:16 NKJV) And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

But what does love do?

(1 Cor 13:4-7 NKJV) Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; {5} does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; {6} does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; {7} bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love bears all things. believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things I’d like to share a poem of what can happen when love doesn’t bear all things:

(Author not known)

I'm sorry I can't tell you what
I'm sure you'd rather hear,
But there's a burden in my heart
I can no longer bear.

There's an anger I must cross
Before I come to you
And make my peace with who you are,
And try your soul anew.

I know I wasn't what you wanted
When you wanted me,
A healthy, happy baby girl
You could raise easily.

I was born impaired, and you
Have never understood
That what I am is whole and fair
And beautiful and good.

You were sorry, first for me
And then for you, and wept,
But I would not be me without
The fact that I am deaf.

I am a gift to celebrate
And not a cause to grieve.
As a child this was what
I needed to believe.

I needed but a different road
To reach the common goal,
But you decided there were things
I couldn't do at all.

And rather than accept what life
Had given in its grace,
You looked at what life had withheld
And turned from its embrace.

Ah, Mother! How you injured me
By what you would not own!
To love myself I had to leave
And make my way alone,

And have my children in the course
Of what I would become,
But always, always looking back
To where I had no home.

II. Motherhood means sacrifice and caring.

A. What does the golden text of the Bible say?

(John 3:16) "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1. Love is giving – not your money – you!

a. Love is taking the time to help you with your homework.

b. Love is taking time to listen to your problems and try to help and understand.

2. Love is caring and thoughtfulness.

a. It’s having a hug when you get a “boo-boo”

b. It’s being tucked in bed at night.

c. It’s a cool washcloth for your head when you have a fever.

d. Remember: Our expressions of love to each other help us understand a loving God.

III. Motherhood also means guidance.

A. Blessed are those who have a loving mother who teaches the truths of God’s word.

1. Timothy was blessed to have a mother like that.

(2 Tim 1:5 NKJV) when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

2. I had a mother like that.

3. I had a dad like that.

(Eph 6:4 NKJV) And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

B. Mothers are there to guide us in learning how to get along with others, including our brothers and sisters.

1. My sister and I were never allowed to fight one another with our parents’ approval.

2. We knew that we were to get along at school, and with others as well.

IV. Isaac and Rebecca were not the ideal parents.

A. Things went on between Jacob and Esau that were not right.

(Gen 25:30-32 NKJV) And Esau said to Jacob, "Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary." Therefore his name was called Edom. {31} But Jacob said, "Sell me your birthright as of this day." {32} And Esau said, "Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?"

1. Something was missing in the guidance department of this family.

2. Bad matters simply get worse.

B. It is a full blown family feud.

(Gen 27:6-13 NKJV) So Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Indeed I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying, {7} 'Bring me game and make savory food for me, that I may eat it and bless you in the presence of the LORD before my death.' {8} "Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to what I command you. {9} "Go now to the flock and bring me from there two choice kids of the goats, and I will make savory food from them for your father, such as he loves. {10} "Then you shall take it to your father, that he may eat it, and that he may bless you before his death." {11} And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Look, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth-skinned man. {12} "Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be a deceiver to him; and I shall bring a curse on myself and not a blessing." {13} But his mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, get them for me."

1. It is a sad story.

2. Jacob is forced to flee for 20 years.

3. As far as we know, he never sees his mother again.

V. Mothers are such an important part of home.

A. It is an awesome task and responsibility.

B. It does take Love, Sacrifice, Care, Softness. Guidance, Support, Encouragement, and Acceptance.

C. It does take a mother committed to God to be all she can be.

Conclusion

I. Are you all you can be?

II. If there is something in your life you need to make right, there is no better time than now.

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