Lesson Ten

Dear Mom, I.O.U.
(Devotion for Mother/Daughter Fellowship)

 

Introduction:

How can we ever repay our mothers? Abraham Lincoln once said, "All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my mother." And from Mark Twain came these words, "My mother's love for me was so great that I have worked hard to justify it."

If I was going to write a thank you note to my mother, this is what I would say:

Thank you for letting me be a real girl in a family full of boys.

Thank you for being the prettiest mom in the PTA meetings.

Thank you for not looking under my bed after I cleaned my room.

Thank you for letting me walk around in your favorite high heels so I could pretend I was you.

Thank you for buying that beautiful doll with the blue dress for me for Christmas. Now I realize it probably blew your entire Christmas budget.

Thank you for being the Tooth Fairy, my Valentine, the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus.

Thank you for not putting a paper bag over your head and sneaking out of the auditorium when I screeched out "Old Susannah" on my violin in the 5th grade talent show.

Thank you for telling me my dead parakeet went to "Bird Heaven."

Thank you for letting me put Pat Boone and Fabian pictures all over my bedroom walls.

Thank you for not grounding me when my first brother broke his hand on my second brother's head while I was supposed to be babysitting them.

Thank you for teaching my how to thank God.

Thank you for giving me the best years of your life.

Thank you for a great childhood.

Theres no doubt that motherhood is a high calling. (Judg. 5:7) says Deborah "arose a mother in Israel." And she did what mothers do best --- she straightened everyone out! 

I. Responsibility of mother to daughter

You can't do anything about your ancestors, but you can do a lot regarding your descendants.

A. To love

[1]. This used to be a given, but it no longer is in our society.

(2 Tim. 3:3) warns us that the last days will be without natural affection.

[2]. Children are a blessing from God. (Ps. 127:4) calls them "an heritage of the Lord."

B. To train - Training is transferring one's life pattern to another. (Prov. 22:6) admonishes us to "train up a child in the way he should go..."

There is a Jewish proverb that says one mother achieves more than 100 teachers.

[1]. To be gracious - (Prov. 11:16)

[2]. To be discreet - (Prov. 11:22) Does anyone today know what this word means???

[3]. To fear the Lord - (Prov. 19:23; Deut. 5:29)

[4]. To build her house - (Prov. 14:1) You do your child a great disservice if you do not teach her the skills in building a loving home.

[5]. To love God - (Deut. 6:4-9)

    (a). You can only teach what you yourself believe.

    (b). Make sure there are physical signs of scripture in the house.

    (c). Encourage Bible memory work.

C. To comfort - (Isa. 66:13
[1]. God compares His comfort to that of a mother.
[2]. Think of the words spawned from this word: comforter, comfortable.

D. To correct - (Prov. 29:15; 22:15; 19:1)
[1]. You owe it to your child to correct them.
[2]. You owe it to the community.
[3]. You owe it to God.

E. To be an example - (Eze. 16:44) It has often been said that the traits you least like in your children are the ones you gave them!
[1]. (2 Chron. 22:2-4) This is a sad commentary of a mother's influence on her son. For a modern example we have only to look at the Jukes family; out of 1200 descendants, 400 were physically self-wrecked, 310 were professional paupers, 130 were convicted criminals, 60 were habitual thieves and pickpockets and 7 were murderers. Only 20 learned a trade, and of those 20. ten learned that trade in prison.
[2]. (Ex. 2) - The influence of a Godly mother is clear in the person of Jochebed. The story of how she managed to save her son is a familiar one.
(a). (Heb. 11:23) Note how faith "rubs off" on children in the next few verses.
(b). Jochebed raised three children to serve the Lord in a land of idolatry and spiritual decay. What an example for mothers raising children today in our land of idolatry and spiritual decay.
(c). (Heb. 11:24-28) - These verses record Moses' response to this training. He was taught to stand alone in an alien environment and was later used by God to pen the guidelines for future parents.

The end result if fulfilling your responsibility in child raising if found in (Ps. 33:12) - "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, and the people he hath chosen for his own inheritance."

Maturity comes from learning but wisdom can't be forced on children. How many older mothers are still looking for signs of improvement in their middle-aged children?!!! (Jn. 1:12-13) tells us we're given the power to become the sons of God but He will not violate our will.

Good parents don't necessarily sire good children. Example: Samuel's sons "walked not in his ways." Conversely, children with weak guardians don't always emerge weak, i.e. Eli and Samuel.

Even we as mothers cannot convict of sin; we cannot create a hunger and thirst after God; we cannot convert the sinful heart. These are miracle and miracles are not our department. We can only do what the Book commands us to do. 

II. Responsibility of daughters to mothers

Now this a strange concept-that the children could actually owe anything to the mother! Let's be sure we're not part of the generation mentioned in (Prov. 30:11-14).

A. To obey - (Col. 3:20) shows us the law of sowing and reaping. If you obey your parents, you please God.

B. To respect - This involves three areas.
[1]. Curse not - (Lev. 20:9; Prov. 20:20) To curse means to injure, subject to evil, vex or harass.
[2]. Rebuke not - (1 Tim. 5:1-2) It is never your place to correct your mother harshly.
[3]. Rob not - (Prov. 28:24) In 1971 the president of the Central African Republic celebrated Mother's Day by ordering the execution of all who had committed crimes against their mothers. I'm not sure how happy that Mother's Day was.

C. To honor - (Eph. 6:2-3) An ad was placed in the school newspaper of Southern Illinois University and read as follows: Sweet old lady wishes to correspond with six foot student with brown eyes, answering to the initials J.D.B. Signed, his mother.
[1]. The upside of honoring your parents is living well and long.
[2]. (Prov. 19:26) Another example of sowing and reaping: waste your father/chase away your mother and inherit reproach and shame.
[3]. (Lev. 19:32) reminds us that the commandment to honor also includes all "hoary heads," the obvious and and the not so obvious!

D. To listen - (Job 32:4-6)
[1]. Wait to speak. Talk and you say what you already know; listen and you learn something.
[2]. (1 Peter 5:5) - Submit yourselves; someone older might actually know more than you!
[3]. (Prov. 1:8) - Hear instruction.

Conclusion:

If both these responsibilities are honored - the mother to the daughter and the daughter to the mother - this is the result:

"Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. The father of the shall greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice."
 

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