A Mother’s Greatest Gift

A Mother’s Greatest Gift
KEY PASSAGE: 2 Timothy 1:1–7 | SUPPORTING SCRIPTURE: Deuteronomy 6:1–7 |Acts 16:1–2

SUMMARY: Mothers are usually givers by their very nature.
They generously and selflessly serve their husband, children, and many others. Yet it’s important to consider the principal contribution a godly mother makes to her child’s life. When Paul wrote to Timothy, he remarked, “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 Tim.1:5). Timothy’s mother and grandmother passed on their belief in a way that profoundly influenced his life and ministry. That’s the greatest gift a mother or father can give a child.As adults, we have the awesome privilege of modeling a faithful, Christlike lifestyle. Teaching children to love and serve God will not only transform their lives, it will change them for eternity.

SCRIPTURALPRINCIPLES: Is your faith worth passing on?
How would you characterize your faith? Is it weak and easily challenged? Or is it a strong, persevering confidence in His love and provision? Whether or not you realize it, the depth of your faith will impact your children’s lives.Through your lifestyle, you’ll either teach your kids to trust God or to reject Him.Your children need a faithful, godly example they can cling to as they face a world that often rejects the Lord outright. It’s your responsibility as a parent to pass on your faith and model how to live a godly life.

Teach them biblical principles: If you want your children to survive in this world, you must first teach them biblical principles. Knowing the Word of God will help them build a firm foundation for their belief system.This is absolutely essential.When your kids know the truth, they’ll be able to recognize ungodly deception and resist it.You can’t always protect them. But if they know the Scripture, they will know when others try to lead them astray.

Model the pattern: You must also practice what you preach.The way you live will speak volumes to your children— not just the principles to follow, but how a faithful believer lives them out.When you illustrate how to trust and obey God, they grow up knowing how to relate to Him. Your kids learn more from what you do than what you say. So be careful to follow the same moral standards you expect of them. If you reject biblical truth for your own life but try to raise godly children, you prove yourself a hypocrite.

Be persistent: The principles and patterns you teach your children will only have a profound influence if you’re consistent with them. God’s truth becomes an integral part of their lives through repetition. Demonstrate to your children how to live by facing your problems together as a family.When your kids see you trusting the heavenly Father to provide for your needs, they will know how to respond to adversity now and when they leave home. How you train your children isn’t only about what they do today, but about how their present choices will affect them in the future.

Participate: Godly parenting must include attending church with your kids.Although pastors and Sunday school teachers can be excellent influences in a child’s life, they simply cannot take your place. If you want them to love church—the people of God—then you must model that love to them. You must participate in the activities that grow your children’s faith. If you’re absent from their lives, they’ll think that the Lord is, too.

Praise them: Children need encouragement.While growing up, I didn’t make very good grades, but my mother never criticized me. Rather, she would ask,“Charles, did you do the best you could?” When I said yes, she would respond,“Then let’s talk to God and ask Him to help you.”Of course, there will be times when it’s appropriate to discipline your children.Willful rebellion must be corrected firmly and consistently. However, understand that when a child has failed to perform in some fashion, praise will always go a lot further than condemnation. Lay the facts before your children and teach them to deal with issues in a godly manner.

Pray for them: The most powerful thing you can do for your children is to pray for them. This doesn’t just mean interceding for them when you are alone. Rather, they need to hear you calling out their names to God and making specific requests for them. The Lord etches those prayers onto their hearts and helps you grow closer to your children in a way you’ve never imagined. Perhaps you feel as if you can’t pray with your children because you’re living in a manner that doesn’t honor the Father. Don’t let your sins get in the way of praying with your children—repent of your wrongdoing and obey God immediately. Your children need to learn that talking to the Lord is always the right course of action—even when they have sinned—and that praying will strengthen their personal relationship with Him.

Plan: Understand that the time for raising your children to be godly is right now. You cannot go back and undo the past, but you can certainly influence the future. It will take planning—you must set aside the time and make passing on your faith a priority. It’s not going to happen by chance. If you want to protect your children and build a strong foundation of faith in their lives, you must do it deliberately.

CONCLUSION: How do you want your children to relate to God? What character do you hope they will exhibit when they are grown? Are you helping them be all that the Lord created them to be, or are you hindering them by living a faithless life? You have an amazing opportunity to shape your children’s lives in a way that will honor Him. So teach them biblical principles, model the pattern, be persistent, participate in church, praise them, pray for them, and plan for their success. Don’t surrender them to an ungodly society by sending them out without a Christ-centered foundation. Passing on your faith will alter the course of a child’s life forever.Your influence will be the greatest gift you can ever give them.