Our God is a good God. And because He created us in His likeness and image, He wants us to reveal His goodness. He wants us to be good wives and mothers. Oh my, sometimes we feel as though we are “bad” wives and mothers. We can fail so often.But it’s good to encourage one another, isn’t it? Our best encouragement comes from God’s Word itself. Did you know that the word “good” occurs 720 times in the Bible? It’s all about God being a good God and us doing good things. And many times this word is written especially to us as wives and mothers.
1 Timothy 5:10 tells us we must have a REPUTATION FOR GOOD WORKS. And what are these specific good works?
Embrace child rearing
Practice hospitality
Washe the saints’ feet
Help those in distress
Show forth all kinds of good works
This Scripture also tells us to DILIGENTLY fulfill all these good works. Acts 9:36-42 gives us the example of how we are to be FULL OF GOOD WORKS.
1 Timothy 2: 10 tells us to DRESS ourselves with good works. We should be more concerned about doing good works than worrying about what we wear.
Titus 2:3 exhorts the older women to be TEACHERS OF GOOD THINGS. And what are these specific good things? I now you know them but it’s good to remind ourselves, isn’t it?
To be self-controlled
To love our husbands
To love our children
To be discreet
To be pure
To be keepers at home
To be good and kind
To be submissive to our own husbands
Do you notice that all these things are to do with home and family? They are not only good things, but BEAUTIFUL things. The word also means “lovely and beautiful.” The Passion translation says the older women are to be “teachers of beautiful things.” God doesn’t want us to do them in a skimpy way. Grudgingly. Or survival mode. No, He wants us to do them exuberantly.
Dear mother, you are DOING A BEAUTIFUL WORK in your home as you pour out God’s nurturing heart to your children and to the needy around you.
Be encouraged and blessed today,
Nancy Campbell
90 Hits
Never be ashamed of your great career of raising your children in your home. You are in the perfect will of God. You are fulfilling the biblical mandate. You have the most powerful career in the nation!
Chatting with a couple recently, the husband said to me, “I’m concerned about our teenage daughter. When she gets up in the morning, she is very uncommunicative and miserable. The wife spoke up on her behalf and said, “Oh I think she’s just tired.”
During testimony time at an Above Rubies retreat, a mother shared how they had just moved into a new home. As she began to get everything into shape, she decided to begin at the center of her home. She said, “I began with my table, and then my dining room. I wanted to make them special and beautiful. I want to make them a place of wonderful memories for my children.”
Motherhood is hard work. Managing your home efficiently is hard work. Keeping your garden is hard work. But it is all with it. And hard work never killed anyone. It is good for your soul and good for your body. My father, the hardest working man I have ever known in my life, used to say, “There’s no fun like hard work.” He reveled in it.
Mothers are finders and keepers,
I love testimony time at our Above Rubies retreats when women share their stories. I love hearing about the little anecdotes too. One mother shared how she loves wearing her I LOVE MOTHERHOOD bracelet, but it went missing. Guess where she found it? In her toddler’s potty with the pee!
What kind of an atmosphere should be in our homes? Jesus showed us when He told us how to pray. Read the Lord’s Prayer again in Matthew 6:9-13. The Luke 11:2 passage says: “Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth . . . ”
1. Set the table
Be encouraged today, dear mother. You are doing a GOOD WORK. The Bible tells us that mothering, homemaking, loving your husband, hospitality, and reaching out to the needy are GOOD works (Proverbs 31:10-31; Acts 9:36-42; 1 Timothy 5:10; and Titus 2:3-5). Some translations call them “BEAUTIFUL things.”
“A woman can do most things a man can do. A man can do many things a woman can do. But some things only a woman can do. A man cannot become pregnant, form life in a womb, give birth to a new human being and nurture the soul of that human being. It takes a woman to be a mother. Her gaze, her touch, her eyes, the nurture of her breast are uniquely and powerfully female.”
A testimony from Anastassija.
Where is your mind today? Dwelling in the past? Or even in the present as you mull over the difficulties you face? To dwell in the past or the present can be depressing unless you are doing it with joy and thankfulness.
When Jesus came into a village between Galilee and Samaria he met ten men with leprosy. They stood at a distance, as all lepers had to do, and cried out to Jesus to have mercy on them. Of course, Jesus responded with mercy and compassion and said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were healed!
God wants your home to be a sanctuary for Him in this world, a place of security, stability, and salvation for your whole household.
Because God created you a woman, be a woman. Act, speak, dress, and nurture like a woman. In doing so, you will fulfill your destiny. How sad to live your life and not live as God intended you you live.