5/11/14 MOTHERS’ DAY

    As we all know, this is Mothers’ Day.  There are countless stories about mothers.  Some of them are funny.  Some are very emotional and touching.
    This week, floating on the net: If at first you don’t succeed, try doing it the way Mom told you to do it in the beginning.
    Mothers are very important in the lives of children as they grow.  The relationship of mother and child usually lasts very strong all throughout life.  This day of celebration is a large economic boom to restaurants, florists, candy makers and long distance companies.
    A question that is running through my mind is this: why did God make mothers and fathers?  He could have created the human race to multiply like trees and flowers that simply spread seeds and new growth happens.  And yet, for human life to continue, it takes a mother and a father.  For life to flourish and be successful, it is best with a mother and a father.  We see that, after the creation of everything, the first institution created on the earth was the family.  God’s creation of the family allowed for the powerful and blessed relationships we can enjoy.  The family gives us a place where we really belong.  And, belonging is one of the most basic needs of every person.
    I think a good answer to the strange question I just asked is that we are designed for healthy and loving relationships.  Through marriage a man and woman have the foundation for that relationship.  Out of their love and relationship come the children.  Together the family finds fulfillment in their relationships.  They then can grow and establish new families and relationships.
Genesis 1:27-28 NIV
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Genesis 2:20-24 NIV
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
    God’s awesome plan from the very beginning was marriage and the family.  You may have heard the term “leave and cleave”.  God’s plan is for a man to leave the home he grew up in and start his own family.  Both the husband the wife are very important.
    The Bible says that people were made in God’s image.  That helps us to understand our value.  This enables us to respond to a unique personal relationship with God.  We can reflect His love and character.  We have a moral likeness to God in that we can understand right and wrong.  We can also have loving hearts and the desire to do right.  This allows us to have a personal relationship with God.
    The family is God’s channel to pass on His truths.  The husband and wife were created to have a family and pass on godliness to the next generation.
    God had a wonderful idea when He first established the family.  It is possibly the greatest gift we have as humans for our existence on this earth.
    God uniquely created both Adam and Eve.  He uniquely made men and women to be different and have equally important roles in the world.  So, both the husband and the wife are needed.
    Ladies, don’t listen to the world when it is trying to tell you that being “only” a mother is demeaning.  Sadly, there is basically nothing in our culture or in our education that encourages girls to desire or expect to grow up and get married and stay home with the children.  Being a loving wife and mother is not considered a worthy goal.
    Discussion for us:  What creates the most important impact?  Climbing the corporate ladder?  Shaping the lives of your children?
    I read a great thought:  Leaving children to discover their own values is a little like putting them in a chemistry lab full of volatile substances and saying, “Discover your own compound, kids.”
Christina Hoff Sommers, The War Against Boys (Simon & Schuster, 2013), page 201
    What does God think of mothers?
Proverbs 15:20 NIV
20 A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
    It is foolish to despise or not give real respect and honor to your mother.
    God created the comfort gene.  He used it to explain how He would one day bring comfort to Jerusalem.
Isaiah 66:13 NIV
13 As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.
Discussion:
***We know that the ten commandments tell us to honor our father and mother.  What does it mean to give your mother honor?  Think beyond this specific day we remember today.
***What should we do to encourage the mothers of our culture?
***What piece of wisdom do you hope your children have grasped and actually applied in life?
***Let’s share some of our best “mother” stories.
Prayer