A Mother's Love

Well, I cannot imagine how many multiplied thousands of sermons are being proclaimed across the world today from Proverbs 31 verses 10 through the end of the chapter, the virtuous woman. But today we're going to look at the first nine verses of chapter 31 of Proverbs, from which there probably will be very few sermons proclaimed today, maybe just one, I don't know, this may be it.

But at any rate, it occurs to me that this is a very suitable text for Mother's Day. These are the words that were penned by Lemuel, but they are recording for us the words that were told to him by his mother. Now we recognize that the book of Proverbs was written primarily by King Solomon. But the last two chapters seem to have been something of an addition, appendices that were added to the book by the direction of the Holy Spirit of God.

Chapter 30, we are told, are the words of someone by the name of Agar in chapter 31 by the words of King Lemuel, neither of whom do we know precisely what their identification is. But today we want to look at these words of Lemuel told to him by his mother. And it will give us, I think, a very good portrait of a mother's love, not a complete picture because there's so much more that could be said.

But what is included here is very instructive indeed. And so looking at these nine verses, we want to see number one, a mother's love in verses one and two. Second, a mother's warning in verses three through five. Third, a mother's advice in verses six through nine, and then some applications for us today.

A mother's love. The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him, what my son and what son of my womb and what son of my vows. The first question that comes to my mind is who was Lemuel? Who is Lemuel? Who was Lemuel? His name means unto God or with God, and therefore means one dedicated to God, which goes along exactly with the fact that the mother made some vows in connection with her son.

He was indeed one dedicated to God. But again, who exactly is this one? What is the identity of this man called Lemuel? Probably the most common speculation, and it is indeed speculation, is that Lemuel is the same as Solomon, that this was a pet name, you might say, that was given to him by his mother, and therefore we are not looking at some unknown person. We're just looking at an unknown name of a known person, but we haven't seen this name of him before.

That's the traditional view. However, it is also possible, and some people think that this is another king, perhaps of a neighboring country who, if that is the case, undoubtedly had a Jewish mother who knew God and knew the Scriptures, who trained and prepared him for his assignment as king over whatever kingdom he was being installed into. But again, we don't know that to be the case.

We're just not told. Was it Solomon? Was it some other king? The Bible does not tell us, which therefore makes it challenging to answer another question, which is, who was Lemuel's mother? If we don't know who Lemuel is or was, it's difficult for us to know exactly who his mother was, and yet she figures very prominently in all of this, and so at least we are curious and we'd like to explore the possibilities. If, as I think a majority of commentators at least down through the years have speculated, that Lemuel is Solomon, then his mother was Bathsheba. Now that's kind of a shock, isn't it?

But that would be the case. If Lemuel is Solomon, then the mother of Lemuel who gave him this godly advice is none other than Bathsheba, whom we know as a notorious adulteress. And yet we do see evidence in Scripture that though she was an adulteress, she was a chastened sinner and was forgiven by God and was evidently a wise and godly mother, which is a reminder of what grace can do. Yes, she sinned. Yes, she fell grievously.

Yes, she has a reputation even down to this time where she is remembered more for her great sin than for her great godliness, but if in fact this is Solomon's mother, then Bathsheba became a godly woman, saved by grace, transformed by grace, sanctified by grace, made godly by grace, given the understanding of God's word by grace, and diligent and obedient in her responsibility to her son as she taught him the truth of God's word. I wonder if there's somebody here today who has fallen badly and you are grieved over your sin, and that's a good sign. Sometimes people will come to me and they talk about, I'm so troubled because I'm wrestling with sin and I don't seem to get the victory I can and that really troubles me. And I wonder, could I really be a child of God?

And I say, well, I cannot see your heart, but I want to tell you something. Unconverted sinners aren't usually troubled by their sin. That's a good sign that you're troubled.

That's a good sign that you are concerned. And if there's somebody here today who is troubled because of past sin and you are despairing that you will ever be able to put that behind you, that you'll ever be able to be cleansed of your sin, that you will ever be able to become a child of God, and if you are a child of God, that you'll ever be useful in the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, I point you to this possibility, if not probability, that Lemuel's mother was none other than Bathsheba saved and sanctified and prepared and given wisdom and godliness by the grace of God, whose blessings do not come because we deserve them. If you are trying to earn them, you'll never achieve them. If you are waiting for some great transformation to take place before you claim the blessings of God's grace, then you will never claim them. But if you will run to Christ and acknowledge your sin and confess your sin and cast yourself upon his mercy, you shall receive pardon and you shall be restored and you shall become useful in the interest of Christ's kingdom. Well, whoever the mother of Lemuel was, whether Bathsheba or somebody else, it's clear she was a wise and godly mother. And if an unknown king, if it's not Solomon, then the mother obviously is an unknown mother.

