For our friends in Mexico, this article will appear on Mother’s Day 2023! If you live in the UK, we trust these words will still be applicable nearly two months after your Mother’s Day observance. To the families down under, we look forward to celebrating this year’s Mother’s Day together on May 14.
Mother’s Day around the World and in History
There’s a fascinating history that accompanies the observance of Mother’s Day, from ancient times to the present day. You might enjoy watching this three-minute video from The History Channel that overviews how it all began.
After you watch, please return to this post for biblical encouragement. As you’ll notice, Mother’s Day has very humanistic beginnings.
Isn’t it interesting that although the first Mother’s Day in the United States was observed in a church, it wasn’t focused on God but was instead a tribute to a woman?
Don’t get me wrong, there are heaps of good reasons to pay tribute to Mom, and I encourage you to do so. The practices of letter writing, spending time together, planting a particular flower, or giving Mom a day off from meals and chores are worth doing. But, for Christian families, we hope you honor Mom without forgetting from whom all our blessings come, God!
A Faithful God Created Moms
From the creation account found in the book of Genesis, we learn that God gives Adam a helper, the woman Eve. God blesses the couple and tells them to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:27–28).127 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. From that blessing and all that follows, families are born, and mothers have been an integral part of God’s provision.
God has given mothers unique instincts, biology, and emotions that make them designed for the role He intends them to fill. And, since we all know mothering is fraught with ups and downs, it’s such a comfort and encouragement to know that God has always been faithful to all He has made since the beginning of time!
How Can Moms Know God is Always Faithful?
Since all moms are familiar with their frailties, doubting or forgetting God’s faithfulness can be an easy pitfall into which we tumble. Thanks be to God that His care for moms is rock solid because it does not depend on Mom’s strength but on His!
Scripture confirms, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (I Thess. 5:24).224 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. God’s plan is well in motion, prophets have spoken, Jesus has defeated sin and death, the Spirit of God has come, and we’ve been given His word, the Bible!
His grace has been made known to us, and as part of His plan, we are smack dab in the middle of sanctification, which includes the yet incomplete process of making us more Christlike. Moms know all about this. Even on our good days, when Christ-likeness is evident, we are all still a bit of a mess. We still give in to temptation or say things we shouldn’t. Try as we might, we will behave in ways that expose the un-Christ-likeness (sin) still in our hearts.
That’s why it’s so essential for us to remember that:
- He never threatens to withdraw His love
- He never keeps a record of wrongs against us
- He never makes a promise He doesn’t keep
He is utterly faithful in every sense! And the most beautiful thing is that His faithfulness is never a demonstration of how well (or how badly . . . grimace) we mother. No, it is a gracious revelation of how good, holy, kind, righteous, and perfect He is! Even on our most unfaithful day, He remains faithful.
Peace Be with You
We honor and recognize you, Mom, as you celebrate Mother’s Day this year. We know that many of you walk in shadowy places where the sorrows of mothering make the path painful and hard. We trust with you in God’s transforming process of sanctification and pray for mourning to be turned to dancing.
And, for all mothers, in whatever season you are in, we pray you will experience the peace found in God’s utterly unshakable gracious and perfect faithfulness.
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