The Three Key Words for Mothering - Mother's Day Message

Hi there. This is Lon Solomon, and I'm so glad that you listened in today to our teaching of the Word of God. You know, the Bible means what it says and it says what it means. That's how we understand it.

That's how we teach it. And never in the history of the world has that been more needed than it is today. So thank you for praying for us. Thank you for your financial help so that we can stay on the air and keep doing that. And just before we get to the Bible now, let me invite you to be part of my 58th tour of the Holy Land in October 2023. We'd love to have you join us.

All the information's on our Web site, lonsolomonministries.com. And now, let's get to the Bible. That she gives her children lots of religious do's and don't. What I mean is that she teaches them who God is.

And she connects for them every facet of life to the heart and the character and the person of the living God. Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 6. The Bible says, And these words which I am commanding you this day, God says, shall be on your heart and you shall teach them, what's the next word?

Say it out loud with me. Diligently. You shall teach them diligently to your children when you shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

That pretty well covers it all. What God is saying here is that as a godly mom, we should be bringing God to bear on every circumstance in our children's lives. When we comfort our children, we should use this as an opportunity to teach them that they have a God who loves them, cares about them, and is there to comfort them.

We discipline our children. We must teach our children at that moment that there is a just God in the universe who holds people accountable for their behavior. When we forgive our children, we ought to use that opportunity to teach them that God is the forgiving God. When our children are confused, we should teach our children that there is a God who gives guidance and wisdom and that they can call on this God for guidance and wisdom whenever they need it and he'll give it to them. When God provides, we should teach our children about the faithfulness of God. When God does good things for us, teach our children about the goodness of God.

And when disaster strikes, we should teach our children that God is sovereign and God is in control and that God makes no mistakes and that we can trust God even through the darkest times of life. And what I'm saying is that a godly mom turns her home into a living classroom about God so that when her children reach 18 and they graduate from her house, they leave her home with a PhD in the character and the person and the heart of Almighty God. Now you say, well what about fathers? I mean, I thought fathers were supposed to be the head of the home spiritually. I mean, aren't fathers supposed to have some part in all of this, Lon? Well yeah, they are. And I'm going to talk to them next month.

Yes I am. But this is Mother's Day. I'm talking to fathers today.

This is Mother's Day. And you know something very interesting, my friends? When you look down through history at the great men and women of God that populate history, what you'll find is that very few of them had godly fathers, but almost without exception, every one of them had a godly mother.

Think about it now. For example, Isaac in the Bible had Sarah and Jacob had Rebekah and Joseph had Rachel and Samuel had Hannah and David had his great-grandmom Ruth and Timothy in the New Testament had Eunice his mother and Lois his grandmother and John the Baptist had Elizabeth, bringing it more into modern-day times. Abraham Lincoln had Nancy Hanks Lincoln and Hudson Taylor had Amelia Taylor and Fanny Crosby, the greatest hymn writer of the American church, had Mercy Crosby and John and Charles Wesley had Susanna Wesley. And one more fella named Moses. The Bible says by faith, Hebrews chapter 11, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing instead to endure ill-treatment with the people of God rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. He, Moses, regarded reproach for the sake of the Messiah to be of greater value than all the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his heavenly reward.

Now these are awesome verses, but they beg some questions. First question is, who told Moses that the Israelites were the people of God? Second question, who told Moses that what the Egyptians did in the palace was sin? Third question, who told Moses about the Messiah? And fourth question, who told Moses about the heavenly reward that God gives to people who serve him? Well friends, I can guarantee you who didn't tell him, I can guarantee you it wasn't Yul Brynner.

You understand what I'm saying? He didn't tell him. Who told Moses all this spiritual truth? Who was it? It was his mother, of course.

Don't you remember the story? His mother was chosen to be his nursemaid for the early years of his life. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Moses was between five and ten years old before his mother finally turned him over to Pharaoh's daughter. And what did his mother do with those five to ten years that she had him?