It's not Bathsheba, but clearly a godly mother who is familiar with the scriptures that God gave to his people. And so we find that this mother is a teacher of God's word. The words of King Lemuel, verse one tells us, the utterance or the words which his mother taught him.

Don't pass over that too lightly. The utterance of which his mother taught him. These words that have so fastened themselves to the heart and mind of Lemuel were first given to him by his mother. She was the instrument God used to fasten this truth to his soul. She was a teacher of her children or at least of one child. We don't know if she had others or not. We know if it was Bathsheba, her first child died.

That's part of the chastening to which I referred. The child of adultery was killed, was taken by God because of the sin of David and Bathsheba. But in its place, she was given another child, Solomon, who was appointed by God to become the king of Israel. Out of all the sons of David, and there were many, God said this one, the son of the adulterous, the son of Bathsheba, the only son that David had that was not the product of a marriage.

He had multiple wives, as we know, but he had one relationship that was not even his wife, Bathsheba. And yet God said, that's the one, that's the one that I'm going to put upon the throne. That's the one who's going to be the son of David.

That's the one who's going to be in the line of the Lord Jesus Christ, the ultimate and greater son of David who will come. And he needs instruction. And his mother is going to be the instrument of God to carry that out. And so here is a mother who gives instruction to her son, a godly mother who loved her son and demonstrated her love by instructing him in the ways of God. She showed her love by diligently teaching, training her son.

That takes work, that takes labor, that takes study. When one is tired from doing other things and would rather rest, but mothers rise to the occasion if they are godly mothers and they go ahead and instruct their children as Lemuel's mother obviously did to him. Who is this woman? She is a possessor of mother love, a wonderful example of mother love. She had a special relationship with her son. She had a sacrificial relationship with her son. She had a spiritual relationship with her son. What my son?

Or what shall I say my son? A special relationship. She had a closer tie to him, a closer concern, a stronger concern for him, a clearer regard for him than for anyone else. He was her son. What a special relationship.

What shall I say to my son? It was a sacrificial relationship for he was, as she says to him, to remind him of this fact, she was the son of his womb and that's just one of many sacrifices and trials and pains that mothers go through to bring their children into the world. One that she carried in her own body for nine months, one that she delivered in some measure of pain, maybe a great deal of pain. And then after that she gave herself to that one, that child, nursed that child from her own body, brought up that child, trained him, watched over him, sacrificed for him a mother's love. This is a wonderful relationship, not only a special relationship of mother to son but a sacrificial relationship of one who has come by the way of a mother's womb. But above everything else, this represents a spiritual relationship. You are the son of my vows.

That suggests a number of things, doesn't it? It suggests that Lemuel's mother dedicated him to the Lord, perhaps even before conception, no doubt before birth and certainly after birth and probably all three. We all know the story of Hannah, the other thousands of sermons across America this morning that are not from Proverbs 31, they're probably from 1 Samuel 1 from Hannah.

But Hannah's a wonderful example. She could not have children and so she went to the Lord and she prayed earnestly and she made vows. If you give me a son, I will give him back to you and she conceived. And while she was carrying that son, she said, you have given me a son.

If you will bring him to safe delivery, I will give him back to you. And the child was born healthy and well. And then she taught him and nourished him and trained him at home until the time came when she brought him to the temple.

And she said, here is the one that I have dedicated to you. I gave him to you before he was conceived. I gave him to you when he was still in my womb. I gave him to you in his early years and now I give him to you. And that, of course, was Samuel, who had such a powerful spiritual influence upon the people of Israel.

But all of that began because of this spiritual relationship that Samuel had with his mother and that Lemuel had with his mother as well. Son of my vows. She dedicated him to the Lord.

