Sacred Mums – 1 Corinthians 7:14
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We often neglect the subject of motherhood, but it is a relevant topic to all of us – at the very least, we were all born of a mother. It is also an incredibly important and significant role within the church, and should be viewed as such. It is means whereby Jesus can be taken into the home and the family, even if the mum is the only Christian in that place (which is mainly who the apostle Paul is addressing in this verse). Mums can bring godly influence.
The Bible esteems motherhood and holds it in great honour, because it is a calling and a gift from God. There are 6 aspects of this calling:
1. Undervalued calling
- Motherhood is not valued highly in our culture and it is seen as “unfashionable” now to have children.
- Mums often feel a sense of shame and embarrassment to say they are “just a mum”.
- It is not seen as a “real job” – even though it is tough, demanding, 24-7 work!
- Our culture has wrongly evaluated motherhood – but the Bible evaluates it in the right way, and so we need to view motherhood through scripture.
- Dorothy Patterson – motherhood offers something no other job can: to work with the people you love the most and want to please the most.
2. A noble calling
- 2 Tim 1:5 – Paul talks about how Timothy came to faith in Christ because of his grandmother and his mother. These 2 women literally changed the world through their role as mothers.
- The fifth commandment is a command to honour both our mother and our father (Exodus 20:12).
- The book of Proverbs continually lifts up mothers and their role and demonstrates their influence (e.g. 1:8, 23:25, 31:1).
- Mothers get to do work on a child’s heart by the grace of God. The heart of a child is what matters – mothers are to shepherd it towards Jesus. All children are born sinful and foolish, and need their hearts to be transformed by God (which only He can do).
3. A warrior’s calling
- Motherhood has a weak image but the fact is that actually mums are at war.
- Ephesians 5 – the passage about spiritual warfare – comes right after Eph. 4 – the chapter about how family/domestic life should work. Home is where the battlefield is.
- Mums need to battle for their children (e.g. in prayer).
- Gen. 3 – God describes how the power of evil will affect domestic life and in particular, motherhood.
- Mums need to be a force for God in the home.
4. A rewarding calling
- Mums can have faith that there will be seasons of blessing, fruit, reward and fulfilment.
- Prov. 31:28: ‘Her children rise up and call her blessed’.
5. A spiritual calling
- If God calls, He also equips with grace and power from His Holy Spirit.
- Mums need to be continually filled with the Spirit, carrying the presence of God.
- Mums can trust God to act on their behalf.
- God cares especially deeply about single mums – covered by the term “widows” in the Bible. Psalm 146:9.
6. A God-revealing calling
- Motherhood reveals something of the character and heart of God.
- Gen. 3 – God promises that through children, He will defeat the power of evil. Through one child in particular, Jesus, He did this – He reversed the curse.
- God is also like a mother to us (Isaiah 49:15).
- God abandoned His own Son so that He would not have to abandon us.
