Mother’s day is this coming Sunday. So what do you get for that special lady in your life? A greeting card for $5.00, a nice bouquet of her favourite flowers, maybe a gift card to the spa? Sounds good! Done and done. No need to think about that one anymore, I’ve got it covered! This is basically the conversation that happens in many people’s heads when it comes to gift-giving, on any occasion, is it not? Throw together a few items and you’ve got a gift, even if it was a last-minute one. It’s the thought that counts, right? Maybe it wasn’t a last-minute gift, maybe it was one you saved for or put a lot of thought into and made by hand. Either way, usually when we think about gifts, we think about tangible, tactile things that one can hold that cost money. Is there such a thing as another kind of gift? I think that there is one that is actually more valuable to a parent than any gift that can be purchased at the mall. It’s the kind of gift that keeps on blessing a mother or father, each and every day. Your life, and how you live it, is going to be either a blessing or a curse to you mom and dad. Listen in to the Proverbs. God has a lot to say about the way children relate to their parents.
Proverbs 15:20
A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man despises his mother.
Proverbs 19:26
He who does violence to his father and chases away his mother is a son who brings shame and reproach.
Proverbs 23:22
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Proverbs 30:17
The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.
Yikes to the last one. I for one, don’t want to be picked out by the ravens, whatever that means! You can see that wise children make their parents glad, and fools show that they despise them. Wise children are ones who listen to their parents and obey them, and fools are ones who bring shame and reproach. Wise children do not scorn their parents’ instruction, even when they get old! I want to be a wise child because not only do I want to avoid needless suffering as a result of my own foolishness, but I want to honour my parents, the ones who have raised me to know the Lord, the ones who have sacrificed and cared for me, even when I disobeyed and dishonoured them. I want my life, to be a gift to my mom and dad, one that brings them peace and joy to watch, not sorrow and shame.
Maybe since becoming a mom myself, I’ve felt more attuned to the seriousness of the task of Christian parenting. It’s no small thing, let me tell you! Thank God for His grace, and His guidance because it’s a mine field out there and without the Holy Spirit and the Word, we are lost. Looking back and thinking about what it must have been like for my mom to take care of my brother and I, I can now imagine with a very real understanding what it was like for her to make meals, clean diapers, play games, walk to the park, clean more diapers, make more food, and so on and so on. Her life has been one of sacrifice. She did not go out and do other things, spend money on the most up-to-date clothes, or take big vacations. She used her time, and what little extra money she had to care for us. She built a home and that home had its foundation on Christ. We learned Bible stories, heard scripture read and sung, and were witness to the Lord working in our parents’ lives. And now, with Emma, I have the same prayer and desire that I know my mom did. I want her to know Jesus. I want her to come to see her sin and understand that she needs a saviour. And by God’s grace, that will be the best gift I will ever receive! It will be the gift of seeing Him transform her and make her into His image. I want to watch her grow in godliness and love for Jesus. That life, the one of wisdom, the one that comes to obey the truth and love it, will be the one I will cherish most. Yes, I will also love candies (seriously, I really do love candy!), and I’ll love a bunch of lilies and a card, but nothing will compare to that intangible, wonderful peace that I will have knowing that Emma knows my Saviour.
Can you think about ways in which you’ve not honoured your mom in days past? Maybe, this is a chance to ask her forgiveness, and ask God’s grace to live a life that would be a blessing to her, and to Him. Even with all this “intangible gift-giving” talk, that doesn’t negate doing tangible things to show love! So go on, get out there and pick up something special for your mom. And make sure that that gift isn’t followed by a long season of indifference towards your relationship with her. Remember that the day-in, day-out grind is where love builds its strongest bonds, so seek to show it for the other 364 days of the year.
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