God’s Purpose for Mothers
Mom. Mommy. Mother. Mama. Whatever title your child(ren) gave you, that is going to be the most important title in all your life. As mothers, we are sought out for the unconditional love we give, nurture we provide, and outpouring of the sacrifices to give our children a “better” life. We play an important role in the lives of our child(ren)...especially in the ever-changing, ever-broken world we live in. There is a need for mothers to have courage because it’s not an easy job raising children in today’s type of brokenness that I’ve never experienced or seen before. Motherhood is still new to me, but this experience of the world through the lense of having to protect my young cubs has taken me to new heights. The good news is (and there always is good news), God has truly blessed each and everyone with a unique and strong kind of courage for the work that He has purposed us to do.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. - Deuteronomy 6:5-7
God’s Purpose For Us As A Parent
The greatest calling that God has placed upon us is the making of disciples out of our own children as it states in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go and make disciples of all nations…”. A disciple meaning a follower of Jesus. When God created the institution of the “Family”, He had in mind one thing…that it would be the vehicle to drive the Gospel from parent to children—from generation to generation.
“We will not hide them from their children, but tell them to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord and his might and the wonders that he has done…” - Psalm 78:4
We are in fact the greatest instruments in God’s redeeming work for our child’s salvation. You are the mother of immortal souls who are called to a responsibility for the eternal Kingdom. That is, to be a disciple maker in your own home. Your kids need guidance in this world we live in, and you are their appointed guide.
According to Solomon’s biblical wisdom in the verse, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6), an essential part of a child’s salvation wasn’t church ministry or youth ministry, it’s not a Christian community center or a mentor from a church; but by the way of their parent. We see this further supported in Proverbs 1:8, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.”
Solomon’s wisdom speaks volume into my life. I was blessed to have parents who were involved in my spiritual life. For as long as I can remember, one of my parents’ greatest desires they’ve verbally shared with my siblings and I was for us to come to know the Lord and be saved. They didn’t just verbalize this goal. They lived it out in the way they did life with us. They prayed outwardly with my siblings and I, led us into Bible studies at least 2 times a week, I saw how my father passionately served us and the church, and how my mom was fervent in her love and giving for others. It is a fact that I may have lost my way for a couple years, but I look back on how I was brought to faith, and I thank my parents for always praying for me, always encouraging me, and always challenging me to deepen my trust in God. They carried this baton of faith and were careful not to fumble it because they knew what it would mean for me if they handed the baton to me.
Training with your child takes time, strength, courage, and wisdom. In Proverbs 22:6, the word that is used is “training” where in the original Hebrew, the word “han-ok” means to initiate through the tasting—that is the tasting of how to walk in a certain way. When I was training to run marathons, I consistently ran every day. I put in the work to prepare my body and nurtured it with the right kind of food. Likewise, training your child is like training for a marathon. It is a consistent practice of teaching and nurturing our children in how to walk light of God’s Word—ensuring they are fed the right food. We all know that we can’t do this alone because our children can drive us to the edge of the cliff. We need God’s strength to enable us to do what He purposed us to do.
As mothers, and especially single mothers, you better believe that you have been gifted and uniquely created to be where you are now. No one can do what you are doing right now or persevering what you are persevering right now, except for you. We all have a family origin story, trials and tribulations of some sort, and people who have shaped who we are for the needs that God knew our children would require. God gave us the strength (and courage) we required before we knew we needed it.
God has a purpose for mothers. The purpose is of many factors, but the greatest is to do what only you can do for your child(ren); that is to disciple them into the Lord our Christ. Run this race for your children—to pass the baton to your children in higher grounds—you are running for future generations to come!
God’s Purpose For Our Children
On the flip side of our purpose in discipling our child(ren) into Christ, then what does that mean for our child(ren)? What are they purposed then? God’s purpose for our children is to come into a relationship with God by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
I’d be the first to say it [here], I have moments where I want to give up because it is so hard to not just train my little kiddos to comprehend who God is, but to also live out a life that is displaying my love and pursuit of God. When the night has come and all I want to do is lay in bed…I need to go to God to give me the strength to be this “good” mom, and the courage to face the hardships of raising children. When I am going to God, I am reminded of this statement that I heard at a marriage retreat, “The only thing you can bring to Heaven with you, are your children.” These precious immortal souls have been given to us…they are so precious that both God and Satan are after them…so for us mothers, we must know that we have a high purpose. I am also reminded the words God spoke to Paul in his weakness,“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). It is in my weakness that I can acknowledge Christ’s power to rest on me to carry out the end of the day with grace and love for my children.
Because God has commissioned us to this purpose of being a mother, He will see us through it. Sometimes it is not in the way we expect it, but it will be in His perfect sovereign way. God will come to you and give you rest, comfort, and courage to finish the race. He will not let you go without any need for the purpose he has set for you (refer to Acts 23).
We can look at Deuteronomy 5:6-7 as a practical foundation to pursue:
Teach your children the instructions of the Lord–which is found in the Word of God. Read Scripture with them, whether it is one verse, or one passage a day.
Play bible jeopardy, play charades, ready Bible story books; overall, be creative in how you teach them
Talk to them about who God is, what he has done in your life, and how he continues to work in the life of the family over dinner with your youth or as you’re in bed with your young children. My husband and my personal favorite is “story time” before bed. It is amazing how eager our young kiddos are willing to lay still for our story time.
Share your testimony by discussing how God blessed you along your way, and help them find those moments in life where God has helped them in life
Walk by the instructions of the Lord. Model how it looks like to be the image of God so they taste the goodness and love of God through you.
Be slow to speak, love your husband and show him grace when he’s done wrong, ask your children for forgiveness if you’ve sinned against them, be open in your prayer life, be a part of the body of Christ to show just how important it is to be a part of God’s community
And lastly, do all this in every waking moment of our lives in all the opportunities that we get with our kids. Our children learn to mirror us, and as we live life they will see if our words match our actions.
From morning to night, seek God to give you strength in showing Christ despite how long and hard they day may have been; it’s those moments when we’ve had a long day, and something dramatically frustrating happens, where our children pays attention to how we respond
The baton of faith is in your hand.
CY