I don't know in what ways that was done, whether it was entirely private or whether there was something public involved in that. I think it's a good practice to publicly dedicate our children to the Lord, though, whether we dedicate them to the Lord in public or not, we certainly got to do so in private. I'm told, and I have to be told this because I certainly have no recollection of it, but I'm told by my parents that when I was a child, I was dedicated to the Lord in a church service in the arms of A.W. Tozer in Chicago, where my parents were members of his church back in the late 1940s.

I know I don't look that old, but anyway, that's the truth. That's a sweet memory or not a memory really. It's a sweet fact, a sweet report that has been given to me that my parents were concerned enough about my welfare to have me publicly dedicated to the Lord by their pastor, who turned out to be such a powerful pastor, so greatly used of the Lord in so many ways. That's what Hannah did for Samuel, and that's what Lemuel's mother did for Lemuel. She dedicated him to the Lord. I don't consider him first and foremost mine.

I consider him my blessing. I consider him my responsibility, but he doesn't belong to me. He belongs to you, O Lord, and I acknowledge that by dedicating him to you, son of my vows. And by telling Lemuel that, that communicated to him how special he was to his mother. I don't know that all mothers dedicate their children to the Lord. I don't even know that all Jewish mothers dedicated their children to the Lord. I don't even know that all Christian mothers dedicate their children to the Lord, though surely they should. But Lemuel's mother did, and she told Lemuel that, you are special to me because I have vowed a vow to God to give you to him.

That's how special you are and precious in my sight. And that must have meant something very, very dear to King Lemuel, a mother's love. But then we come to a mother's warning in verses three through five. She says, there's some things Lemuel that I want you not to do under any circumstances. Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert justice of all the afflicted. Two things actually that you are to avoid. Number one, fornication and number two, intoxication. Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings.

Avoid fornication, avoid any sexual activity outside of marriage. Again, we can't help but wonder, was this Bathsheba? Is she remembering her great fall and how she failed in that very instruction that she's given to her son and what a great price she paid in that? Maybe, maybe not. But it's true either way. Don't give your strength to women. Doing that will dilute your strength, both physically and mentally and spiritually. Don't do that. Don't sin in that way.

Don't be unwise in that way. In giving instructions for the kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17, God said through Moses, neither shall he, that is the king, multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away. Don't multiply wives to yourself, kings of Israel, lest your heart turn away. And of course, that's exactly what happened to some extent with David and to a greater extent with Solomon, who disobeyed that instruction and married many pagan wives who continued to worship their false gods, and his own heart was turned away thereby. That's just one example of what happens. But giving yourself to many sexual relationships always saps your strength physically, mentally and spiritually.

It has a debilitating effect upon mind and body. And to obey that command in the world in which we live is going to take a lot of grace from God and a lot of determination from God's people and a lot of casting ourselves upon the mercy of God and his help, because this world is awash with sex. And yet it is possible in this world to be true, to be faithful, to be pure.

And if you have stumbled, it is possible to confess your sin and to be restored and then to remain faithful and pure in the days and years that lie ahead. It's not impossible. Don't do it, Lemuel. Kings can do this almost more easily than anybody else.

Kings are expected to do this because of their position, because of their wealth, because they can basically have whatever they want, because they are the king of the land and can make their own laws and their own rules. But Lemuel, there is a God above you, a ruler higher than you are, and there are commands that are higher than your commands. And God said, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Lemuel, don't do it. Of all the things that she could have said, and there are many things she could have said, don't do this, don't do that, dozens of things she could have said.

She picked out two. Don't get involved in multiple sexual partners. Avoid fornication. Don't allow yourself to get intoxicated.

Don't do those things. Avoid fornication and avoid intoxication. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the justice of all the afflicted. Avoid intoxication because of your exalted position.

It is not for kings to do this. It is not for kings to drink wine or princes to drink intoxicating drink. Wine, of course, speaks of an intoxicating beverage, which is made from grapes. Strong drink is another term. My Bible says intoxicating drink. Some versions say strong drink. Strong drink, I'm told, is an intoxicated beverage that is made either from dates or pomegranates or sometimes from other substances, basically all other intoxicating beverages in that day that were not made from grapes. So there's two kinds of intoxicating drinks.

There's wine and there is everything else, strong drink. Don't you do that, Lemuel. Again, can you imagine a king being an abstainer? A king saying don't put wine in front of my plate at all the banquets when other people are drinking wine.

