Mother: The Most Important Role in the World
By Jeff Cranston
Each year on the second Sunday of May, we celebrate, honor and thank our mothers because they have one of the most important roles in the world. Someone once said, “The most creative job in the world involves fashion, decorating, recreation, education, transportation, psychology, romance, cuisine, literature, art, economics, government, pediatrics, geriatrics, entertainment, maintenance, purchasing, law, religion, energy and management. Anyone who can handle all those has to be somebody special. She’s a Mother.” [1]
In the Bible, there are some incredible portraits of motherhood, including the story of Eunice and Lois. Eunice was raised in a Jewish home and was greatly influenced by her mother, Lois. She loved to learn the stories from the Bible when she was young and enjoyed going to temple services, where she could learn about God. When she was older, she married a Greek man, and a few years later, they were blessed with a baby boy whom they named Timothy. Lois came to live with the couple after the death of her husband.
Both Timothy’s mother and grandmother spent countless hours teaching him the stories of the Old Testament, praying with and for him, and training him in the things of God. Eventually, through the ministry of the apostle Paul, who visited their Roman colony town of Lystra, both Lois and Eunice placed their trust in Jesus Christ. These new believers, in turn, focused on teaching Timothy all about who Jesus was. Paul also took a personal interest in Timothy the teenager and, partnering with his mother and grandmother, led him to saving faith also.
Later, Paul and Timothy partnered together in ministry as the gospel continued to spread throughout the region. Many years later, Paul wrote two letters to young Timothy advising him on how to behave as a church leader and also reminiscing with him. As Paul writes these letters—1st and 2nd Timothy—he reflects on the mothers who made an impact in Timothy’s life. Read 2 Timothy 1:5-6; 3:14-15. From these verses, we see:
1. Significant spiritual impact comes from a mother who instills a respectful attitude for God’s Word.
The first way a mother can do this is by instilling within her children a respect for Scripture. In 2 Timothy 3:14, Paul is clear and tells Timothy (and us) that we are not only to learn the things of God cognitively, but we are to make a practice of owning what we study by becoming convinced of its truthfulness. Paul says, “Don’t just fill your head with truth, internalize it and live it out!” Timothy did this because he saw it modeled in his mother, in his grandmother and Paul.
How are you instilling a respect for the Word of God into the lives of your children? You can make a significant spiritual impact on your children because your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God might not be something you do, but someone you raise.
2. Significant spiritual impact comes from a mother who instills a sincere faith.
For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. – 2 Timothy 1:5
Even though Lois and Eunice were believers, Timothy needed to come to a point in which he put his own faith in Christ. Faith is not hereditary; it is learned and must be acted upon. When mothers model genuine faith, an environment is set up whereby children will be motivated to want that same kind of faith. These two mothers were drop-dead serious about their faith, fully devoted and completely committed. And Timothy knew it.
If you want to instill authentic faith in your children, then you must take your own faith seriously. If you’re just going through the motions spiritually, your kids will eventually see it, and tragically, may do the same thing when they are older.
3. Significant spiritual impact comes from a mother who instills a desire to serve others.
The third way to impact your children is to instill within them a desire to minister and to serve God and others. Let’s pick up Timothy’s story in Acts 16:1-3a: Paul came also … to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted this man to go with him…
In this passage, I see three qualities in Timothy that were no doubt passed down from his mother and grandmother:
First of all, he was a strong believer. He is referred to as a disciple—a learner and a follower who was serious about Christ. Second, he had a good reputation. The believers in the area spoke well of him. People knew him as a man of integrity and as a man of the Word. Again, this had a lot to do with his mother and grandmother.
Third, he was F.A.T.: Faithful, Available and Teachable. Paul wanted to take Timothy along on the journey. If you continue to read the Book of Acts, you’ll see that Timothy was eager to minister. He knew it meant leaving home, and he knew it meant facing hardship. There is no way this kind of commitment to ministry develops if it has not been encouraged at home.
The truth of the matter is this: We are all saved to serve. We are to be disciples so that we can disciple others. We are equipped so that we can evangelize. We are sanctified so that we can be sent to a lost and dying world.
Moms, I applaud you for taking the task seriously of making a spiritual impact in the lives of your children. As Proverbs 31 teaches us, we rise tand call you blessed. Thank you for pouring your lives into ours.
Jeff Cranston is the lead pastor of LowCountry Community Church in Bluffton, S.C.
[1] Richard Kerr quoted in Homemade, February 1989.