Women’s Work Series

George Washington once said “All I am I owe to my mother”

On July 4th, 1884 - nearly 100 years after George Washington made that statement, France gave a gift to America. It was a huge copper-clad statue – that stood 305 feet tall. And – when it arrived in New York - it had to be sent in 214 shipping crates. It was a massive statue! Does anyone know what that huge statue was called? The Statue of Liberty.

For nearly 190 years, that Statue has stood for freedom and liberty. But what I found intriguing was WHO the designer had used for his model for this work of art. For it was a “work of art” and it required a model whose face and body projected the virtues of things like strength, respect, love, and acceptance. The artist examined dozens of outstanding heroines, but in the end - he chose for his model - his own mother. https://hanfordsentinel.com/print-specific/advice/in-celebration-of-moms/article_a825f50d-9bc6-5637-b1e3-606b0ce9fe23.html

It took him 20 years and $4 million in donations to create this masterpiece, so why did he choose his mother as the model for his greatest work? Well, it’s obvious that he loved her deeply, but, I believe that it was also obvious that he admired her. She had inspired him to be the man he became. He believed (like George Washington) that all that he was he owed to his mother. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it this way: “Men are what their mothers make them.”

Mothers can shape and form their sons and daughters into what they’re gonna grow up to be. And that’s particularly true of a man named Timothy. Timothy was complimented by the Apostle Paul – “I am reminded of your sincere faith.” And then Paul pointed out why Timothy’s faith was so sincere. Paul said that Timothy’s faith was “a faith that dwelt first in (his) grandmother Lois and (his) mother Eunice.” 2 Timothy 1:5

Timothy was shaped and formed into the man he was by the faith of his mother Eunice, and his grandmother Lois. These women were the models that turned Timothy into the man he became. These were heroines of Faith.

But HOW did they do that? How did they pass on their faith to Timothy? Well, I’ll be honest… the Bible doesn’t say. But I’ve got a couple good ideas.

First – I’m convinced that they had the right attitudes. Paul wrote that “older women (should) be reverent in behavior...” Titus 2:3. “Reverent”. (pause) You know, there’s an old saying that goes: “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” Now that’s a humorous comment, and people laugh when they hear it, but any woman who is difficult to get along with… is not reverent.

ILLUS: Years ago a man told me about his mother – and she was a nasty person. She’d go into fits where she’d throw plates against the wall, shattering them. Now she never did this to NEW plates, just old ones she didn’t mind breaking. The man told me that he was glad when he got married and went off on his own. But then, one day, his dad called and said he couldn’t take it anymore, and asked if he could he come over and live with his son. The son said “No. If you come over here, she’ll be right behind you and I don’t want HER living here.” Neither the husband nor the son could stand that woman because she was an irreverent and ungodly woman.

Now, Eunice and Lois … they weren’t like that. They lived their faith. They were women who set an example for Timothy. And, how did they set an example? Well, they were Christian women who had a deep faith in Jesus and I believe they’d have been the kind of women who took I Corinthians 13:4-8 seriously:

“Love is patient and kind; Love does not envy or boast; It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; It does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

I’m convinced that Eunice and Lois didn’t just treat their husbands that way, they tried hard to treat their entire family that way as well. And they tried to show that kind of love to people in the church, and to people they met down at the market. Everywhere they went that’s what they tried to do.

Now, did they do this perfectly? Well… probably not! All of us have sinned and fall short. But I’m convinced that they TRIED to live this way. They made it their goal to love others the way Jesus loved them. And because they built their lives on living their faith and seeking to please God, Timothy SAW how they lived - and what he saw made an impact on his life. So, I believe these 2 women were able to pass their faith along to Timothy because they had the right attitude.