A Mom Worth Modeling

by Brian Bill
Published May 8, 2009

In a Calvin and Hobbes comic, Calvin is standing by his mother’s bed when he says, “Hey, Mom! Wake up. I made you a Mother’s Day card.” His mother was very pleased and started to read it out loud.

“I was going to buy a card with hearts of pink and red.
But then I thought I’d rather spend the money instead.
It’s awfully hard to buy things when one’s allowance is so small.
So I guess you’re plenty lucky I got you anything at all.
Happy Mother’s Day. There, I’ve said it. Now I’m done.
So how about getting out of bed and fixing breakfast for your son.”

I must confess that I was that kind of son when I was younger.

Almost 90 years ago, by an act of Congress, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. He established the day as a time for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” It’s certainly true that no nation is ever greater than its mothers, for they are the makers of the next generation.

On this Mother’s Day weekend I’m aware that Mother’s Day is anything but happy for some. 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 and a number of you have mothers who have died.
Others have lost a child to death, while still others feel the pain of a wayward child. And many moms are flying solo as they work hard to train and nurture their child’s faith

Let me introduce you to a young mom named Eunice. She was raised in a religious home and was greatly impacted by her mother Lois. She loved to learn the stories from the Bible when she was young and enjoyed going to services where she could learn about God. 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. Against the best wishes of her godly mother, the teaching of her faith, and the tug of her conscience, she married the man. Don’t get me wrong – he was a nice guy but thought spiritual matters were for weak people.

After a couple years of marriage, Eunice and her husband had a baby boy named Timothy. In the meantime, Eunice’s dad had died so they asked her mother Lois to come and live with them. Little Timmy was a delight to everyone. Both his mother and grandmother spent hours with him, teaching him the Bible, praying with him and for him, and training him in the things of God, creating a spiritual environment where tiny Tim could flourish.

Grandma Lois passed her faith on to her daughter Eunice. These new believers in turn focused on teaching Timothy about Jesus. The Book of Acts tells us that Paul himself took a personal interest in Tim the teenager and, in tandem with his mother and grandmother, led him to saving faith.

Later, Paul and Timothy partner together in ministry as the gospel continues to spread throughout the area. Many years later he writes two letters to young Timothy. In 2 Timothy 1:5 he reflects on the mothers who made an impact in Tim’s life: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”

Three principles emerge from this passage.

1. Sincere Christ-followers stand out. At the end of his life Paul feels feeble and many of his friends have deserted him but his mind goes back to Timothy’s sincere faith, which was first modeled by his grandmother and mother.

2. Focus on your family first. Grandma pointed her daughter to faith in Jesus and then mom modeled the faith and mentored her own son. Deuteronomy 6:4-8 challenges parents with the responsibility of teaching their children to love God by impressing on them what is alive in their own hearts.

3. Faith is both taught and caught. Grandma Lois and mother Eunice taught Tim and he caught their faith by seeing their sincerity. People listen to our words but they watch the way we live to see if we’re genuine. Do you see the progression here? Faith was passed from grandmother to daughter to grandson. C. Everett Koop, the former Surgeon General said this: “Life affords no greater responsibility and no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation.”

We’re called to congratulate and celebrate the worth of mothers in Proverbs 31:28-29: “Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.’”

Thanks, mom for all you’ve done…and this year you don’t have to make breakfast for this son.

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