{"id":90635,"date":"2021-03-10T09:54:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/"},"modified":"2023-10-06T22:18:49","modified_gmt":"2023-10-07T02:18:49","slug":"motherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Motherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">The first mother mentioned in the Bible is, of course, Eve. <strong>Genesis 3:20 says,\n&#8220;The man called his wife&#8217;s name Eve, because she was the mother of all\nliving.&#8221;<\/strong> &#8220;Eve&#8221; means \u201clife or living\u201d so, clearly, a\nmother brings forth life in the form of a baby.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">This naturally means that a woman becomes a &#8220;mother&#8221;\nwhich, in the Hebrew, is the word &#8217;em.&nbsp;\nThat word adds another aspect of motherhood in that not only does a\nwoman bear a child, but has the idea that she nurtures that child until he or\nshe can stand on their own two feet. Literally the word \u2018em implies a point of\ndeparture.&nbsp; So motherhood, as established\nin the Bible, represents someone who is a nurturing source\u2026bringing forth life\nand then caring for that life in order that a son or daughter may be eventually\nindependent \u2026 living on their own.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">I know that there are women who have not actually given\nbirth who find Mothers Day an awkward day of recognition.&nbsp; But I want to stress what I have come to\ndiscover is a little known fact in that the Bible does not reserve motherhood\nonly for women with biological children.&nbsp;\nJudges 5:7 identifies the prophet and judge Deborah as &#8220;a mother in\nIsrael,&#8221; but she was also a mother <em>to<\/em>\nIsrael. In fact, due to her nurturing and care, there was a rare 40 year period\nof rest for the land.&nbsp; Now how did she do\nthat?&nbsp; She provided wisdom (<strong>Judges 4:5: She\nused to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill\ncountry of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.<\/strong>)\nand, under God&#8217;s leading, showed Israel the way they were to go (<strong>verse 6: She sent\nand summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, \u201c\u2026the\nGod of Israel, commanded you, \u2018Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking\n10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.)<\/strong>. She\neven tried to encourage her &#8220;grown child&#8221; to follow God on his own,\nwithout her constant presence (<strong>verses 8-9: Barak said to her, \u201cIf you will go with me, I\nwill go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.\u201d 9 And she said, \u201cI\nwill surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not\nlead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.\u201d\nThen Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.<\/strong>). Again, because\nof Deborah&#8217;s wisdom and guidance, Israel enjoyed a rare period of peace (<strong>Judges 5:31: \u2026 And\nthe land had rest for forty years.<\/strong>). <strong>Now here is the point: according to\nScripture, all women can follow Deborah&#8217;s example to encourage, nurture, and\ntrain those around them to live mature, effective, and God-honoring lives. And,\naccording to the Bible, you\u2026too\u2026are a mother.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">So, what do we take from Deborah\u2019s example in Judges, in\nconjunction with other Scripture, as to how you\u2026as a woman\u2026should be about the\ndivinely appointed task of mothering those lives to which God has entrusted\nyou?&nbsp; I would suggest there are seven key\npoints:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li><strong>In the biblical view, the mission is to raise children to\nfollow God.<\/strong> To that end, God designed your influence upon children\nto be a) cared for, b) loved, c) trained, and d) empowered. Notice the\nprogression \u2013 infant to young adult, this is the formula to be followed.&nbsp; Now this requires both kindness and\ndiscipline and I want to stress, as a point of recognition if nothing else,\nthat being a Christian mother encompasses a great degree of tension. Why?&nbsp; Because in your role you must be kind but\nstill uphold biblical expectations; and not only that, you must sense when to\nlet go of the children you have nurtured.&nbsp;\nAs most Christian mothers can attest, it is difficult to balance the\nnatural instinct to protect one&#8217;s child from harm with the necessity to equip\nthe child for life as an adult. Yet, <strong>Proverbs 22:6 carries a promise: \u201cTrain up a child in the way\nhe should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.\u201d<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li><strong>Mothers are reminded to love their children<\/strong> (<strong>Titus 2:4: and so\ntrain the young women to love their husbands and children<\/strong>)\u2014to feel\naffection for them, to approve of, like, and to have a kind attitude toward\nthem. Now some may find this odd \u2013 don\u2019t all mothers love their children?