Why women should treasure Motherhood
Because it is part of the very fabric of Who God designed and created women to be. The Biblical portrait of manhood and womanhood is complimentarian and is rooted in creation and not culture. What is meant by complimentarian is that men and women are equal as persons but differ and are distinct in their roles, which compliment each other. Motherhood is essential to womanhood, which is why we see the first woman created given the name “Eve.” Eve sounds like the Hebrew word for “life-giver,” meaning part of what it means to be a woman is to be a life-giver. A man does not share this aspect of the image of God in the way that a woman does.
Why I use the term “Spiritual Motherhood”
Because in God’s family, a woman can be a mother without having any physical children of her own and a woman with children of her own can still raise spiritual children long after her own are gone. This is some of the meaning of Mark 10:29-30, where Jesus says that people who belong to the family of God belong to a family that is exponentially larger than any earthly family they could be a part of. They receive “a hundrefold…children” in this time. One example of this is Phoebe in Romans 16:2 who Paul calls “a PATRON of many and of myself as well.” This is the essence of Titus’ command to teach and so train younger women that we read about in Titus 2:3-5, that there is a deeper and higher and more eternal motherhood than just that of raising physical children, and that is the raising of spiritual children.
What Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Be (Titus 2:3a)
Why I use the term “Spiritual Motherhood”
Because in God’s family, a woman can be a mother without having any physical children of her own and a woman with children of her own can still raise spiritual children long after her own are gone. This is some of the meaning of Mark 10:29-30, where Jesus says that people who belong to the family of God belong to a family that is exponentially larger than any earthly family they could be a part of. They receive “a hundrefold…children” in this time. One example of this is Phoebe in Romans 16:2 who Paul calls “a PATRON of many and of myself as well.” This is the essence of Titus’ command to teach and so train younger women that we read about in Titus 2:3-5, that there is a deeper and higher and more eternal motherhood than just that of raising physical children, and that is the raising of spiritual children.
What Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Be (Titus 2:3a)
They are to be a certain kind of woman, a woman of godly character. It would be important to remember in reading this command to “older women,” that age and maturity are not always directly related. Sometimes young ladies are very mature, very “old.” Sometimes older women are very immature.
Submissive:
Submissive:
She is “reverent in behavior.” This reverence is a disposition primarily pointed to her husband and isn’t to pointed to other men in the way it is to her husband, but is to be pointed to other manly leadership as well.
Self-Controlled
Self-Controlled
They are to not be “slanderers or slaves to much wine.” The idea here is that they are to have control of their tongue and any addictions. They have a godly discipline about themselves in matters where other people don’t know where to draw the line. It is interesting that many New Testament passages speak to a woman’s need to watch her tongue. This must mean that it will be a temptation for a woman to cross the line in her conversations with and about other people. Women and mothers of godly character know where to draw the line.
I Timothy 2:9-10, I Peter 3:1-6
I Timothy 2:9-10, I Peter 3:1-6
Here are two more passages that we see several of the same items here and even some new ones that speak to a woman and a mother’s godly character. What I want to point out is the emphasis in both of these passages on the inner focus of godly character. A godly woman is more concerned with how she looks on the inside than on the outside. Her time and attention is does not go to the external but the “imperishable beauty” of “the hidden person of the heart.” Think about that phrase for a second: “imperishable beauty.” Is this not what our culture is spending a fortune on? My mother has always said that beauty is only skin-deep and I would say that we live in a culture that apparently thinks that skin is very deep. What people find who value “skin-deep” beauty eventually find is that it is just as painful as diving headfirst from the high dive into inches of water. It is really exciting for a moment, but in the end hurts more than you could possibly imagine. God says here that there is a beauty that is not skin deep and that it is imperishable, but it is the beauty of godly character.
The most important thing that I want you to see about godly character is that “HOPE IN GOD” is the root and fountain of godly character for a woman. She hopes in, trusts in, joys in, and walks with God, and from this root and out of this spring flows forth this imperishable beauty of godly character. This affects dress, submission, self-control, etc.
What Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Do (Titus 2:3b-5a)
What Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Do (Titus 2:3b-5a)
They are to reproduce certain kinds of women, women of godly character. I hope you see that the New Testament shows us that disciple making is to flavor and infect every relationship we have. Paul says that older women are to teach younger women “what is good,” and then he describes what teaching them what is good looks like, training them in two areas: godly character and homemaking.
They are to Teach and Train Other Women to Be Godly Women
They are to Teach and Train Other Women to Be Godly Women
They are “to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure…kind, and submissive to their own husbands.” You are to be a mentor to younger women, which includes your own daughter as well.
They are to Teach and Train Other Women to Be Godly Women Who are Homemakers
They are to Teach and Train Other Women to Be Godly Women Who are Homemakers
They are to “teach…and so train the young women…to be…working at home.” What the Bible seems to teach is that homemaking is a primary responsibility of godly women and mothers. This is true in both the Old Testament and the New. Andreas Kostenberger says the following concerning a mother’s role in the Old Testament:
“The mother’s responsibilities to her children are well summarized in Proverbs 31: providing food, clothing, and shelter. At a child’s birth, mothers would cut the umbilical cord, bathe the child, and wrap it in a cloth (cf. Ezek. 16:3-4). During the first decade of the child’s life, he or she was the special concern of his or her mother. Since in ancient Israel the home was the primary place for education, the mother’s example and instruction was vital. Once children reached adolescence, they would increasingly spend more time with their fathers, though this does not mean that the mother’s influence was no longer felt. Mothers would also train their daughters for their future roles as wives and mothers. This was even more important since daughters upon marriage would leave their paternal household and join that of their husband. Nevertheless, mothers would continue to follow the course of their daughter’s lives, and being able to witness the birth of grandchildren was considered to be a special blessing and delight (e.g., Ruth 4:14-16). Mothers also bore responsibilities toward domestic servants and slaves.” – "God, Marriage, & Family" pg. 98
When you come to the New Testament, Paul says here that the one skill set a woman is to have is that of homemaking. They are to be “working at home” to make their house a home. Paul also says in 1 Timothy 2:15, that women are actually saved in childbearing, which includes both the having and the raising of children. Part of homemaking is seeing to it that you as a mom raise your children and not someone else. Let me make two comments here:
Because homemaking is given to women and mothers from the Bible, it is a gloriously high calling. It is anything but a worthless existence. Proverbs 31:10 says that a woman like this is worth “far more…than jewels.” Feminism has not enriched women, it has robbed them of their worth and of their children.
To say that homemaking is a woman and a mother’s primary responsibility does not mean that it has to be their only responsibility. Please understand that this issue gets very grey and very heated very fast. This does not mean that a woman cannot work outside the home. There are exceptions, but the problem in our culture is that we make the exception the rule and the rule the exception. Single mothers have to work. Women with disabled husbands may have to work. A woman’s whose husband is pursuing additional education may have to work. Sometimes there may be such a financial burden on a family that the only way out is for a woman to get a job for sometime. I've seen women with older children in school get a job at that school. She takes them to school, is with them at school, brings them home, and is when them when they are out of school.
“The mother’s responsibilities to her children are well summarized in Proverbs 31: providing food, clothing, and shelter. At a child’s birth, mothers would cut the umbilical cord, bathe the child, and wrap it in a cloth (cf. Ezek. 16:3-4). During the first decade of the child’s life, he or she was the special concern of his or her mother. Since in ancient Israel the home was the primary place for education, the mother’s example and instruction was vital. Once children reached adolescence, they would increasingly spend more time with their fathers, though this does not mean that the mother’s influence was no longer felt. Mothers would also train their daughters for their future roles as wives and mothers. This was even more important since daughters upon marriage would leave their paternal household and join that of their husband. Nevertheless, mothers would continue to follow the course of their daughter’s lives, and being able to witness the birth of grandchildren was considered to be a special blessing and delight (e.g., Ruth 4:14-16). Mothers also bore responsibilities toward domestic servants and slaves.” – "God, Marriage, & Family" pg. 98
When you come to the New Testament, Paul says here that the one skill set a woman is to have is that of homemaking. They are to be “working at home” to make their house a home. Paul also says in 1 Timothy 2:15, that women are actually saved in childbearing, which includes both the having and the raising of children. Part of homemaking is seeing to it that you as a mom raise your children and not someone else. Let me make two comments here:
Because homemaking is given to women and mothers from the Bible, it is a gloriously high calling. It is anything but a worthless existence. Proverbs 31:10 says that a woman like this is worth “far more…than jewels.” Feminism has not enriched women, it has robbed them of their worth and of their children.
