A Word To The Wise On How To Treat Your Momma Series

As I was in the foyer this morning I saw Jim and Iris. And I said to Jim “Happy Mother’s Day”, to which he replied “I guess it really doesn’t apply to me. I’m not a mother.” Then he paused and said “Well, I guess you could say I’m the reason she’s a mother.”

And as I was finishing the sermon, it occurred to me that this sermon will not “apply” to everyone here. But as Christians, God’s Word is not just there for US, it’s there for us to use to help others. So that’s how I want you to consider this morning’s message – how can it help you be a better Christian… or how it can you use it to help others in their walk with God.

OPEN: I was read about a man who told about the influence his mother had on him. He said that his mom had taught him many things about life. He said:

• My mother taught me religion: "You better pray that comes of the carpet."

• My Mother taught me medicine: “If you don’t stop crossing your eyes, they’re going to freeze that way."

• My mother taught me contortionism: "Will you look at the dirt on the back of your neck!"

• My mother taught me about genetics... "You are just like your father!"

The Book of Proverbs tells us that mothers have much to teach us about life. Two separate times in Proverbs, Solomon tells his son almost the same thing:

Proverbs 1:8 “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

Proverbs 6:20 “My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.”

Proverbs even gives us an example of a King who learned from his mother:

Proverbs 31:1 reads: “The sayings of King Lemuel— an oracle his mother taught him”

Down through history many our nation’s greatest leaders have said that their mothers had been responsible for THEIR success in life.

For example George Washington said: “My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.”

Andrew Jackson said of his mother: “There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness... The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way.”

Abraham Lincoln said “I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.”

And Ronald Reagan stated “From my mother I learned the value of prayer, how to have dreams and believe I could make them come true.”

And I could list quote after quote from great men and women who have told how important their mother’s love and prayers had had for them. It’s a wonderful thing to have a loving, Godly mother. In fact, God has given us a few examples of some Godly mothers in Scripture:

For example there’s Sarah. She a woman who had to watch as Abraham obeyed God and took Isaac to the mountain to sacrifice their only boy. Peter told the women in the early church that she should be an example for them:

“You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.” I Peter 3:6

Then God told us the story of Jochebed - the mother of Moses. She knew that Pharaoh had demanded the death of every Israelite boy born in Egypt Jochebed hid her son as long as was possible. and then set him adrift in a handmade ark and had his sister Miriam watch nearby to see what God would do. She was a woman who expected God to protect her son. This was a mother who trusted God with her boy’s life.

Then there was Hannah. She was childless, and she wept before God in shame. And she promised God that if He gave her a son she would then give that boy back to God to serve Him for the rest of his life. And God answered her prayer. She named her son Samuel and he became one of the greatest prophets in all the Old Testament.

These mothers all PRAYED TO God for their children.

These mothers all TRUSTED God to protect their children.

These mothers all TAUGHT their children ABOUT GOD.

And these mothers ALL gave their children TO God… for Him to use them for His purposes.

These were all great women of faith!!!

And in Proverbs, God tells us that ALL of our mothers have something to teach us things about life. Things that GOD wants us to know; things that He knows will make us useful for Him in His kingdom.