"Mothers make a difference"

Mothers Make A Difference

A young man was standing at the grocery store checkout line when he noticed an elderly woman in front of him. As she unloaded her grocery cart, she kept looking up and staring at him. After a few awkward moments, he asked, “Why do you keep staring at me?” The woman said, “I’m sorry, but it’s just that you look exactly like my son who recently died.” “I’m so sorry to hear that,” the young man replied. “Is there anything I can do for you?” “Yes,” she said. “As I leave, if you would say, ‘Goodbye, Mother’ it would make me feel so much better because I need closure.” “I’d be glad to do that for you,” he answered. As the old woman was leaving, he called out, “Goodbye, Mother!” After unloading his cart, the bill came to $247.50. “How can that be?” he asked the clerk. “I only purchased a few items.” “Oh,” the clerk replied, “your mother said that you would pay for her.”

How many of you would agree with me that mothers are the best? Amen? I have the privilege of having a wonderful mother! I have a mother who loved me unconditionally, even when I did not deserve it.
A mother who punished me when I was wrong and sometimes didn’t punish me when she probably should have. She sacrificed of her own needs to make sure my siblings and I had what we needed. We never missed a meal; always had clean, ironed clothes; we were taught the value of money and the value of other people. I was taught by my mother to love Jesus, love the church, and love church people (even when they were sometimes hard to love). My mother taught me as a teenager that her word was final and not up for debate (at the time I thought that was nuts, but now that I have children, I find that line of thinking great wisdom). I was blessed with a wonderful mother!

All that being said…

The best thing a mother can do for her children and family is to let the humility of Christ flow in and through her. A Christian mother who has been taught of the Lord on how to apply this principle in raising of her children will know the joy of sacrificial living. She has been taught of the Lord the difference between working to get ahead in life and of working for the good of the family–especially for her children’s eternal future.

This Christian mother will train, equip, and care for herself in a way that benefits the family. A mother of godly influence works to keep herself healthy, alert and well equipped for the work God has laid before her.

She will ask herself the most important question, “will this or that ensure a Christian upbringing of our children, or will it keep us too busy for the things of God? Many a Christian mother has done without in order to enjoy the pleasure of sacrificial love, doing what it takes to ensure that her children are being brought up in the faith as Timothy’s mother and grandmother had done.

Trust me when I say that mothers do make a difference.

It has been said, “it takes a village to raise a child.” Depends on the village. I strongly believe, to minimize the risk, that is takes the grace of God and Godly parents to raise a child.

But today more than ever, people and things other than parents are raising their children. We let the TV’s, movies, video games, computers, music, social media, their peers, and other things raise our kids. These are the modern, “new age” villages that are raising our children. (Tell story about when younger growing up)

And then sometimes, we get so busy keeping them busy that we don’t teach them how to do anything right. We think they have to do everything that we didn’t get to do, and the truth be known that you can be doing something every night if you let yourself.

So does it really take a village to raise a child? No, but we act like it does in the way we raise them. It is the responsibility of the parents to influence and be involved in the instruction and correction of our kids.

In our text today, we see two examples of Godly mothers: Lois and Eunice, the mother and grandmother of Timothy.

2 Timothy 1:1-7 (NLT)

Eunice was a single mom. She was a Jewish believer in Jesus. She had at one time been married to a Greek unbeliever, who had either left or died. Like today, raising a child as a single parent was no picnic.

But our text tells us that she must have done a good job because she raised him in the “genuine” faith.

So, this morning we are going to look at some of the things that young Timothy learned from his mother and grandmother that can foster “genuine” faith in us so that we can foster “genuine” faith in our children.

The first thing that we need to do is…

Start Young From Childhood

Timothy’s mother started at a very early age. Timothy received a religious education as a child. His education didn’t come from a priest, a pharisee, or a pastor, but from his mother and his grandmother.
Sometimes I hear about parents who say that they are not going to push their beliefs on their kids. They want to let them choose when they are old enough to make their own choice or decision. Lord today!
But think about how dangerous that sounds. Would you let your child choose whether or not to do their homework? Or if they even attend school? Or what kind of food they eat, or how late they stay up, or who they hang around with?
Someone once raised a good question, “have you ever wondered why so many parents tie up their dog, but let their children run loose?”