Well friends, it's obvious what she did. That woman used those years to pour spiritual truth into this boy's life. My point is that when we look down through history and we trace the hand of God through history, we find godly mothers at every milepost, instructing their children in the ways of God, teaching their children the Word of God. Yes, if we can convince dads to carry their role here, if we can convince fathers to get involved in the spiritual formation of their children, that's wonderful, but if not, Mom, you pick up the ball and you run with it, and I promise you, God will honor and bless your efforts in your child's life. You say, well, Lon, that's wonderful.

God bless you up there. But how do you do this? I mean, give me something practical. How do I instruct my children? How do I put the Word of God and the ways of God into their heart the way you're telling me to?

All right, let me tell you how. Number one, when they're infants, sing songs to them about Jesus. Don't sing merrily, merrily the boat goes somewhere. Sing to them about Jesus. When they're toddlers, don't read them Mike Mulligan in the steam shovel. Read them stories about Jesus.

When they're three or four-year-olds, forget Barney. Put Christian videos on that drill spiritual truth into these children's lives. When they're preschoolers, start memorizing Bible verses with them. You would be surprised how much of the Bible a six-year-old can memorize if they're only given the chance. Bring your children to Kids Quest here every weekend. And may I say, you know, I'm being a little presumptuous here, but may I say, don't bring them into a service, a five-year-old, a six-year-old, a seven-year-old. Put them in an age-appropriate Sunday school class where they get the most spiritual truth out of the hour that they're here. And then bring them back for Awana on Sunday night and memorize the verses in Awana with them during the week. You say, Lon, I'm already exhausted just listening to you.

You say, wait a minute, what did the verse say? Teach these things. What was the next word? Diligently. Nobody ever said this was going to be easy and it wasn't going to be hard work. You've got to be diligent about this to get it done. I got more. You say, wonderful.

No, I do. Listen. Keep Christian music playing in your home. It would be shocking to you how much spiritual truth can get into a heart just by listening to Christian music in the home. Put Scripture on the walls and the refrigerators and the bulletin boards all through your house so no matter where your child goes, they see the Word of God. Regardless of their age, pray with your children at night before they go to bed. Get down on your knees with them and pray with them and reward them for their personal quiet time, their devotional time. When our boys were growing up, we used to offer to double their allowance any week that they had quiet time, five out of seven nights, we would double their allowance. We figured it was cheaper than bail.

You understand what I'm saying? And so we just doubled their allowance. Hey, when they're teenagers, when they're teenagers, make sure they get to Sunday school and Wednesday night and winter camp and summer camp and small group.

Make sure they get there. You know, make it an option. It was no option for our teenagers. It was the way it was. You know, I remember my son Justin, my middle son, was in high school and he came home with his first quarter grades one year and they were totally unsatisfactory.

I mean, not even one of the above selections they were so bad. And so you know the one and only arsenal you've got as a parent when a child's that age, don't you? What is it? You don't know this? It's the car. It's the car.

Yeah, I'm going to teach you something here. It's the car. So I said to him, I said, Justin, I'm taking the car away.

Give me the keys. You can't drive to school. You can't drive anywhere. He said, Dad, how am I going to get to school?

I said, it's real easy. You go stand out there on the street. You take the big yellow vehicle with all the windows in it.

The cheese wagon. That's how you get to school. He said, Dad, at my age, he said, that would be humiliating for me to do that. I said, yeah, well, these grades are humiliating.

Let me just tell you, they're more humiliating than taking that bus is. And then he said to me in his snotty little attitude, now he's better now, but in that snotty little attitude of his, he said to me, you know, Dad, he said, I just want you to know taking the car away from me is not going to make any difference in my grades. I said, well, yeah. I said, well, let me tell you what it's going to do. It's going to make me feel a lot better, and I feel better already, just in taking your car away.

