The Marks Of A Mother

The Marks Of A Mother

Text: Ex.20: 12; Isa.49: 15

Intro: The term “mother” is indicative of one who is more than merely a parent. In fact, “The commonest fallacy among women is that simply having children makes one a mother—which is as absurd as believing that having a piano makes one a musician” (Taken from a sermon entitled, “The Mother Inside,” by Judah Thomas, SermonCentral.com). That’s because it takes a special kind of woman to be what the Bible defines as a mother.

The biblical word translated “mother” is the Hebrew word “AME” (pronounced “ah-may”), and means, “the bond of the family” (James Strong, S.T.D., LL.D, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, published by MacDonald Publishing Company, McLean, Virginia; #517 of the Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, pg. 13). “The word also signifies a force that strengthens and holds things together” (Taken from a sermon entitled, “A Mother’s Strength: Her Love,” by Z. Rinaldi III, SermonCentral.com). Though I don’t wish to diminish the importance of the father’s role in the family, I think we must confess today that mom is really the glue that holds the family together. We acknowledge that fact far too seldom.

It is without question that mothers are a special gift from God. We would do well to recognize that reality. Some of our most famous American leaders recognized the value of their mothers.

For instance, 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” (George Washington).

William McKinley said of his mother, “By the blessings of heaven I mean to live and die, please God, in the faith of my mother” (William McKinley).

Likewise, former president Reagan said, “From my mother I learned the value of prayer, how to have dreams and believe I could make them come true” (Ronald Reagan).

America’s current president, George W. Bush, had the following to say about motherhood:

Mothers are central to the success of the American family. Their love, dedication, and wisdom touch countless lives every day in every community throughout our land. And their love and guidance of children help to develop healthy and spiritually sound families.

President John Quincy Adams once said, “All that I am my mother made me.” President Abraham Lincoln believed, “All that I am or hope to be I owe to my angel mother. I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.” These statements are just as true for the millions of Americans who credit their mothers for helping to successfully shape their lives.

George W. Bush

As we celebrate the gift of mothers today, I want to point out some of the qualities that make them so special. Let’s examine them together.

Theme: Mothers are special because of:

I. A MOTHER’S WARMTH BESTOWED UPON HER CHILDREN

I Cor.13: 4 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

A. A Mother’s Love Protects Her Child.

I Kings 3: 23 “Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.

24And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.

27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.”

NOTE: Unless a mother is highly abnormal, she has a natural, God-given love for her children. That love often moves her to do some pretty heroic things in order to protect them.

About 6:00 A.M. on a Wednesday morning James Lawson of Running Springs, California (in the San Bernardino mountains) left home to apply for a job. About an hour later his thirty-six-year-old wife, Patsy left for her fifth grade teaching job down the mountain in Riverside, accompanied by her two children, five-year-old Susan and two-year-old Gerald, to be dropped off at the babysitter’s.