The Gift of Motherhood: Raising the Next Generation of Believers
Photo by Josue Michel on Unsplash
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
— Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (NIV)
One of the greatest gifts of motherhood, beyond experiencing a kind of love divinely created only for a mother and her child, is the calling to raise the next generation of Christ followers. Raising children who love the Lord as we do is one of our most important missions in this life. Like any great mission, it is not without sacrifice and struggle. Raising godly children in a world that is not our home (Hebrews 13:14) is perhaps the most challenging work we endure, yet the most rewarding.
Charles Spurgeon aptly wrote, “It is not very easy, I know, to preach Christ to little children, but there is nothing else worth preaching.”
Our key passage instructs us to first store God’s commandments in our hearts and then teach our children with intention and purpose all throughout our days. The more I pour into my relationship with Christ, the more enriched my relationships with family and friends become. Discipling then becomes second nature, because I want my children to know and love Jesus as I do.
I used to think ministering to my children at home meant reading daily devotions, always saying “grace” before meals, and scheduling Bible study time into our hurried days. While these things are good and necessary for a strong spiritual upbringing, I’ve learned the most rewarding and promising way to teach is to show and tell. It’s kind of like bringing a prized possession to school and sharing with your classmates what you love and treasure most about it.
My oldest son is just 11, and I am still very much a novice mother. I don’t pretend to know all the answers or get it right most days, but the Lord has brought me a long way since those early days of parenting. The longer I walk with Jesus, the easier it is to tell and show my children how God loves us and how we should love others. I’ve learned that a good student makes a better teacher.
As imperfect Christian mothers, relying on a perfect Christ, we can show our children grace and how to forgive others. We can live by the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) to the best of our ability and humbly ask for forgiveness when we fail.
We can pray with and for our children. We should study Scripture with them and let them notice our open Bibles on the table. We can teach them gratitude by giving thanks for even the smallest things.
Let us not forget to show our children what it is like to worship and praise even when our troubles are great. Let them see what it looks like to wrestle and question, as all believers do. And give them space and freedom to ask hard questions about faith and God without judgment.
Most of all, we should love them unconditionally and let them know that motherhood is the greatest gift God gave us.
Let us not forget to show our children what it is like to worship and praise even when our troubles are great.
Questions for Reflection
1. Were you raised in a Christian home? If so, what was one thing your parent(s) did to show you the love of Christ?
2. What is your favorite way to share the Good News with your children?