So their belief in Jesus as their Savior, the most important decision a person can make, should not be left up chance. We need to start training our kids at a young age.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”
The word train here doesn’t mean teach. The Hebrew word here means to prepare for a contest. We know that Satan is in a contest. He is in a contest to take as many souls with him to hell as he can. He influences society to influence people, and young people are the most influential of all. Parents have to prepare their children for that influence, for Satan’s contest.
Most statistics show that a child’s behavior is formed in early adolescence. What really needs to happen is that children be taught to ‘discriminate’. Now you might be thinking, you couldn’t possibly want me to teach my child discrimination, could you?”

It is wrong to discriminate against someone because of what they look like or where they are from – that is the truth – and parents who teach their kids to do that are dead wrong. But to teach our children to discriminate between what is sin and what is not, what is right and what is wrong is the duty of a godly parent.

And the only way for the parent to know is for they themselves to have a vibrant, personal relationship with God.
That is where we need to start. We need to make sure that we have the right relationship with God then we need to teach our children at an early age to have a right relationship with God as well.

Eunice led her boy Timothy to know the Lord Jesus Christ. She taught him about Jesus and expected that he would accept Christ as Savior.

Then secondly, we need to teach others to…
Use The Right Tools

Not only do you have to have the knowledge, but you have to have the tools to apply that knowledge.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NKJV)

“and that from a childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Equipped for every good work. You not only need the knowledge, but you need the tools to do the work properly. Where do we get those tools?

God left us with the greatest “how to book” in the world.
It is not only reading God’s instruction book, it is applying what you learned. So you have the instructions, now where are the tools? Let me share with you a few of them.

#1 – The Bible

Psalm 119:1 says, “Your word have I hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against you.”
We need to read and teach God’s word to our children. Some of the greatest stories in world can be found in the Bible. (ex. David/Goliath, Daniel/Lion’s Den, Hebrew Boys, Joseph/Family, Saul/Paul, Jesus death/burial/resur.)

#2 – Pray for and with your children.

#3 – Go to church.

Hebrews 10:24-25 (NKJV) says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as in the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching.”

Today you see a lot of people who drop off or let the church bus bring their kids to church. Maybe the verse should read, “Train a child in the way he should go… and go there yourself once in a while.”

And if you are the type person that church is a something you do when you can and not a priority/, then guess what? Your kids stand a good chance of not going at all when they grow up. They think, “well it was not that important to mom and dad, it’s not that important to me either.”

Parents should be leading the way to church, which leads me to my last point.
#4 – Practice what you preach.

His mom and grandmother not only taught Timothy, but he also saw God’s influence on their lives. Godly parents cannot just “train” their children in the way they should go. They must lead the way.

Do your children see God’s influence in you? Do they see His love, His discipline, His grace, His mercy? Are you an example of godliness to your children?

You see, I am sure Timothy had other influences in his life. As a young boy, he probably had friends or at least acquaintances whose parents were not Christians. I am sure Satan tempted him to follow after carnal desires, sins of the flesh and improper behavior. But Timothy always had his mother and grandmother at home as a guide.

Do your children and grandchildren see you as a godly guide in their lives? Someone who is steadfast in your faith. Someone that when the temptations of this world come calling, they can look to you as an example of godliness?

You will never shield your children from all that life will throw at them, but you can be a light in the darkness that leads them through by being an example of God for them.

God never intended that children be allowed to go blindly into life without any knowledge of Him, but that godly parents would guide their children into that knowledge.

If you are a parent or grandparent I admonish you, spend time with your children and tell them about God and His love for them. “Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege, than the raising of the next generation.”

Closing Illustration

A drill sergeant was frustrated in his efforts to make a soldier out of a certain recruit. The trainee lagged behind on marches, used any excuse to go on sick call, grumbled constantly about the food, and never made his cot up properly.
But one day, a noticeable change took place in the young man’s attitude.
When asked to what he attributed the soldier’s change in attitude, the drill sergeant explained, “Threats and punishment didn’t work, so I had to resort to the ultimate weapon: I called his mother!”