Yeah. Well, Brenda heard all of this conversation, and she came up to me afterwards, and she said, you know, Lon, I agree with everything you did and said, except for one thing. She said, you took away the car for him to drive to youth group activities at church.

She said, we can't do that. She said, no discipline we ever do should interfere with our children's spiritual growth and development. I'll never forget her saying that to me. And so I said, Brenda, you know what, you're absolutely right. How great is it to have a woman like this who understands this and is committed to spiritual instruction in the life of her children? That's what godly moms do. Number two, word number two is the word example.

I believe that the greatest single force that influences a child's life is the example of their mother. Remember what we said last week? We said your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks more than your talk talks. Remember that? Yeah. Okay, let's say it together. Here we go. Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks more than your talk talks. You got that, right?

Yeah, you do. You're smart people. Okay, now nowhere is that more true than in the home. Ezekiel 16 44 says, like mother, like daughter. In that verse the Bible calls this a proverb. A proverb is a short saying that expresses a common obvious truth about life. And we have this same proverb today. We say in our modern world, well, if you want to see what she's going to be like in 20 years, look at her.

Thank you very much. Look at her mother. Now friends, this just isn't true of daughters. This is true of sons also.

In fact, sometimes I wonder if a mom doesn't actually have an even deeper impact on her boys than she does her girls. Hey, you've seen it happen. NFL game. Big 300 pound guy comes off the field, solid muscle built like a refrigerator with a head on it. Comes over and sits on the bench.

And he's just been out there cracking skulls for the last five minutes. And then they pan in on the camera. Have you ever in your life seen a man like that turn to the camera and go, Hi, Dad.

I haven't. What do they always say? Hi, Mom.

Yeah. Ronald Reagan said the most influential person in my life was my mother. And a couple of years ago, Brenda and I were out in Phoenix.

My son John was playing baseball for Johns Hopkins and they had early season out there where it was nice and warm. So we went out for a couple of days and watched a bunch of games. And one night we were at dinner, just Brenda and me, and in walks and sits within three feet, four feet of us, Shaquille O'Neal sat right down right at the table next to me. Friends, I got to tell you something. This person is not a man. This person is a small building.

Do you understand what I'm saying? I have never seen a bigger human being in my entire life. He is ginormous. I mean, I was overwhelmed. I mean, I've seen him on television, but to see him up close, his hand. I'm not lying to you, it was as big as my Bible opened up.

When he picked up this glass of water, the glass of water completely disappeared into this man's hand. I've never seen anything like this in my whole life. I mean, it was overwhelming to me.

I've never, and I was just sitting there staring at him thinking, okay, how can I get an autograph? And Brenda said, I know what you're thinking. She said, don't you do that.

You just turn around and pay attention. You know, in Sports Illustrated once a reporter asked Shaquille O'Neal, what was the one thing that got him most excited in life? And what do you think he said? He didn't say winning the NBA championship.

He didn't say being the most valuable player of the NBA or anything like that. Here's what he said, and I quote. He said, you know what gets me excited?

When my mom tells me she loves me, that's the thing more than anything that gets me excited. End of quote. Hey, mom, you listen to me.

I don't care whether you got sons or daughters. No one in the world has the same opportunity to influence their lives as you do, and the way that influence is maximized is through personal example. I ran into a little poem that was entitled When You Thought I Wasn't Looking. I think you'll like it, and it applies.

Here we go. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I learned that little things can be special in life. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that God wants us to help take care of each other. When you thought I wasn't looking, I felt you kiss me goodnight, and I felt loved and safe. When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come to your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's okay to cry. When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you pray, and I learned that there's a God that I can always talk to and trust. And when you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to grow up healthy and productive.

Finally, this poem says, when you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you, and I wanted to say, thanks, Mom, for all the things you taught me when you thought I wasn't looking. Mom, I don't care how bad your child's friends are. I don't care how rotten your neighborhood may be.

