Honor Your Mother

Honor your Mother

Give her fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates. Proverbs 31:31

Johnny was complaining to his friend about how hectic his days were because of school. "I get up at 6 o’clock each morning and eat my breakfast," he said. The friend was surprised, "You get up at 6 o’clock and make breakfast?" "No," Johnny said. "My Amma prepares it for me."

The friend replied, "Your mom gets up that early just to make breakfast?" "Oh, no," Johnny said. "She gets up early to give her more time to cook Dad's breakfast by 5:30.

"I see," said the friend, "but she has the afternoon to herself, right?" "Oh, yes," was the reply. "She spends the afternoon cleaning, washing the dishes, the laundry, and preparing dinner, 'cause my dad and I like to have dinner on the table when we come home after a hard day's work. After all, Amma doesn't work!" Johnny wrote this story, so don't get mad at me. Just because a mother or wife is not employed outside the home, it doesn't mean that she doesn't work. You may have heard your husband or father say that on occasion, but there are very few men who would trade jobs with you.

Mothers, we know that you have a 24/7 job, which demands not only all your time, but also all of your attention and energy. Because of that, we celebrate you today, meaning, that we should honor you every day - for all you do for us and for all you give to your family. Mother's Day was declared a National Holiday in 1914 by President Woodrow Wilson. He directed the Congress to make the second Sunday of May a special day for public expression of love and reverence for the mothers of America. Since then, there has been a "Mother's Day,".

Few of us show our mothers the depth of love, honor, and respect that we should. We know we don't, and we feel guilty about it. So on Mother's Day, we try to make up for our failure by giving our mothers gifts to represent our true feelings of affection and appreciation.

We give all sorts of gifts. From store-bought gifts to homemade gifts, from fancy flowers to fattening foods. We should shower Mother with gifts, for indeed she needs to be reminded of our love and gratitude for all she has done. My chief concern is that this gift-giving should not be put down to just one day a year. We should give to our mothers every day. This morning, I want to suggest several gifts that are necessary in the Christian family and should be given each day.

Honor:

Dear children of God, sons and daughters. Children, no matter what age you are, from nine months to ninety years, no matter how many children you have, the Bible says that the gift you should give your Mother every day is honor! One of our Ten Commandments says, "Honor your Father and Mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you." - Exodus 20:12. That means that we children should treat our mothers with great respect, in how we act toward them and in the way we speak to them. Did you realize that in ancient Israel, if a child cursed his mother, he was to be stoned to death? (Exodus 21:17) They took God's law very seriously.

That is contrary to God's will! The Lord demands that you speak with love and respect to your Mother. She is the instrument through which God gave your life. She put her life at risk in order to give you birth. She has sacrificed many of the luxuries of life in order to feed, clothe and educate you. So you must never be dishonorable to your mother, in the way that you speak to her or about her. You must offer her the gift of honor in what you say.

You must also give her honor in the way you live. Whether we want it to be this way or not, the way we live is a reflection upon our parents. So, if you really want to honor your mother, you should live in a way that she will be proud of. You must live an honorable life.

One day, several convicts were in a prison library flipping through a magazine. On one of the pages there was a picture of a lovely home. One of the prisoners said, "I wish I could give my mother a house like that to live in."

Another prisoner pointed to the nice car that was pictured in front of the house and said, "No, I'd rather give my mom a car like that, so she could come to see me once in a while."