The Influence of a Mother

Introduction

I want to share a fact this morning. Everyone that is here, everyone that is watching on Facebook or Youtube that is able to hear my voice this morning was introduced into this world by a mother. I would hope that everyone here today has a positive testimonial of a loving mother and a healthy relationship with your mom. We would all agree that is the ideal. But reality is that we live in a fallen world with sin and not everyone can share those sentiments. May I share some great news with you today? Regardless of the relationship you had with your mother or have with your mother, God divinely chose her to offer you a life in this world. That alone can provide a thankful spirit for our mothers. Amen? And as I look around the room there are others that would say “Oh Brother Luke, I was blessed to have the greatest mother” and I would say a hearty amen for you today.

My hope and prayer this morning is in the confines of your mind you could draw upon the many pillars of positive influences in your life that was instilled into you from your mother.

You have heard me speak of my mother many times from this pulpit. My mother’s name was Beth and my grandmother’s name was Berta.

We will look at a text this morning that is such a fond text for me because for me, my testimony is the same as Timothy’s testimony. I am a born again believer today because of the influence of a mother and grandmother in my life that loved Jesus and taught Jesus in my household.

Turn in your Bibles this morning to 2 Timothy 1:3-5.

2 Timothy 1:3-5

2 Timothy 1:3–5 NKJV

3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, 5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

Prayer

Message

Paul wrote a letter of encouragement to young Timothy, the aspiring pastor who would lead the church at Ephesus. Paul was a great cheerleader for young Timothy. What is interesting is that he wrote this letter from prison. Listen dear mom, listen dear Dad this morning, if Paul can encourage from behind cell doors there are no excuses for us to be an encouragement to our children, our grandchildren, great grandchildren, children of the church, children in the community and the list goes on. There is no climate or situation that is so bad that we can not encourage the next generation.

When Paul could do nothing else due to confinement, he could encourage. When your health allows very little energy to be exerted with the next generation, you still have the ability to be a great cheerleader. Amen?

If you looked for a heading in your Bible, mine reads “Timothy’s faith and heritage” or another title maybe in your Bibles, “thanksgiving.” Paul wrote with an attitude of gratitude among other things of two women, specifically and mom named Eunice and a grandmother named Lois that were a paramount influence in the life of Timothy. Oh listen to me dearly beloved, there is no influence, no impact as the impact of a mom or dad.

The very first person a child meets coming into this world is the mother.

God chose a Mom and a Dad to have the greatest impact on a child in his or her formative years. The Lord chose Mary & Joseph to bring “His only begotten Son into this world.” Amen.

Listen to me Moms and Dads or those that God has gifted you a new formed family we term today the blended family. There may be some blended families this morning, you may be raising a stepchild, you may be one that adapted a child or simply you did not have children, but the Lord placed it on your heart to influence nieces and nephews and children in the church-if so, God bless you. What an important calling. I was the recipient of an adapted dad that honored the Lord in pouring himself into me as a Dad and I am so thankful.

Paul had a mentoring relationship with young Timothy, but it was almost as a father-son relationship. For our text to have greater impact read verse three and place your name Mom as if you are writing to your child or loved one. Or, read this as if Eunice, Timothy’s mother was writing these words to her son.

As a mom, you want to be:

Elated at the Privilege of being a Parent 2 Timothy 1:3-4

2 Timothy 1:3-4 “3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy,”

Paul described his ministry to young Timothy with a pure conscience. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to say this morning that you lived this life as a parent and was able to say to yourself, “you know I was a perfect parent, I got it right.” I do not want to burst your bubble this morning but we are not perfect, only one was perfect and His name is Jesus. It is by the grace of Jesus that we even have within ourselves the ability to parent in the first place. No, we will not be perfect, but we serve a perfect God and His amazing grace will provide if we call on Him. Amen?

One of the ways we can stay elated at the privilege of parenting is being thankful. A thankful spirit comes with exercising an attitude of gratitude. We come to a fork in the road every day as a parent or grandparent and if we will choose thanksgiving first, a critical spirit does not mix with thanksgiving. Those two attitudes do not reside together.

Firstly, being a mother is not an easy job.

Ill. Jane-four children and I traveled four nights a week for twelve years.