A king saying don't even put that cup on my table because I'm just not going to do it. Don't do it, Lemuel, because leaders must be tempered in all things and there's too much danger here. It's dangerous for anybody, but particularly for those who have a high position of responsibility and leadership such as kings do.

Lemuel, don't do it. Don't do it because to rule others well one must first master oneself. You understand that, don't you? To be able to rule others well one must first be master over himself. If you apply that standard to politicians you aren't going to find very many who qualify.

What a pity. But it's so hard to find leaders in our day who demonstrate that they have control of their tongue. They have control of their appetites. They have control of their sexual desires. They have control of their desire for intoxicated beverages. They have control over their covetous desires. They are masters of themselves and because they have learned how to control and master themselves they are now in a good position to be wise leaders over others. But where do we find people like that in this world today? May God help us.

How we need revival in the United States of America. Lemuel, God has designated you for the position of king. Therefore, don't get involved in inordinate sex. Just confine yourself to the honorable marriage bed which is undefiled.

And don't indulge in intoxicating beverages. And why is that? It's because of your exalted position, verse four.

Why is that? It's because leaders need clear thinking, verse five, lest they drink and forget the law. We all know that intoxicating beverages have a way of clouding our minds, clouding our thinking, clouding our memory.

Indeed they do. And leaders need to have clear thinking. Wine and alcohol produces impairment in our thinking.

And because of your moral responsibility, the last part of verse five, lest they pervert the justice of all the afflicted, you're there to mete out justice according to righteousness, according to law, according to impartiality. And intoxicating beverages are going to affect your ability to do that. Leave them alone, Lemuel. That's my advice.

My mother's advice to you is one who loves you dearly. Leave those beverages alone. In our world, the participation in intoxicating beverages is not only common, but it's almost unexpected.

In fact, it is oftentimes used as an excuse for bad behavior. I got drunk, so I can't be held responsible for driving drunk and having an accident killing somebody. You need to let me off the hook because I couldn't help it. I was drunk. I was drunk, and so I can't be held responsible for my immoral behavior. I wouldn't have done that if I'd been sober, but I was drunk. So it provides an excuse.

No, you've got it wrong. If you were drunk and did it, that doubles the guilt. That doubles the offense. Number one, you sinned by getting drunk. Number two, you made that an excuse for some other sin. Don't do it.

Don't do it. That's a mother's warning, but next we have a mother's advice in verses six through nine. In verses three through five, she said, do not do this.

In verses six through nine, she said, now do do this. In one way, it's all advice. The first is negative.

The second is positive. But here's a mother's advice. Verse six, give strong drink to him who is perishing and wine to those who are bitter of heart. Let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more. Open your mouth for the speechless in the cause of all who are appointed to die.

Open your mouth, judge righteously and plead the cause of the poor and needy. So a mother's warning was don't get involved in fornication and don't utilize intoxicating beverages. Her advice is relieve the afflicted and defend the defenseless.

Two things here as well. Relieve the afflicted. And now interestingly, King Lemuel's mother gives him an appropriate use for alcohol. Now alcohol is a touchy subject and a lot of people have differing ideas about what the Bible teaches about this.

And actually this one text would pretty much clear it up. Yes, yes, intoxicating beverages are considered to be dangerous and it would be better to avoid them, but there is a proper use for them too. So for the people who wrongly believe that the Bible requires absolute abstinence from alcoholic beverages, how do you explain the command to give them to certain people? And for the people who glory in the fact that the Bible allows the use of intoxicating beverages, how do you explain the warnings? Be careful. There's great danger here.

You better be very, very, very, very cautious. Better not to drink at all than to drink to excess and get drunk. Relieve the afflicted, the dying, the suffering, the impoverished, the troubled by supplying them the medicine that will help relieve their misery, which in a day without drugs and medications like we have today pretty much boiled down to alcohol. Give it to them. They're about to die, so relieve their pain, the pangs of death. Give it to them. They're suffering miserably and they have no pain medication. Give it to them to relieve the suffering that they are in. Give it to them.

They're living lives of hopelessness and despair. Maybe this will help take their minds off their difficult situation. Give it to them. They're troubled beyond measure and they can't seem to get a grip on life. Give it to them. Maybe this will help them get over their problem. Relieve the afflicted.

