A Mother's Love

Because love isn’t something you can earn. And a child needs to know that.

Really, we ALL need to know that. And we learn that from Mom. The only reason a mother loves her child is because that child is hers. God doesn’t love us because of how we behave… He loves us because we are “His”. MADE “His” (children) through the working of His Holy Spirit in our hearts through faith.

Paul wrote to the Romans 8

16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ,

And so on this Mother’s Day, we give thank to Mom, whether we’re able to express this to her, or even if she’s gone ahead of us into heaven… our appreciation is for our first experience—and the on-going experience of what it means to be loved for who we are… not for what we’ve done.

So thanks, Mom, for introducing us to God.

Now, when Mother’s Day is over, and life gets back to normal, is it appropriate for us to forget Mom and to wait until next year to say thanks (for what she does)? Does that seem right? NO!

On the other hand, does she expect to be given gifts every day and

taken out to dinner all the time and

treated like a queen for a day. (well, maybe she does)… but the point is:

That when a mother loves her child, she doesn’t do it to get glory and honor. Although days like this are NICE, that’s not WHY mothers love like they do.

They love because they have love to give… and what a mother would want, even more than a box of chocolates or a bouquet of flowers, is for her children to learn to love others the way she loves them. What cuts into the heart of a mother more than anything, is when children are at odds with each other.

My mom died 25 years ago in an accident. And after she died, my dad and my brothers and sisters were sitting on the front steps of the hospital wondering what to do next … and my little sister (who was just a teenager at the time)… after a long quiet spell, said “Who’s going to love us now?” Because mom was the one in the family who gave us all hugs and called us on the phone and sent us care packages and said she loved us.

And my older sister looked up and said, “I guess it’s up to us.” And we all hugged each other for the very first time. My dad hugged me for the very first time. And ever since then, we actually say “I love you” to each other.

And I know for a fact, that Mom wanted that more than anything in the world.

We didn’t have to LEARN love for the 1st time… we already knew that… but we hadn’t put that love into action in our relationships with each other…

Because the best expression of appreciation for love is when we love each other. A mother’s prayer isn’t just that her children will love HER. She wants us to love each other.

And isn’t that precisely what GOD wants us to do? I think that was one of the most important points that Jesus tried to make. He commanded it!

Jesus said

John 13

Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."