Tamela Mann sings the song

Take Me to the King

Lyrics Take Me To The King I don't have much to bring My heart is torn in pieces It's my offering Take Me To The King Truth is I'm tired Options are few I'm trying to pray But where are you? I'm all churched out Hurt and abused I can't fake What's left to do? Truth is I'm weak No strength to fight No tears to cry Even if I tried But still my soul Refuses to die One touch will change my life Take Me To The King

Moms be honest there are times you are just tired. Men, let me just tell it like it is. We do not know sleep deprivation. You want to be a blessing to the mom of the house today for Mother’s Day-let her sleep.

In those times a thankful spirit is tough. And what sustains in those times, an exercised attitude of gratitude.

Paul is describing embedded in this text how we can have a pure conscience. Paul described how he had a pure conscience based upon his mentoring Timothy. We read the text that we can have a pure conscience in our parenting.

Let me just pose a thought or simply ask you a question to ponder this morning. Do not raise your hands but just answer within your being. How many of you talk directly or indirectly to one of your children on a weekly or possibly a monthly engagement and you hear something that happened, an action they took, a decision they made and you question their decision or their actions? Do not raise your hands, just ponder a moment. At those juncture of conversation or involvement is a pivot place to be a hero or a zero.

Responding properly, encouraging, uplifting will have all to do with the thankful spirit we have exercised leading up to the interaction and secondly we learn, how prayed up we are as we offer up that listening ear. Mom’s you are multi-taskers to the hilt. But you are not capable of multi-thinking. We will think about what our minds are stayed on.

Proverbs 23:7 “7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. So, exercise an attitude of gratitude and spell out in your thoughts those attributes you are thankful for in your children. When we do that, those thoughts overshadow moving toward stinking thinking about our kids.

“as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day.”

Let me ask you another question. I just shared that we are not going to be perfect as parents. Who agrees with that statement? If anyone of you thinks that you are a perfect parent then meet me in my office after the service and I will open my door to a counseling session. Lol.

Would we all agree we are not perfect parents? Now, raise your hands if there are times you live as if your expectation is that your kids will be perfect. The contrary is that we do live a double standard do we not. We acknowledge we are not perfect parents, but yet we want perfect kids. Let’s make it more basic than even that statement. If we are not perfect parents, how can we expect perfect children?

Dearly beloved, Paul wrote having a “clear conscience.” When Paul was a former Jew before he was miraculously saved on the Damascus road Paul wrote in Romans that he never measured up. The law always won out because he could never attain perfection. Paul was a sinner.

Romans 7:23 “23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

On the Damascus road, Jesus sprinkled His blood upon the heart of Paul and He was gloriously saved.

Hebrews 10:22 “22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Why is this important? You will not be a perfect mom, I will not be a perfect dad and our children will not be perfect. But we serve a perfect Lord and by His amazing grace we can have a pure conscience in our parenting. Amen?

Paul wrote in his letter of thanksgiving to young Timothy, “I am greatly desiring to see you, that I may be filled with joy.”

Do you want to keep that elation of parenting? Do you want to avoid those difficult times when parenting comes with its hardships? Exercise an attitude of gratitude daily for your children. Have eyes that see and ears that hear for those things you can be thankful for. Look for opportunities to brag on them about to bring encouragement. Find those things that you can say “how proud I am of you.”

When you reside in that mindset, critical thinking and a critical spirit can not function alongside a thankful attitude toward our kids. Thanksgiving always wins out and it leads to this elated attitude when we pray unceasingly night and day for them.

Can I just say something here. I can not pray for you and stay mad with you. Let me say that again and involve you. We can not pray for each other and stay mad with each other. It’s impossible to do.

Secondly,

Expose them to this Wonderful World we have been given 2 Timothy 1:5

2 Timothy 1:5 “5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”

A mom has the ability to expose their children to this great world God has given us. Paul stated that there was a great faith in Timothy and he was convinced was formulated from the exposure of the life of Eunice and Lois, his mother and grandmother.

I have shared countless stories from this pulpit about my mom and I will share more today about my grandmother. My mother raised me by herself from the time I was five until I was fourteen years. old. It goes without saying she had a tremendous influence in my life. So many of my ways, the things I enjoy, my very nature comes from both my mother and my grandmother. Both my mother and my grandmother taught me a work ethic. They taught the importance of providing for a family. I do not know any two people that had a discipline for work that they had.

My grandmother had an amazing sense of economics. She was born in 1897 and went through the great depression as a young woman. She never made over $2.35/hour in her life. She was an “orderly”, that would be the equivalent to an LPN at Griel Hospital and would walk to work about 2.5 miles one way at 2 pm and someone from work would bring her home at 10:00 pm. She paid for a home in Capitol Heights and had $8,000 in the bank upon her death. She knew how to manage money. And when we came to Montgomery when I was nine years of age, my mother worked in the day in Insurance sales and she cared for us in the days until she went to work. She fed and prepared for my brother and I graciously and plentifully. I love a great breakfast to this day because my mom and grandmother believed in a hardy breakfast.