King Lemuel, you will be in a position because of your authority and because of your wealth, you'll be in a position where you'll be able to supply this to many needy people. Go ahead and give it to them. Don't give it to yourself. Lay off it for yourself, but give it judiciously, carefully, only to those who really, really, really have a legitimate need.

Supply it to them out of kindness. What do you make of that in terms of what the Bible teaches about alcohol? What do you make of that? But number one, relieve the afflicted and number two, defend the defenseless. Those who cannot speak for themselves, verse eight, open your mouth for the speechless. Those who need a defender, verse eight, in the cause of all who are appointed to die, apparently appointed to die and have nobody to defend them in court, they need a defender.

You do that. You defend the defenseless. Help those who are often exploited and denied justice, verse nine, open your mouth, judge righteously and please plead the cause of the poor and needy.

The people who others take advantage of, the people who have nobody to help them to speak for them, the people who are exploited by stronger, wiser, more connected people on every side. You be the kind of king who instead of going along with that or turning a blind eye to that, will step in and stop that and help those who need this kind of help for justice to be done. In other words, Lem, you'll rule righteously. Use your position to help the weak. God didn't give it to you so that you can bask in your own glory. God didn't give it to you so that you can luxuriate in your own wealth.

God didn't give it to you so that you can fill your life with all of the pleasures that are available to kings. God gives you this position so that you can use it to help others. Rule righteously. Help the weak. Help those who cannot return the favor to you instead of helping only those that will give you something in return. Help those who have no power to threaten any retaliation to you if you don't help them instead of catering to those that you fear might do some damage to you. Rule righteously.

Rule in principle, not based upon human considerations. Do not be influenced by money. Do not be partial to those of high social standing. Do not use your position for personal advantage, but use your position to serve God and to help others. What a rare king or president or senator or judge would fit that description. May God give us some like that.

May God give us many like that. And the advice that King Lemuel's mother gives to him as a king, or maybe at this point as a king in training, is good advice for anybody who's in government. It's good advice for business people who have a position of influence and power over some other people towards your employees. Employ these principles to help them toward people in the community that you can help help them.

Use the position, the influence, the resources that God has entrusted into your care. Use it to help others, to be a benefactor to those around you. We hear that phrase sometimes, we're going to give back to the community. And sometimes that's done.

Often it's just sort of a token, a pittance. But if you will quietly, without advertising it, put it in the paper, look at this $25 check. They want to give it to this charity. Take a picture of it. Give it to the paper.

Give it to the newspaper. No, just quietly go about helping others. God keeps track. God keeps the record. God will reward. Do you think you'll suffer or gain by doing that if God gives you resources?

You'll gain because of God's promise. This is good advice for business people. This is good advice for all people of truth and righteousness. This is good advice for me.

This is good advice for you. Well, let's consider a few applications. There are so many we could draw from the passage. First of all, how to manifest love to your children. People don't know how to do that in our day.

You see it all around. How do you manifest love to your children? Some people think by giving them everything they want up to my ability to give it to them. If they want it and I can give it, I'll do it. That's how I demonstrate love.

No, indulgence is not the way that you manifest love to your children nor by total support of anything and everything they do and affirming them in all they do, whether right or wrong. Did you read this week about the mother who was found guilty in court because her son committed a horrendous murder. He stabbed a young girl like 116 times and what did his mother do? She hid the evidence, tried to. Well, it's her son. It's her child.

You would expect her to do that. Not if you believe in truth and righteousness. You would say, I'm sorry what my son did. But yes, here are his bloody genes. Take them as evidence.

If he's guilty, he needs to be punished. That's love. How do you manifest love to your children? By godly training, like Lemuel, his mother did to him. By appropriate warnings and restraints, by honorable expectations, not just affirming whatever they decide to do. It's their choice. It's their life. If they're a girl, they want to become a boy, I'll help them. If they're a boy and they want to become a girl, I'll help them. What pitiful nonsense, what unrighteous abomination. That's not love. Help them with truth and righteousness.

That's how to manifest love to your children. Secondly, we can learn some lessons here, and I've already touched on some of these, about the appropriate use of alcohol as taught to us in the Bible. Intoxicating beverages are allowed when used judiciously.