&nbsp; Clearly not.&nbsp;\nI\u2019ll give you just one statistic of 2014: 15.5 million children live in\na home where domestic violence has occurred\u2026against them.&nbsp; Why?&nbsp;\nThe responsibility of a child means other areas of one\u2019s life have to be\nsacrificed and it is not easy to put one\u2019s self second\u2026especially to a child\nwho doesn\u2019t realize the sacrifice being made.&nbsp;\nI know for couples who have a disabled child, the divorce rate is an\nastounding 80%.&nbsp; Clearly, every parent faces\nthe self vs. selfless challenge.&nbsp; Paul\nhad to remind Titus to remind the women of his congregation\u2026this isn\u2019t a new\nissue, but it is a perpetual fight against the flesh in sacrifice for\nanother.&nbsp; Mothers\u2026love your children.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>At the same time, a mother is to <strong>train her\nchildren to live godly lives<\/strong> (<strong>Psalm 78:5-6: He (God)\nestablished a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He\ncommanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that the next generation\nmight know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their\nchildren<\/strong>).&nbsp; Do you see the\ninfluence you have?&nbsp; You are influencing\nthe next, unborn generation!&nbsp; &nbsp;And you are an instrument in God\u2019s hand in\nhelping children discover how they, personally, can contribute to God&#8217;s kingdom\n(Proverbs 22:6).&nbsp; You see, moms are\ngenerally in the home more than dads.&nbsp; As\nsuch, their influence is great\u2026more personal\u2026more sensitive.&nbsp; They handle the day-to-day instruction and,\nas such, training results which leads to godly lives.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li><strong>Children don&#8217;t always make this task easy.<\/strong>\nDeuteronomy 21:18-21 gives the law that if an Israelite child was completely\nrebellious toward his parents, to the point where he endangered them and those\naround them, the parents were responsible to turn the son in to the authorities.\nIf the crimes were serious enough, the governing body could then have the son\nexecuted. This law must have been incredibly difficult for mothers whose first\ninstinct was to protect their child, and, indeed, there is no record that the\nlaw was ever used yet \u2013 what a heartbreaker. &nbsp;Jesus expressed a motherly heartbreak in <strong>Luke 13:34 when He\nsaid, &#8220;O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones\nthose who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children\ntogether as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not\nwilling!&#8221;<\/strong> Part of a Christian mother&#8217;s responsibility in\nequipping and training her children is to explain and embody the character and\nholiness of God (Deuteronomy 6:4-7), even if the child rejects everything to do\nwith God. Having raised children myself, I find it comforting to know that\nJesus Himself also struggled with rebellious children. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li><strong>Another serious tension in Christian motherhood is that\nof being a life-giver as well as a place of departure.<\/strong> As we have\nmentioned, Genesis 3:20 describes Eve, the first mother, as the source of life.\nIn Genesis 17:16, God promised Abraham that his wife Sarah would become the\nmother, or source, of many nations and kings. But God also told Eve&#8217;s children\nto <strong>&#8220;fill\nthe earth&#8221; (Genesis 1:28<\/strong>), which would require them to leave her.&nbsp; Having sent two children out into the world,\nthere is a sense of loss.&nbsp; It is\ninevitable.&nbsp; No more running in and\nout\u2026no more \u201cMom can I do this or that\u201d\u2026\u201dMom, can I eat this or that\u201d\u2026\u201dMom my\nbrother won\u2019t leave me alone!\u201d and on and on it goes.&nbsp; When the house goes silent, it is\ndisconcerting.&nbsp; But\u2026the point of the\nexercise is raise them up to be physically and spiritually competent to stand\nwith God\u2026NOT stand alone \u2026 but stand with God.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>Having just referenced it\u2026similarly, <strong>mothers need to\nremember that the purpose of mothering is to develop a strong, independent\nadult <\/strong>(Genesis 2:24). Now why would I bring this up again?&nbsp; Well, in some cases, children live close to\nMom and this inevitably leads to tension.&nbsp;\nEven if that adult child resides geographically close, she must allow\nthe child the freedom to live as an adult, taking his or her mother&#8217;s wisdom\ninto account (Proverbs 31:2) but still making his or her own decisions\u2014even\ndecisions she doesn&#8217;t understand or agree with.&nbsp;\nProverbs 31:1-9 is a wonderful account from\na son of a mother stepping into his adult life with appropriate counsel: \u201cThe words of King Lemuel. An oracle that his mother taught\nhim:&nbsp; What are you doing, my son? What\nare you doing, son of my womb?