Motherhood

[ Favored in the Bible, Downgraded in the World ] 

Motherhood was considered the greatest blessing a woman could receive in Bible times. Its clearly seen that the Bible is in favor of raising children. 

In the Bible, women dreaded the thought of barrenness. Let’s look at some examples and see how they responded when they were blessed with children. 

  • Sarah – joy (Gen 11:30; 21:1-7)
  • Rachel – reproach removed (Gen 29:31-35; 30:22-23) 
  • Hannah – praise (1 Sam 1:6, 10-18, 20, 26-28; 2) 
  • Elizabeth – rejoicing/ gladness (Lk 1:5-9, 13, 57-58)

If we look at greatness, the world says it is found in success/accomplishments, power/titles, money/stuff, etc. BUT the Bible says it is found in humbly serving (Matt 18:1-5; 20:20-28) and motherhood is a way women serve God (1 Tim 2:15). Childbearing is a special role that God appointed to women. Raising kids is vitally important kingdom work. 

So how do we serve God by children?

  1. Our Body- Sustaining life in the womb- after Adam and Eve, every other child has been born from a mother’s womb (Ps 139:13-16), including Christ through Mary’s womb. The world says children are a burden, unfulfilling, wastes of talent, and are an inconvenience, so the world allows mothers to abandon, abuse, reject, and even kill their child. BUT God says children are blessings (Prov 17:6; 31:28), rewards (Ps 127:3), gifts (James 1:17), and are fulfilling (Ps 127:5). 
  2. Our Time – the world sees time as to be all about me, myself, and I. It’s nothing abnormal to leave the kids all the time because “you deserve it”. BUT God tells us to invest in our kids spiritual lives, teaching and training them diligently all the time (even in the little ways) (Deut 6:6-9), teach them so future generations will learn (Ps 78:1-7), love your children and teach them to love their kids (Titus 2:3-5), and teach them to have genuine faith (2 Tim 1:1-5). Time is one of the greatest blessings you can give your kids. 
  3. Our Money – the world focuses on getting more and more money so we can have more and more stuff. BUT the Bible teaches to place our treasures on spiritual matters (Col 3:1-2). Do your kids see their parents buying alcohol, drugs, ungodly things, etc., or do they see their parents helping those in need, giving to God on Sundays, buying biblical materials, etc.?
  4. Our Attitude – the world tells us to take time for self care, “treat yourself, you deserve it”. BUT God says He cares for me (1 Pet 5:7), He knows my tears (Ps 56:8), He is my shelter and strong tower (Ps 61:1-2), and He is my refuge (Ps 62:8). We must not forget that all the things the world says to turn to for self care (bath bombs, time alone, food, whatever it is), are all from God in the first place. We need to recognize that time with God should be our self care because God cares and He will recharge us. 

We must remember Satan is trying to get us to focus solely on the flesh and he is behind the whole outlook of motherhood becoming downgraded (1 Pet 5:8). He seeks to eliminate gender, destroy the family structure, overcrowd our lives, shift our priorities, support abortion, and elevate materialism. We see this everyday on social media, TV, books, etc, and it’s because of selfishness, worldly desires, and essentially, the lack of knowledge and love for God. We need to be looking to God for help because if we don’t raise our kids with God as the focus, the world will be happy to raise them with the Devil as the focus. 

So how do we keep worldly ideas out? 

  • Rom 12:2- don’t conform to the world, STAND for the truth! 
  • Eph 6:10-17 put on the armor, FACE the devil! 
  • Eph 6:18 pray and ask for God’s help
  • Surround yourself with godly influences
  • 2 Tim 2:15- study 

Think about if God looked at His kids (us!) as the way the world looks at kids, we would be in a terrible position.

So, 

How do you see motherhood? Has the world’s view crept in? Is God the main focus? Have you made it a point to acknowledge you are serving God through raising your children? 

So in a world that:

  • Scoffs at motherhood as a waste of time, unfulfilling, burden, let us view it as God does: vitally important kingdom work and as a God-given role that is to be taken seriously and fulfilled diligently. 
  • Says “me first” let us humbly serve those around us, our children included. 
  • Would have us turn to self focused “self-care” in moments of overwhelm and frustration, let us reject their mantras and prioritize soul care, remembering that God sees us and cares for us.
  • Views motherhood as marking time until we can do something that’s really important, let us see the time spent serving and teaching our children as an investment in eternity.
  • Says children are disposable, not valuable, a distraction from more important work, let us view them as valuable to God, created by Him, precious in His eyes, and as the truly important work.