WHAT OUR MOMS TEACH US ABOUT GOD

This will be my fifth Mother’s Day without my mom.  Up to this point it hasn’t gotten any easier knowing that I will not get to speak with her on Mother’s Day, as I did for forty-five years.  I have a friend who is in his late seventies and he tells me that he still misses his mom.  However, this year I will deliver another message at church on Mother’s Day that will attempt to honor moms.  My thought this year is to consider what our moms can teach us about God.

My mother was not a public speaker, but she was a tremendous teacher. In that way, my wife, Laura reminds me of her.  Laura doesn’t necessarily enjoy public speaking, but she is a wonderful teacher. My mom taught me by the way she lived her life and through the many conversations we enjoyed.  So allow me to share two or three possible lessons we can learn about God from our Moms.

OUR MOMS TEACH US THAT GOD’S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL.  The Bible not only tells us that God loved the world so much that He gave His only Son to die for us (John 3:16), but that He loved us even when we were sinners (Romans 5:8). Moms have a special gift of being able to love their children when seemingly nobody else will. Their love for their children is unconditional.

My mother had a rule that we could not throw balls in our house. We all loved sports and so did mom, but no throwing the ball in the house.  Once when she was gone, we decided to have a football game in the living room. One of the boys (who shall remain unknown threw the football and it knocked an antique cup to the floor and broke it. It was a family heirloom that my mother loved.  She was not happy with what we had done, and I am sure we were punished, but she assured us that she loved us more than the heirloom.

OUR MOMS TEACH US THAT GOD’S LOVE IS PROTECTIVE.  God watches after His children with a protective love.  He provides shelter from the storms of life. We have all seen images of mothers who have covered their children to save them and lose their own lives when storms have raged around them.

OUR MOMS TEACH US THAT GOD’S LOVE IS COMFORTING.  He is called the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).  Mothers comfort their children when they have been mistreated by other children on the playground, when they don’t make the team, when they don’t get chosen for the lead role, when they go through their first breakup, when they get hurt, and through numerous other difficulties in life.

When I was a Junior in High School I was injured playing football.  I had to be carried off the field on a stretcher and was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. I was told that my dad had to hold my mother back from climbing over the fence to come check on meJ Her motherly instinct to comfort her son kicked in and she was ready to take care of her boy.

We can learn so much from our moms about God. Why not share something with us that you learned about God from your mom.  I know that no mom, like no person, is perfect. But may we never forget that our moms have done so much for us. They went down into the valley of death to give us life, they give us unconditional love, they protect us from the storms of life and they give us comfort during difficult times. If your mom is alive, please take the time to call her to express your love and gratitude to her.

Dear Father, help us to take the time to express our deep appreciation to our moms for the lessons they have taught us about You. Help us, dear God, to honor our moms for their love and their life. We pray that we will be able to honor our moms by living a life that is pleasing to You.