&nbsp;&nbsp; What are\nyou doing, son of my vows? &nbsp;Do not give\nyour strength to women, your ways to those who destroy kings.&nbsp; It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for\nkings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and\nforget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.&nbsp; Give strong drink to the one who is\nperishing, and wine to those in bitter distress; let them drink and forget\ntheir poverty and remember their misery no more.&nbsp; Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights\nof all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously; defend the rights\nof the poor and needy.\u201d&nbsp; This son\nunderstood his mother\u2019s intent of raising him to strong and independent in a\nGodly sense.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><li>In order to hold the tension of motherhood, God\nexpects Christian mothers to have two specific characteristics. The first is\ninferred in <strong>Proverbs\n1:8-9: &#8220;Hear, my son, your father&#8217;s instruction, and forsake not your\nmother&#8217;s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants\nfor your neck.&#8221;<\/strong> <strong>In order for a child to trust his mother&#8217;s wisdom, the\nmother must actually be wise.<\/strong> Therefore, mothers need to follow God\nand rely on the promises in <strong>2 Peter 1:3, <\/strong>which says,<strong> &#8220;His divine power has granted to us all\nthings that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who\ncalled us to His own glory and excellence.&#8221;<\/strong> But Christian\nmothers should also keep in mind <strong>Ephesians 6:4: &#8220;Fathers, do not provoke your children to\nanger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.&#8221;<\/strong>\nSo, secondly, <strong>Discipline\nand training are greatly undermined when they are given without respect or\naffection.<\/strong> Add the two together, and you get Ephesians 4:15\u2014speaking\nthe truth in love.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\">Motherhood is not the sum total of a Christian woman&#8217;s\nresponsibilities. She is also a child of God (Romans 8:14), possibly a\nrespectful wife (Ephesians 5:33) if indeed married, always an essential part of\nher local church (1 Corinthians 12:4-31). In all of these relationships, a\nwoman can exhibit Christian motherhood by supporting, training, and empowering\nothers so they can make their own contribution to God&#8217;s Kingdom.&nbsp; Therefore, to every woman here \u2013 a blessed\nMother\u2019s Day to each!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first mother mentioned in the Bible is, of course, Eve. Genesis 3:20 says, &#8220;The man called his wife&#8217;s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.&#8221; &#8220;Eve&#8221; means \u201clife or living\u201d so, clearly, a mother brings forth life in the form of a baby.&nbsp; This naturally means that a woman becomes a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[526],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Motherhood - Grace Evangelical Free Church<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Motherhood - Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first mother mentioned in the Bible is, of course, Eve. Genesis 3:20 says, &#8220;The man called his wife&#8217;s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.&#8221; &#8220;Eve&#8221; means \u201clife or living\u201d so, clearly, a mother brings forth life in the form of a baby.&nbsp; This naturally means that a woman becomes a [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-10T14:54:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-07T02:18:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tony Raker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\"},\"headline\":\"Motherhood\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-10T14:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-07T02:18:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/\"},\"wordCount\":1934,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Issues &amp; Answers\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/\",\"name\":\"Motherhood - Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-10T14:54:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-07T02:18:49+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/motherhood\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/gefc-logo-full-color-rgb.svg\",\"width\":514,\"height\":259,\"caption\":\"Grace Evangelical Free Church\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/#\/schema\/person\/6785bcea471ae92fb3660d811c5c74ef\",\"name\":\"Tony Raker\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/keriritenour.com\/grace\/author\/pastor_admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Motherhood - Grace Evangelical Free Church","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Motherhood - Grace Evangelical Free Church","og_description":"The first mother mentioned in the Bible is, of course, Eve. 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