Do you feel as though you are overworked and underpaid? Sometimes you can feel like this as a mother. But don’t despair, you will receive your pay.
But let’s talk about one thing at a time. Firstly, the work! Yes, mothering is work. Hard work. Sleepless nights. Never letting up. Always available. It’s real labor. The word the Bible uses for labor in the New Testament is “kopos” and it means “toil which reduces the strength, labor, trouble, weariness.” Do you relate? I know you sometimes feel so weary at the end of the day. Praise God, He gives His beloved sleep. He gives us the night to be refreshed.
Can I encourage you not to complain about work? Work is good for the body and good for the soul. We accomplish things when we work. We become creative when we work. We think of new ways of doing things. We get new ideas.
Get a good attitude about work. Confess, “I love work.” When you work with a positive attitude or sing while you work, you are healed and uplifted. If you do it with a despondent and complaining attitude, you’ll feel week. Everything hinges on our attitude. And your children will learn the right attitude to work. One of the important things we do as mother is teach our children the value of work. How to work hard. How to work efficiently. How to love work.
It saddens my heart to see the lazy attitude in many young people today. They don’t know how to get “stuck in.” When they work, they do a shoddy job. They only do what they must. They don’t go the second mile. They don’t do the extra. We must prepare our children to face the real world. We teach them to arrive at their work before the allotted time and never leave on the dot of 5.00 pm! Always give that extra!
You see, we show our love by our work. 1 Thessalonians 1:3 calls it a “labor of love.” And God never forgets our “labor of love” (Hebrews 6:10).
The most important thing to remember is that each one of us will be rewarded according to our labor. God notices our labor.
1 Corinthians 3:8: “Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.”
As you toil and labor with the joy of the Lord in your heart, not one tiny bit of your labor will be wasted. God is watching it all. 1 Corinthians 15:58 encourages us to be “ALWAYS ABOUNDING in the work of the Lord (which is our mothering mandate God has given to us), forasmuch as ye know that your labor IS NOT IN VAIN in the Lord.” The NLT says: “for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.” You are not useless, dear mother.
You are not receiving a weekly paycheck for your powerful work in the home. That would be just too shameful. You are not working for wages as a hired laborer. You are doing something far greater. You are working for an eternal reward. Far greater than monetary value. And it’s going to be big. You better believe it.
If you are still feeling sorry for yourself, read how Paul worked for the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 112: 23-28 he mentions 30 different areas he suffered and labored for the Lord including “weariness and painfulness.” And he gloried in them all.
Be encouraged. Much love from Nancy Campbell
Painting: “Spring Wash Day” by Trisha Romance.