The characteristic of a good mother
I am very thankful that there has been a day designated as Mothers day to help remind us to appreciate our mothers. Many times they are overlooked and we don’t give them the praise that they deserve for all their hard work they do day in an day out. Now this morning we will be looking at few of the characteristics of a good mother. I wish I could say that all women good mothers but some are not.
1. Our first
characteristic of a good mother is one trusts in the Lord.
Hannah is a good of example of this. This story is found in 1Samuel. We learn from 1Sam 1:1-7 that a man by the name of Elkanah (L- ka- naw) had 2 wives named Peninnah (pen- in – naw) and Hannah. Peninnah was able to have children but Hannah could not. Now once a year they would go and worship God and make sacrifices and Elkanah would make an offering and give a portion to Peninnah and her children but he would give a double portion to Hannah because he loved her so much even though she had not bore him any children. This was very troublesome to Hannah and all she wanted to do was to be a mother and it certainly didn’t help matters when Peninnah would give her a hard time about not having any children yet.
1 Samuel 1:8 Then
Elkanah her husband said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not
eat? And why is your heart grieved? Am I not better to you than ten
sons?" 9 So Hannah arose
after they had finished eating and drinking in
As you can see Hannah was getting very depressed she prayed to God from her heart with eyes full of tears. She poured her soul out to the Lord and asked him to allow her conceive a son and that she would give him to the lord all the days of his life. She put her trust in the Lord and the lord heard her prayer and answered it and she bore a son. She even named him with an appropriate name because Samuel means “Asked him of the Lord.” Now she stayed at home with Samuel until he was weaned then she took him to the priest to let him forever serve the Lord.
1 Samuel 1:24 Now
when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah
of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in
Shiloh. And the child was young. 25
Then they slaughtered a bull, and brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, "O my lord!
As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood by you here,
praying to the LORD. 27
"For this child I prayed, and the LORD has granted me my petition which I
asked of Him. 28
"Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be
lent to the LORD." So they worshiped the LORD there.
Not only did Hannah do the right thing by trusting in God and his timing. She also kept her promise she made to the Lord about giving her son over to him. Since Hannah was so faithful and a wonderful mother we learn that God blessed her with even more children.
1 Samuel
So I believe every good
mother is one who trusts in the Lord and the power of prayer.
2. Our second characteristic of a good
mother is that they are compassionate and they provide comfort.
This seems to be a natural quality that is built into nearly ever women. I know I can remember many times when my own mother had great compassion for me and comforted me. Whenever I was about 13 years old I had the unfortunate experience of food poisoning and I was sick all night long and couldn’t keep anything down and who do think took care of me that whole night it was my mother. I’m sure many of you could share some very touching stories of how your mother showed compassion and comfort toward you and others. One Biblical example of this kind of compassion and comfort is found in the story of Moses. Now we all know that Moses mother Jochebed was trying to save her son from death as we read in,
Exodus 2:3 But
when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed
it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds
by the river's bank. 4 And
his sister stood afar off, to know what would be done to him. 5 Then the daughter of Pharaoh
came down to bathe at the river. And her maidens walked along the riverside;
and when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. 6 And when she had opened it, she
saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him, and
said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." 7 Then his sister said to
Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew
women, that she may nurse the child for you?" 8 And Pharaoh's daughter said to
her, "Go." So the maiden went and called the child's mother. 9 Then Pharaoh's daughter said to
her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your
wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him.
Now the Pharaohs daughter would have known that her dad had decreed that all these males children be put to death and based on who she was she should have thrown that baby into the water when she saw it was Hebrew baby but she did not. When she saw that that baby cry and how helpless it looked her heart melted and she couldn’t help but to have compassion on baby Moses and she did what she could to comfort him and make sure that he was feed properly by one the Hebrew slave women which we know was Jochebed his true mother. The book of Isaiah gives great honor to mothers who are compassionate and comforting as God compares himself to a mothers comfort.
Isaiah 66:12 For
thus says the LORD: "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, And
the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream. Then you shall feed; On her
sides shall you be carried, And be dandled on her knees. 13 As one whom his mother
comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in
3. Our third
characteristic of a good mother is the great teacher and a spiritual guided for
her children.
A mother should never underestimate the power of influence that she has over her children. Our children watch the examples of both their mother and their fathers but in most cases the children are around the mother more than they around the dad and so the mother many times has the greatest influence on their children’s spiritual journey toward God. So a good mother will do their best to instill Christ like qualities into their children’s lives. A great biblical example of this comes from our story of Moses.
We know that Moses had learned about his people and he even knew about God according to Acts 7:25. Now how do you think he learned about his people and God almighty? I believed he learned it from Jocebed and that she taught him early in his childhood and this teaching stuck with him through out his life. Also in the NT we see the great influence that Timothy’s mother and grandmother had on him. We need to remember that Timothy’s father was a Greek and so he certainly would not have taught him anything about the scriptures and so his spiritual upbringing was direct reflection of his mother and grandmother. Paul talks about this in,
2 Timothy 1:5 when I
call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your
grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
Paul informs us that
both Lois and Eunice were faithful servants of God and he recognized that since
they were faithful to God that Timothy would also have that save level of
faithfulness. We also get another clue that these women had been teaching
Timothy the scriptures since his childhood as we read in,
2 Timothy 3:14 But you
must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing
from whom you have learned them, 15
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to
make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All mothers and fathers alike can learn a great lesson from Jochebed, Eunice and Lois. We can see that it is very important that we teach our children about God early on. What we teach them now will stick with them for the rest of their lives and will influence how they live their life in the future. We must understand that as Christian parents and grandparents that our children and our grandchildren look at us for examples. So you see, there is a great need for us to live a righteous life. For example.
