LOVE - 1 Cor. 13

One of my deepest joys in life is to be a mother.  It wasn't something I always wanted to do and it took me several months to even feel the least bit comfortable with the role.  I remember days of saying to Don "my life is over" when he would come home from a very normal day of work.  Our poor Andrew was my guinea pig and he seems to have survived in spite of it!  Motherhood is a very current subject in our household since our youngest son and his wife will become parents later this year.  Of course pink purchases have also been one of my current joys as a future grandmother!

In a recent study on motherhood, I was delighted to discover that as women we are really all made to be mothers in that we are designed to produce life (Gen.1- 3).  Staci and John Eldredge in their book CAPTIVATING say:

All women are not mothers, but all women are called to mother.

To mother is to nurture, to train, to educate, to rear.  As daughters of Eve,

all women are uniquely gifted to help others in their lives become more

of who they truly are - to encourage, nurture and mother them toward

their true selves.  In doing this, women partner with Christ in

the vital mission of bringing forth life.

 

It is important to note that we do partner with our Lord in this role...I could have never done it without the LOVE that comes as a fruit of the Spirit.  Remember, "we love because He first loved us".  Three lovely examples of how faith in the Lord provides for mothers:

 

--Shiphrah and Puah (midwives) who rescued the children who were to die in Egypt because they feared the Lord and then were given their own families because of their faithfulness  (Ex. 1:15)

-- Hannah - prayed for a child and then, because "the Lord has granted me what I asked of him" gave him back to the Lord in service (1 Sam. 1:27-28)

--Mary - sweet mother of Jesus, who upon finding out she was going to be a mother was willing to face ridicule because it was a "word from God" (Luke 1:37).

 

Jim Brickman says in his song "A Mother's Love":

 

There is no power like it on this earth

No treasure equal to its worth

The gift of a mother's love.

 

In 1 Corinthians 13 we see that LOVE is patient and kind, not envious or boastful, doesn't dishonor or is self-seeking, not angry or spiteful, doesn't delight in evil but rejoices in the truth, always protects, always hopes, always perseveres.  Sounds like a mother's love...but it is really God's love at work in us...our greatest of all gifts!  Happy Mother's Day, friends!

 

For further study: Gen. 1:26, Exodus 20:12, Leviticus 19:3, 1 Samuel 1:27-28, Prov. 31:27-31, Isaiah 40:11, Isaiah 66:13, Matthew 23:37, Titus 2:4-5, 1 John 4:19, 1 John 5:2.

 

Love,

Holly