THE "SUCKLING MOTHER" 

“And he (Jesus) answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female”
(Matthew 19:4).

Interesting! God created a male and a female. He didn’t make two Adams. He didn’t make two Eves. He created an Adam and an Eve.

The most common Greek word for "woman" in the New Testament is gune which simply means "woman, wife." However, Jesus used a more specific word when He answered the Pharisees who asked him about divorce. He used the word thelus which comes from the root word thele. The noun means "the nipple of a woman’s breast from which a baby sucks to find sustenance and to thrive" and the verb means, "to suckle at the breast." In other words, Jesus described the female as a "suckling mother." "This is how God made them in the beginning,” he reminded them. And God has not yet made a new model!

This word would not have been offensive to the those listening to Jesus at that time. Nursing mothers were a natural part of the lifestyle. Unfortunately, today there are many women who would not like to hear Jesus describing them in such a way. To be a suckling mother seems degrading to a career woman. And yet this is who God created us to be. When we embrace children and suckle them at the breast we fulfill our highest destiny. We live in the glory of our femaleness. We find our greatest beauty. And we wield a mighty power.

The mother who embraces life and suckles a babe at her breast is not wasting her time. She is nourishing a child who potentially bears the image of God—a child who will come forth from her home one day to bring God’s love and salvation to many. Maybe this child will be a mighty voice to turn a nation to God. And she nurtures a child for everlasting eternity. It is still true that “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”

When a mother nurses her baby she produces prolactin, which is known as the “mothering hormone.” The more the mother suckles the baby, the more prolactin she produces and therefore the more motherly she becomes. God has divinely endowed the female with a maternal instinct, but when she suckles her baby at the breast her maternalness increases. She lives more in the anointing of who God created her to be—to reveal the maternal character of God to her children and those around her.

Some mothers say, “I’m only interested in quality, not quantity” and so they limit their children so they can supposedly give more to the one or two they choose to have. This is a false conception. As her two children grow and go off to school, she is mothering less and less and looks to find fulfillment elsewhere, often going out to work and establishing herself in a career. And so her children receive less of her time. Whereas, when a mother has another baby and suckles the babe at her breast, prolactin kicks in and the motherly hormones charge through her system again. Not only does her baby benefit from this loving hormone, but her whole family. The love and nurturing spreads out to all her children. This is how God keeps the mother protecting and delighting in her children in the home.

God also uses this description of the female as a suckling mother in Romans 1:26, “For this cause God gave them up until vile affections: for even their women (thelus) did change the natural use into that which is against nature.” This is a very challenging Scripture to all females because it states that when a woman turns away from the natural function of how God created the female body to function—with a womb to conceive and nurture life and breasts to suckle this life, that God gives them up to vile affections.

Isn’t it amazing that we have become such a deceived generation that women do not want to be who God originally created them to be?

Please understand, I am not talking about mothers who are not able to conceive children or even those who are not physically able to breastfeed. We don’t live in a perfect world and not everyone’s bodies are functioning as God originally intended. God looks at our heart and our intentions.

He wants us to turn towards Him in our hearts, not turn away from the way He created us.

Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Lord, please help me to be truly female as you designed me to be.”

AFFIRMATION:

“As I hold this baby in my arms
     I’m like a picture of you,
To nurture with your love is what
     You made me to do.”

PEACE ALL OVER ME

The above words of affirmation are from Serene’s song, El Shaddai, Creator of the Lullaby which is on the album, Peace all Over Me. 

Here are some more of the beautiful words of this song…

Deep within your heart you hold the source
For everything that’s tender
Soft and kind.
To caress the world with warm affection
You thought of a mother
Beautiful design.