They are not categorically forbidden, but there are some pretty strong warnings about them. And if kings shouldn't touch them, I wonder if anybody who wants to accomplish anything of any significance in life ought to be messing with them either. Just my little opinion here, okay? If you fall into the category of the dying, the bitter, the troubled, the impoverished, the ones who are suffering and aren't able to do anything else, then take the remedy that will help you with your suffering. But if you've got any life in you and you want to accomplish anything in life, you better go very carefully around those intoxicating beverages.

Because King Lemuel's mother thought it was better to avoid them altogether than to risk the potential of abusing them. How many people I have known who say, well, the Bible says it's okay to drink alcohol moderately, and it does. Let's be honest. Let's not distort Scripture to say that it teaches something it doesn't say. It does. It does.

Let's be honest. This is hard for Baptists. It's hard for Baptists to admit that this is what the Bible teaches. It is.

It does. But better to abstain than to cross the line. So many people who have convinced themselves of the liberty to drink wine moderately end up crossing the line frequently sometimes.

But if you don't touch it, you'll never cross the line. Personal advice. My personal decision, though I know I have the liberty to partake moderately if I choose, my personal decision is do not partake. I've got too many important things to do. I've got the Word of God to handle. I don't want my mind clouded. I've got ministry to perform. I want to be able to do it to the fullest of my ability.

I've got people to try to help. I don't need to be diverted by drinking alcoholic beverages. That's my personal decision is not to partake, though I know I have the liberty to. And my personal advice is for you not to partake, though I admit you have the liberty to. But I can't give that to you as official exhortation because that would be contrary to Scripture. So my official exhortation is be careful. Be very, very, very careful.

Because intoxicating beverages are dangerous, they are deceptive. Lesson number three about child rearing. There's no substitute for the training of children by their parents in the home. I'm not saying there isn't anything that can help with that, but I'm saying there's nothing that can substitute for that.

If you neglect that, I don't know that anything else will make up for that. And mothers have a powerful role in that. How many of Christ's choicest servants are products of the dedicated labors of a godly mother?

Thousands upon thousands upon thousands. Whether or not you choose homeschooling for your children, that's another subject for another day. I would say whether you do choose that or don't, there's some reasons where it would be wise to, and I think there are other occasions where it would be unwise to. But whatever you choose to do in that category, I want to tell you this, your training in the home needs to be the foundation of the education of your children. If you as a parent determine to employ someone else, something else to help you, a Christian school, whatever you choose to help you, and you need to view it that way. My children don't belong to the state.

My children have been given by God to me. I make the decisions for them. I decide who's going to educate them. I decide who's going to train them. If I employ someone else to help me with that, I do that knowingly, thinkingly, considerately.

I do that deliberately, and they are doing it on my behalf, and I'm in control of that. Because training in the home is the foundation of all child training. And that involves both mothers and fathers. That involves family worship, and hopefully you've got a godly father who will take the lead in that and instruct his children in the home. But children, particularly when they're young, are going to be around the mother pretty much all day long, again, depending on the circumstances. Father's out earning the money to supply the needs of the family.

The mother's at home with the children. And oh, what wonderful opportunities she has to instill the word of God in them all day long, teaching them scripture verses, teaching them songs that have scriptural truth in them, reading to them Bible stories, instilling the truth of God in them. You never know what that's going to eventuate in. One lesson about protecting children in the wicked world, and it is wicked.

It always has been. And sometimes we despair. But let me encourage you. Do this. Do your best. Do your part before God to train your children obediently and wisely and sacrificially in the ways of the Lord. And then trust God to make your efforts succeed.

Nobody does it perfectly. So trust God to make up for your weaknesses. But nobody's efforts in themselves can accomplish this. But with God's grace, God's power, God's protection, God's enabling, it can be done. Godly children can be reared in Christian homes in this wicked world by the help and grace of God.

Don't despair. And my last application has to do with appreciation for mothers. Mothers sacrifice so much for their families and for their children.

Only the mother and God knows how much, but it's a lot. Give them honor. Give honor to whom honor is due. Express your love and appreciation to those who give so much to you and to your family.

But don't neglect this. Remember that Christ's sacrificial love is even greater than a mother's sacrificial love. And therefore honor Him above anyone and everyone else. Give to Him the love and the honor and the appreciation that He deserves and everything else will fall into place. Shall we pray? Father, take your word and then instill it in our hearts and may we be wise and may we be godly and may we be effective in our marriages and in our relationship with our children and in our impact upon the lives of those around us. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.