I don't care how corrupt their school environment may be. And I don't care how ungodly or spiritually disinterested their father may be. Mom, your godly example can overcome all of this in the life of your children. Paul said it, 1 Corinthians 11, 1. He said, follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. Man, this is what a mother should be able to say to her children.

Paul said, the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice, do these things, and the God of peace will be with you. This is our goal, moms, to be able to say this to our children. You say, but Lon, sometimes I blow it, and Lon, sometimes I mess up, and sometimes I make mistakes, and sometimes I don't live up to the example I wish I lived up to. Well, that's okay.

We all do that. Don't worry about that. Friends, going to our children and humbling ourselves and saying we messed up and asking for their forgiveness sometimes is a greater example of godliness to our children than if you'd have gotten it right in the first place.

Don't worry about that. You just handle everything you know how as biblically as you know how, and I promise you, your children will walk away having had an impact on their life that is indelible. Finally, number three, key word, prayer. I believe that the greatest power available to a Christian mom to influence her child's life for Christ is found on her knees. James chapter 5 verse 16 says the prayer of a righteous man or woman is powerful and effective, and then the Bible gives us an example.

It says, next verse, Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it wouldn't rain and it didn't rain for three and a half years. Then he prayed again, and the heavens poured forth rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Hey, just look what Elijah did through prayer, and in the same way just think what a godly mom can do through prayer. A Christian mom can see her child come to faith in Jesus Christ. Through prayer, a Christian mom can see God the Holy Spirit sensitize her child's hearts to the things of God. Through prayer, a Christian mom can put up a spiritual fence of protection around her children, even though they may be thousands of miles away, a fence of protection not just against physical harm, but against spiritual harm. Hey, through prayer, a Christian mom can see her child get wisdom and discernment and guidance from God without ever having to open her mouth. Through prayer, a Christian mom can pray her child into just the right college and just the right spouse and just the right job and into making just the right choices in life. There is no power on this earth that can compare to the power of a godly praying mother. And so I hope whether you're a mom here today or a dad, whether you're a future mom or a future dad, I hope that we'll learn from what we've talked about today. If you're going to build a home, if you're going to build motherhood and fatherhood, these are the pillars upon which we build it biblically.

So let's pray together. Lord Jesus, you know that Mother's Day brings a wide variety of emotions to people. And certainly that's true of the people in our audience today. Some people here have lost their moms this very year. And as they sit here today, they miss their mom terribly. And some women here haven't been able to have children yet in your perfect plan for their life. And other women here are still single and they're not sure if they're ever going to get married and have children.

Lord, for these women, I pray that you would comfort them and that you would help them take solace and strength in your sovereign plan for their life today. And then there are moms here who are tired. And they're worn down. And they're a little discouraged. And they're wrung out dealing with their children.

They don't see a whole lot of change happening. Lord, I pray for these moms that you would encourage them today with your promise. Proverbs 22, 6, that if we train up a child in the way he or she should go, if we drill the Word of God into them and we pray for them and we live to the best of our ability a godly example in front of them, if we do this, when they get old, they will not depart from it. Father, I pray that we would take great encouragement from that promise of yours. And so, Lord, whatever situation we may find ourselves in here today, remind us that nobody loves moms more than the living Christ, that nobody values mothers more than you do, and that nobody is there to walk alongside and assist mothers more than you, Lord Jesus.

So help us understand as moms we're not in this alone. Hopefully we're in it with our husband. But even if we're not, we're in it with the living Christ. And that's enough.

If that's all we've got, that's all we need. Give us hope, Lord, as we raise our children and the confidence you will keep your promise that they will not depart from it when they're older. And we pray these things in Jesus' name.

And God's people said, Amen. You've been listening to So What with Dr. Lon Solomon. So What is an outreach of Lon Solomon Ministries. To listen to today's message or for more information, visit our website, lonsolomonministries.org. Thank you for your support. If you would like to contact us, please visit our website or call us at 866-788-7770. We hope you will join us next time when Lon seeks to answer one of life's most important questions, So What.