- Godly Mothers Pray Earnestly for their Children’s Salvation with Faith, Persistence and Humility - Bible tells us of a “woman of Canaan” who was pleading with Jesus that He might save her daughter who was “vexed with a devil”. This “woman of Canaan” had great faith and she was not even part of the Israelite family. She was NOT a daughter of Abraham by blood, and yet she recognized Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, “O Lord, thou son of David” in verse 22, and she knew and had Faith, that He could heal her daughter. The mother went to Christ and “fell at his feet” and cried out earnestly, stubbornly, beseechingly for her daughter despite the Lord’s severe testing and trying. The Disciples said, “send her away” she is bothering us, “she crieth after us”, because they knew she was a Canaanitish woman, and they were just thinking that she was just being a nuisance. Even Lord tested and tried her severely with harsh words “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” and “It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs”. First, He ignores her; then He tries to discourage her, “I am only here for the Jews or for Israel”, not telling her what all of this means, which is that anyone could be part of the Israel of God. Yet at the same time, this was hidden truth. Therefore, she could easily have been discouraged and put off by it as an insult. Yet she persisted and showed humility, “Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table”. Jesus said to her, “O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt”. He is actually indicating that this “bread” – bread of eternal life, doesn’t belong to “dogs” – an unclean animal typifying unsaved but does belong to her as she is one of the “Israel of God”, because she is one of God’s children or daughter of Abraham by Faith (Gal 3:26-29). What he meant was, He came only for the lost sheep of Israel – the Israel of God (Rom 2:28-29, Gal 6:16), those who comprise people of all nations, Jew and Gentile; it is made up of all of God’s elect. If we look at the same account in Mark 7:30, her daughter was not with her; she was back home suffering, yet she went back with the Faith and Trust in the Lord and found her daughter healed.
Matt 15:21-28 “Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil [picture of being in Satan’s bondage and have in need of Salvation]. 23But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table [being humble and persistent]. 28Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.”
Mark 7:28-30 “And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs. 29And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 30And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.”
Luke 11:5-8 “And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; 6For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? 7And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. 8I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity [persistence], he will rise and give him as many as he needeth.”
1 Pet 5:5 “... be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.”
- Godly Mothers Train and Chasten their Children to Fear the Lord and to Walk in Truth - Have you ever wondered why we don’t have to teach our children to be selfish, or mean, or rebellious? It is a part of their human nature – even as it is with every one of us. And that is precisely what Eph 2:1-3 teaches. As parents, we need to be reminded of our solemn responsibility to train, correct, and discipline our children in love, as the below verses clearly demonstrate. Some of these verses mention the “rod of correction”. Now, while it is true that corporal punishment and disciplinary measures has its place, however, ultimately, we want to expose the child to the spiritual “rod of correction”, which is the Bible. I will say this again, the goal of all child-rearing is to direct our children into the Word of God. Behavior modification can be instilled and is helpful for maintaining order and tranquility in the home, but it will not attack the root of the problem – “the heart” and produce salvation. What did John rejoice in 2 John 1:4 “I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth...”? He did not rejoice necessarily in the “the elect lady” specifically, but he rejoiced in the example, it is a result of something she did. Do you think those children just happened to start “walking in truth – The Word of God”, and being obedient, and saying, yes Mother, yes Father, what can I do to help around the house, and being respectful to their elders and cheerfully doing their chores? No, that takes training, we all know that that does not happen naturally. Naturally, a child says no, rebellion comes naturally, pride, selfishness is very natural in children, in all of us as human beings. But John rejoiced greatly that he found her “children walking in truth”, which insinuates that she must have trained them well, must have. So she was training her children in the truth, teaching her children the commandments of God, and that is the whole Bible.
2 John 1:1-4 “The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; 2For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. 3Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.”
Pro 22:15 “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction [is the Word of God] shall drive it far from him.”
Pro 23:12-14 “Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. 13Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.”
Pro 19:18 “Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.”
Pro 29:15 “The rod [rod of correction is the Word of God] and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.”
2 Tim 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
- Godly Mothers Train their Children in Scriptures to make them Wise unto Salvation, and Practice and Teach Godly qualities - Well, what was so good about Eunice and Lois, the Grandmother and Mother of Timothy, that Paul was rejoicing in? What was pointed out here in Scripture in verse 5? The faith that Grandmother and Mother, passed it on to Timothy, was “unfeigned faith”. What does the word “unfeigned” mean? Genuine. It is genuine faith, it is real, it is unpretended, it is absolute real faith. So it was not just a fake, it was not just a show, it was not just putting on a fancy dress on a Sunday and hat and going to a church. It was real faith, lived day after day after day, and they passed it on to Timothy, because Paul said, “I am persuaded that in thee also”. Genuine Faith has to with day to day, how you conduct your life, what you say, what comes out of your mouth. What happens when you do that? Well, when you do that, you have great results. The children hopefully, will fear God, and pursue God, and “Strive to enter in at the strait gate” and “labour ... to enter into that rest”, and hopefully God will save them. The means that God uses in saving His children is His blessed Word, the Bible, which is also called the Gospel and the Covenant. It is God’s creative power of salvation, as we read in Rom 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek”. Paul, under divine inspiration, in 2 Tim 3:15 makes this affirmation with regard to his young protégé, Timothy: “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus”. 1 Cor 15:3-4 emphasizes the supreme importance of the Scriptures in attesting to the truthfulness of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ and also to every word, every letter of every word, and every number found in the Bible: “For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures”. So, it is no wonder we find such glorious declarations in the Bible of the eternal, unchanging holiness of God’s infallible words and it is no wonder God affirms in Rom 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”.
2 Tim 1:1-5 “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned [genuine] faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also”
2 Tim 3:15 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Tit 2:3-5 “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2That the aged men be sober [in sound doctrine, not drunken with false Gospels], grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet [self-controlled] , chaste, keepers at home,good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
- Godly Mothers have NO place for Pride. Humility is the Hallmark of them - Mary is being given this information from “the angel” in Luke 1. And look at verse 32, this child she is going to have is going to “be great”, “called the Son of the Highest”, He is going to have “the throne of his father David”, “he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever”, “his kingdom there shall be no end”. If someone came up to you and said these great things, you would be like Wow, Oh boy aren’t I special, or you might feel a sense of pride and feel good. Did Mary let that bubble up in pride with all this unbelievable talk of what her child was going to be? No. Verses 46-48, “And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden”. She is recognizing that she is in “the low estate”, she is nobody, she is of no significance. By birth and nature all human beings enter this world sinfully proud. Only God can humble someone for anyone to become saved. For each child of God, humility is not an option but a way of life, as God indicates in Isa 57:15, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones”. Indeed, everything we have received from God – both physical as well as spiritual benefits – are gifts from God’s gracious hand. Even His corrections and chastisements demonstrate His perfect, loving care and concern for each of His beloved children as He conforms them to the image of his dear Son. Jam 4:6 affirms, “But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble”. So, Mary was a Mom, even though her child was obviously God Himself, the Greatest, the One and Only, God of God, God Himself in the flesh, and Mary was humble and meek.
Luke 1:30-48 “And the angel said unto her, Fear not,Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 46And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, 47And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. 48For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”
Matt 23:12 “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.”