To say that homemaking is a woman and a mother’s primary responsibility does not mean that it has to be their only responsibility. Please understand that this issue gets very grey and very heated very fast. This does not mean that a woman cannot work outside the home. There are exceptions, but the problem in our culture is that we make the exception the rule and the rule the exception. Single mothers have to work. Women with disabled husbands may have to work. A woman’s whose husband is pursuing additional education may have to work. Sometimes there may be such a financial burden on a family that the only way out is for a woman to get a job for sometime. I've seen women with older children in school get a job at that school. She takes them to school, is with them at school, brings them home, and is when them when they are out of school.
But again, in our culture, we have made the exception the rule and have used our greed to justify women and mothers leaving the home to pursue careers so that we can own more things. There may be exceptions where this is the only option, but I feel that in our culture women leave the home not due to a lack of options, but due to the fact that we don’t like some of the options that we have. Staying at home would mean not having as many things. We need to prayerfully consider that response because at this point we are saying that having things is more important than raising our children. And shame on husbands who want to load up their wives with their portion of the curse in order to have more things.
What am I telling you to do here? I’m simply telling you to read and know the Bible and believe what it says and once you get there to pray with and talk with one another as husbands and wives about what it might look like for you to make sure that homemaking remains your primary responsibility. At the end of the day, if you have done that, I trust that what is grey will become clear for your home.
Why Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Be and Do These Things (Titus 2:5b)
What am I telling you to do here? I’m simply telling you to read and know the Bible and believe what it says and once you get there to pray with and talk with one another as husbands and wives about what it might look like for you to make sure that homemaking remains your primary responsibility. At the end of the day, if you have done that, I trust that what is grey will become clear for your home.
Why Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Be and Do These Things (Titus 2:5b)
Women should take this calling seriously because if they don’t the Word of God will be reviled. In other words, the glory of God is at stake when a woman does or does not embrace this calling. I Timothy 5:14 says that when a woman isn’t this type of woman, it gives our adversary (Satan) an occasion to slander. According to Ephesians 5:22-33, a woman who isn’t this type of woman warps the message of the gospel that marriage is suppose to preach, first to her children and then to the watching world as well.
How the rest of us should treat women like this
How the rest of us should treat women like this
The rest of us sons and daughters and husbands should honor and praise women like this and we should defend their honor when it is at stake. I want to call any husband, son, or daughter who does not treat their wife and mother this way to repentance. I am ashamed of the way I treated my mother for most of my childhood. Basically I was a selfish brat who did not appreciate her. Some of you are like that and I know all to well the reason you are: you only care about yourself.
I think the best example of how to treat a woman is Jesus Christ. He honored His mother and His bride in a way that you never can and never will: He died for them. Let all women remember that there would be no godly women apart from the death of Christ on their behalf. And let all men remember that instructions of Paul to lay yourself down for your wives as Christ has done the church, so that she may be the godly woman that she is called to be.
I think the best example of how to treat a woman is Jesus Christ. He honored His mother and His bride in a way that you never can and never will: He died for them. Let all women remember that there would be no godly women apart from the death of Christ on their behalf. And let all men remember that instructions of Paul to lay yourself down for your wives as Christ has done the church, so that she may be the godly woman that she is called to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment