May Food for Thought

Hello again, By My Side friends.

Welcome to my May 2024 monthly post. I love the month of May. It offers new hope, spring showers, budding trees, warmer days, and an anticipation that summer holidays are not far away. We also honour mothers in the month of May. Since Mother’s Day is around the corner, today I thought I would remind us all of and share the Christian perspective on mothers.

So, what does Christianity say about mothers? Well, throughout scripture, mothers are revered. The Bible tells us that we can experience Christ’s love for us through our mothers’ enduring and unconditional love. Our mothers are made in God’s image, just as we all are. Our mothers’ womb was created to give life and nurture the life God created in us, both biologically and spiritually.

The Christian view of motherhood is that God gave us children so that we would know Him, love Him, depend upon His strength, and understand His faithfulness in a new way. A mother serves her family in many meaningful ways, remembering that she is following in Christ’s footsteps. She doesn’t seek a reward or serve her family only when it is convenient; she understands that in serving her family, she is serving God.

How should a mother act in accordance with scripture? A Godly mother trusts God with her children. She recognizes and fully appreciates that God gave her the child she desired and longed for. She understands that the best way to honor God and show Him her deep gratitude for His gift of her child is to trust Him with her child, to partner with God for His plan for her child, and to teach her child all about the God who gave them life. She never takes for granted the child that God gave her.

The Christian deep meaning of mothers is that they are selfless; they sacrifice many of their own wants and needs for the wants and needs of their children. A mother works hard to provide her child with all the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to be capable and complete human beings.

Mothers are a reflection of God by protecting their child just as God protects His own. In all those mama bear instances, when a mom fiercely fights for the body and soul of her child, she acts like Jesus who fights body and soul for those who love and bring Him into their hearts and lives.

God compares His affection towards us to that of a nursing mother. That incredibly tight bond between a mother and her newborn child is just one of the profound ways by which God chose to illustrate His love. He then goes further to say that even though a mother sometimes abandons her child, God will never abandon us.

When I reflect upon the role of mothers from God’s viewpoint, I can now appreciate the Christian worldview. God is love, and He created us all with a deep longing and desire to be loved. His creation of the vocation of marriage as a sacrament and His desire to create the roles of fathers and mothers in what He calls His “domestic church” is the family. It really is where life starts.

Pope John Paul II once said that humanity passes through the family. He meant that the family is the very place where we learn what it means to be human. From the first moment a baby sees the smile of its mother and learns to receive unconditional love, sees the love between its parents, learns how to put up with other people’s faults, learns how to forgive and ask for forgiveness, learns how to share, tolerate others and how to love. He says the family is crucial for humanity. So goes the family, so goes the world.

So perhaps this May, let’s ponder this food for thought on mothers. Let’s consider this Christian worldview of mothers as a beautiful reflection of God’s love for His people who love Him and honor His way of life. Have a wonderful Mother’s Day, everyone. Thanks for your time today.

Love, MJ xo