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HOW TO BE
A SUCCESSFUL MOTHER
Proverbs 31:10-12, 28-31
Sunday Morning Sermon
Mother’s Day, May 10, 1998
Fair Avenue Baptist Church
Here we are again celebrating another Mother’s Day and a special day it is. For those who are privileged enough to have our mother’s with us, it is indeed a special day.
Some have mothers who cannot be here this morning, due to distance or other circumstances.
Still others have lost their mothers through the years and only the memories remain.
A mother is God’s best gift to children.
Her voice is their sweetest music,
Her smile is the brightness of their day,
And the stories first heard at momma’s knees are never fully forgotten.
This morning I want to talk to the mothers, and in particular, the younger mothers.
For the older mothers, you’ve had your children,
You’ve raised them,
The years passed too quickly,
And now your children are grown,
The time of influence has passed,
The ability to change likewise.
But, the young mothers,
Mothers of infants and children,
You still have a wide span of influence,
You can still make a difference,
You have in your power the ability to have wonderful children,
You also have the ability to make some horrible mistakes.
I want to talk for a few minutes this morning about How To Be A Successful Mother.
1. TOTALLY COMMITTED TO CHRIST
Luke 10:39, “And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heart his word.”
Here is Mary of Bethany who was totally committed to Christ. She sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His Word.
How about it mother, are you totally committed to Christ?
Did you sit at Jesus’ feet this morning?
Did you hear His Word?
You can only be a successful mother if you spend time with the Lord, in His Word, totally committed to the Lord.
When you get too busy to spend time with the Lord, don’t be surprised that the Devil will spend more time with your kids.
When you fail to sit at Jesus’ feet and hear His Word, remember that Satan will never fail to put his word in front of your children.
The only chance in the world that you have to be a successful mother and have children who live for the Lord and remain faithful to God’s house, is for you, MOM, to be totally committed to the Lord.
How To Be A Successful Mother?
1. Be totally committed to the Lord
2. LIVE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD
Luke 2:36, “And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fasting and prayers night and day.”
Anna, an older woman, gives us a good example of what a mother should be, living in the presence of God - day and night.
Praying,
Fasting,
Night and day.
Moms, do you want your kids to turn out right?
Do you want them to be good kids?
Do you want to eliminate the heartache?
Do you want to avoid the tears?
Be a mother totally committed to God,
Be a mother who lives in the presence of God.
How about it, mom?
Are you a mother of prayer?
Have you prayed and fasted over your children?
Have you prayed and begged God to do something for your kids?
Have you prayed and fasted and begged God to do something in the lives of your children?
Mom, are you living in the presence of God?
How To Be A Successful Mother?
1. Be totally committed to the Lord
2. Live in the presence of God
3. BE A WOMAN OF GOOD WORKS
Acts 9:36, “Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did.”
Notice the Bible calls her a disciple, meaning she was a follower of Christ, a learner of Christ and the ways of Christ.
Notice also the eternal testimony, “...this woman was full of good works...”
And when the Bible was talking about a disciple and good works, it means good works for the Lord, doing something for Jesus.
Mom, do you want to make a difference in the lives of your children?
Then be a mother full of good works for the Lord.
I didn’t say be a mother full of good works for every other cause,
for the cause of United Way,
for the cause of abortion,
for the cause of child abuse,
or world hunger,
or save the rain forest.
Now, those things may have some merit and be good in their own right, but they have absolutely nothing to do with eternity and the eternal destiny of mens’ souls.
Good works for the Lord would mean teaching a Sunday School class and showing boys and girls how to go to heaven.
Good works for the Lord would mean working on a bus route and bringing boys and girls to church to hear about the Saviour.
Good works for the Lord would mean passing out a gospel tract,
or knocking doors and inviting people to church,
or making a skirt or blouse for some needy lady,
or paying some child’s way to summer camp,
those are the things that make a difference in the lives of your own children because they are good works for the Lord.
How about it, mom?
Are you a disciple?
Are you full of good works?
How To Be A Successful Mother
1. Be totally committed to the Lord
2. Live in the presence of God
3. Be a woman of good works
4. LIVE A GODLY LIFE
Titus 2:3-5, “That the aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
Here in the book of Titus we find the requirements of a godly life for the women in the church.
Do these verses describe you, mom?
In behaviour as becometh holiness?
A holy behaviour?
Not false accusers?
Are you a talebearer, a whisperer?
Not given to much wine?
Teachers of good things?
What are you teaching your children, mom?
Teaching the young women to love their husbands?
How much love do you show to your husband?
What happened to all that loving and hugging and holding and smooching from your teenage years, when you couldn’t seem to let go of your boyfriend long enough to go to the bathroom?
Teaching the young women to love their children?
To be discreet?
Chaste?
Keepers at home?
How about it, mom?
Are you a keeper at home?
Let me ask your husband...
Good?
Obedient to their own husbands?
Are you obedient to your husband?
There’s a really tough one?
Do you expect your daughter to be obedient to her husband if you are not?
Or do you even care?
And why should the older women teach the younger women how to live,
Why should the older women live godly lives and set the right example,
Why should the older women live godly lives?
“THAT THE WORD OF GOD BE NOT BLASPHEMED.”
When the women of the church do not live godly lives,
when they do not teach the next generation how to be good wives and mothers,
when the women of the church do not live according to the Word of God,
the world looks at that woman and says, “If that is Christianity, then who needs it.”
AND NOW THE WORD OF GOD HAS BEEN BLASPHEMED!
But most women today do not care.
And it shows in the lives of our children.
And it affects the church in the long run.
Mom, if you want to be a successful mother, then live a godly life.
Live a life totally committed to God,
Live a life in the presence of God,
Live a life full of good works.
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