If we don’t want our children use foul language then we shouldn’t use foul language. If we don’t want our children drink beer then we shouldn’t have in our refrigerators. The list could go on and on. But the point is this we must practice what we preach. If we don’t we send a mixed message to our kids because it won’t make any sense to them why mom and dad can do something bad while they cannot.
So mothers don’t ever underestimate the power of influence you have over your children.
4. Our fourth
characteristic of a good mother who is not afraid to ask for help when it comes
to their children.
Sometimes things can happen in our lives that leave us destitute and some people are to prideful ask for the help of others. But when a mother loves her children she will do what it takes to ensure the safety of her children. We have a good example of this in,
2 Kings 4:1 A
certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha,
saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant
feared the LORD. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his
slaves." 2 So Elisha
said to her, "What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the
house?" And she said, "Your maidservant has nothing in the house but
a jar of oil." 3 Then he
said, "Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors --
empty vessels; do not gather just a few.
4 "And when you have come in, you shall shut the door
behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside
the full ones." 5 So she
went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the
vessels to her; and she poured it out. 6 Now it came to pass, when the
vessels were full, that she said to her son, "Bring me another
vessel." And he said to her, "There is not another
vessel." So the oil ceased. 7
Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, "Go, sell the oil and
pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest."
Here we see a mother who had lost her husband and was in debt and the only thing that she had to offer was her sons for slavery and no mother would want their children to be slaves. So she swallowed her pride and she cried out to Elisha for help and by the power of God Elisha was able to help the destitute women.
So good mothers are willing to ask for help for their children when needed.
5. Our fifth characteristic
of a good mother is one who wants the best for children.
I have heard of many good mothers who make great sacrifices in order that their children will be successful in life and be successful in their service to God. Many times mothers will put their lives on hold so that they can take their children to activities or to fellowship opportunities that will enrich their children’s lives. For most parents is natural for them the best for the children and we can see an example of this in the NT.
Matthew 20:20 Then
the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Him with her sons, kneeling down and
asking something from Him. 21
And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said to Him, "Grant
that these two sons of mine may sit, one on Your right hand and the other on
the left, in Your kingdom." 22
But Jesus answered and said, "You do not know what you ask. Are you able
to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able." 23 So He said to them, "You
will indeed drink My cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
with; but to sit on My right hand and on My left is not Mine to give, but it
is for those for whom it is prepared by My Father."
Here we see the mother of James and John wanted the best for her sons. She wanted Jesus to give her sons a seat next to him in his kingdom. Of course as we read, Jesus very politely informs her that this was not his decision to make but his fathers. But the principle is that a good mother will always want the best for their children.
6. Our sixth characteristic of a good mother is that she will play the
role of a councilor and give great Godly advice.
How many times can remember in your life that when you needed to talk to someone about problem you were having that is was your mother that was willing listen to you and not only did she listen to you she gave you good sound advice on how to deal with problem. Again this seems to be something that most mothers are good at and we can certainly see a good example of this in the story of Naomi and Ruth where Namoi show great love toward her daughter-in-law Ruth.
Now if you will remember Naomi was married and had 2 sons
who were married to 2 women of
This gives us an indications of just how loving a mother Naomi was since they were willing to leave their people to be with her. She tries to persuade them not to go with her and one of them listens but Ruth does not.
Ruth 1:16 But
Ruth said: "Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from
following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I
will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And
there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but
death parts you and me."
This shows how much love and dedication she had for her
mother-in-law. When they arrive at
Sure enough Naomi advice pays off and Boaz and Ruth become
married and have a child named Obed who would become
So good mothers are willing to listen to their children’s problems and give them good sound advice.
We have only examined a few of the characteristics of good mother this morning but the greatest Characteristic of a good mother is mother is one who does their best to be like Christ. Whenever we have Christ as our foundation and we follow his example then we can’t help but be good mothers and fathers. Of course the only way that we can learn to be the kind of mothers and fathers that we should is by studying God’s word and by active prayer life. As we come to the close of our lesson this morning let us never forget to honor and cherish our mothers for the rest of our lives. I want to end my lesson this morning by reading you a poem about how one person felt about their mother.
MORE THAN A MOTHER
When God set the world in place,
when He hung the stars up in space,
when He made the land and the sea,
then He made you and me.
He sat back and saw all that was good,
He saw things to be as they should.
Just one more blessing He had in store;
He created a mother, but whatever for?
He knew a mother would have a special place
to shine His reflection on her child's face.
A mother will walk the extra mile
just to see her children smile.
She'll work her fingers to the bone
to make a house into a home.
A mother is there to teach and guide,
a mother will stay right by your side.
She'll be there through your pain and strife,
she'll stay constant in your life.
A mother will lend a helping hand
until you have the strength to stand.
She'll pick you up when you are down,
when you need a friend she'll stick around.
A mother is one who listens well,
will keep her word; will never tell.
A mother never pokes or pries
but stands quietly by your side,
giving you the strength you need,
encouraging you to succeed.
A mother is one who can be strong
when you need someone to lean on.
You're
more than a mother to me;
a reflection of Him in your face I see,
a love that knows no boundaries.
I'm glad that you chose to be
all this and more to me.
You share a love that knows no end,
you're more than my mother,
you are my friend.