Jane’s mother was a soft spoken voice of encouragement and love. As I can relate as a mother in law she was a soft approachable encouraging mom. She showed much love with acts of service.

Our Lord and Savior is stated in Luke 2:52 “52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” God appointed Mary to expose Jesus to the wonderful things this world offers. And we know that Jesus left the family during a religious celebration to stay back and go to the synagogue to talk and listen to the Rabbi’s during service. I want to think that Mary & Joseph had an influence on our Lord and Savior loving church life.

The one thing that was impressed upon me when I was young was the fact that as tired as I can imagine my grandmother was by Sunday’s with her daughter and her two grandsons coming to live with her at age 72 I will add is she went to church every Sunday. The Nolan family that owned Nolan manufacturing downtown came every Sunday morning and picked my grandmother up to go to the Capitol Heights Baptist Church on Madison Avenue.

A picture paints a thousand words. A scene reveals so much. Peer into my grandmother’s room with me.

I can see my grandmother’s little room in a little home on Shawnee Drive in Capitol Heights. She slept on a little twin bed with a small lamp by a small nightstand on the left side of her room. I can remember every night seeing a purple plastic cup that she kept water beside her bed at night. She had peach snuff that she called desert to settle her nerves in her legs at night as she settled down. And I always saw her read the Word of God at the close of her night to bring the peace that passes all understanding.

Oh, I could go on and on as to the sales abilities that my mom instilled in me. I could share the expressions of love when I worked at my grandmother’s house and helped her pick up pecans. I wore back then jeans that were called husky’s and I would bend over and my crack was exposed and my grandmother would stick her finger down there as a simple touch of love language to know she loved me.

My mother bought a home specifically and I am sure for the school district, but she bought a home close enough on Wares Ferry Road that my brother and I could be at church at Eastdale Baptist every time the doors were open. I have fond memories of my mother and my grandmother.

Listen dearly beloved, do you want to have a pure conscience? Do you want to know you have done the best you can do with God’s grace as a parent? Expose your kids to value life, to instill in them those things that Jesus was exposed to:

Luke 2:52 “52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

Expose them to making a life in this world God has given us.

An Example as a Jesus Follower

You might ask the question, what differs about those things our mother exposes us to vs. those things she values and has a certain standard or priority over? There were many traits I am sure genetically that was instilled in Timothy, certain natures in his love for others, possibly encouraging an education, his manners and the list goes on, but notice what Paul valued and he commended Timothy for and where he gave the credit.

2 Timothy 1:5 “5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”

Timothy had a genuine faith or sincere faith as some of your Bibles state. Paul stated “he recalled Timothy’s tears”, Timothy had a love for Jesus and He had a love for His fellow man. Paul recognized the genuineness of his faith and let me say that we can not fake our faith. We read like a book and it was evident to Paul that Timothy was different. And dearly beloved that is saying something, Timothy’s father was Greek and his mother was Jewish before conversion. But Eunice and Lois were devout Jews and they were truly looking for a Messiah to come and when Jesus came to fulfill the Messianic promise, they truly believed and it was lived out and they were liberated as parents but they liberated as followers of Christ.

Acts 16:1 “1 Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek.”

Paul writes in that letter of encouragement a note of his genuine faith and he is persuaded that it was instilled by the godly influence of his mother and grandmother.

Mom’s what example are you setting for you kids?

I can account for my mom and my grandmother to keep me in church. I can attest they found it important to enroll me at Cornerstone Bible Church on Upper Wetumpka Road to go to VBS. And I can attest that a concerned mom saw to it that I was introduced to Christ as my Lord and Savior and I have not been the same since.

Grandmother, dad, granddad, or simply leader in this church to influence the next generation, what example, what rank & file priority does your actions reveal you value?

Do you want a pure conscience today? We will not be perfect parents nor will we have perfect kids. But thank the Lord we serve a perfect God and by His amazing grace we can live a life with a pure conscience that we have done our best with His grace. You want to stay elated about your child? Be thankful and pray. Expose them to this wonderful world the Lord has given us, but at the end of the day and at the end of the journey may it be known that in your imperfections you set the example of serving a perfect Jesus.

Let’s pray.