A Mother

A Mother’s Greatest Gift

Chuck Sligh

May 12, 2013

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation of this sermon is available upon request by emailing me at chucksligh@hotmail.com.

NOTE: The inspiration for the main points and the basic concepts and some of the illustrations in this sermon was a sermon by Charles Stanley, though I have long forgotten the title.

TEXT: 2 Timothy 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, 2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I 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; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

INTRODUCTION

Mothers are givers by nature:

• They give themselves to their husbands to conceive a baby.

• They give of themselves to carry that baby for nine, long, miserable months.

• They give of themselves to do the most thankless, boring and dismal routine tasks that are required for the daily upkeep of a home.

• They give of themselves to teach, nurture and train their children.

Yes, mothers are givers by nature. But what is the greatest gift a mother can give to her children? The answer to that is found in our text. Note 2 Timothy 1:5 – “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

Eunice passed on HER FAITH to son Timothy. That’s the greatest gift a mother can give to her children, and for that matter, that a father, or both a father and mother can give to their children.

Many mothers today are rearing children in families where the husband is not a believer. This situation offers unique challenges to mothers. But Mom, it IS possible to rear up godly children and to give your children your faith even if you are the only one doing it.

We know this because Eunice was able to do it. – Note Acts 16:1-3 – “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek [this is the New Testament term for a Gentile nonbeliever, whereas a religious Gentile or a believing Gentile was called a Grecian]: 2 Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.”

Here we’re told some things about Timothy and his background. First of all, we see that Timothy’s father was a Gentile pagan. Though I’m sure that Timothy’s father may have passed on many good character traits to his son, he couldn’t offer spiritual guidance because he was a lost man. So it was left to Eunice and her mother, Lois to bring up Timothy in the Lord.

How did she do? Well, she must have done well because verse 2 tells us that Timothy was “well reported of by the brethren.”

But notice verse 3: “Him would Paul have to go forth with him…” When Paul met Timothy, he chose him above all other people he could have chosen to be his companion and helper. He saw things in Timothy that convinced him that this was a godly young man who could be a tremendous asset to his own ministry. He saw great potential in him—all because of Eunice’s labor, without the help of Timothy’s father as far as the spiritual side was concerned.

This is Mother’s Day and I want to leave you with six words that will help you rear another Timothy (or Tabitha). Though most the sermon is mine, I am indebted to Charles Stanley for these six words (he actually had seven) and some of the ideas for this sermon. These principles, by the way, apply to fathers too, so everything I say will be practical for ALL OF US TODAY, though I’m especially speaking to our mothers today.

I. THE FIRST WORD IN REARING YOUNG TIMOTHY’S IS THE WORD PRINCIPLE

Children need instruction. I’m not talking about family Bible reading here, as important as that is. I’m talking about applying biblical principles all throughout life—