A Mother's Faith (2 Timothy 1:5, 3:14-15)

Introduction

A young boy is up in front of his church trying to recite a verse and he can’t remember what to say. So his mother, who is up there behind him, whispers to him, “I am the light of the world.” With a beam in his eye, so joyful his mom was there to help him out in a very nerve wracking situation, he boldy and confidently says, “My mom is the light of the world!”

while She might not have meant for him To say that, the words carry truth in them. As a mother lives out the roll God has called her to, she is a light to her family and children. Mother’s Day is a day for us to recognize the blessings God has given to us through the love and work and care mother’s give to their families and we want to say thank you!

this morning we are going to be looking at timothy’s mother and grandmother as examples of how they were a blessing in Timothy’s life.

2 Timothy 1:5 ESV

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

2 Timothy 3:14–15 ESV

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

I. A Mother’s Greatest Blessing is Her Faith

2 Timothy 1:5 ESV

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

A. Faith in Christ

One of the greatest blessings a mother can give to us, as we can see in the life of Timothy, is her faith. Eunice was a Jewish Christian living in Lystra, who had an unbelieving Greek husband. We do not know much about him, but he had no spiritual influence in the life of Timothy. It very well could be that he left or died sometime after she came to faith in Christ.

Whatever the case, Eunice was a single mother seeking to raise her son Timothy. Whatever the challenges she might have faced in raising Timothy, we see that her greatest blessing to Timothy was passing on her faith.

Faith in what? We live in a highly secularized age where we throw out that word to mean just a general belief in one’s own strength or perseverance. But that is not what Paul is talking about here.

He had a chance to meet both Eunice and her mother, Lois, when he and Silas had travelled to Lystra on a missionary journey in Acts 16. There he had seen her faith and Timothy’s faith in Jesus Christ.

Her faith was in Christ and in what He had done for her. At some point, both Eunice and Lois had heard about Jesus’ life, death on the cross for sin, and His resurrection and they both placed and live out their faith in Him.

A mother is a blessing to her children and family because of her love for them and all she does to care for and provide for them. However, the greatest blessing she can give to her family is not so much what she can do, but in who she is as she rests in and follows Christ.

B. Lives Out Her Faith

While we do not know much from the pages of Scripture concerning Lois and Eunice, what we do know is that Paul would not speak so highly of Eunice’s faith if he did not actually see her live it out. He did not take faith lightly. You read through Romans and Galatians and you see that faith is more than just a profession with the lips, but that true faith is going to show itself through a changed heart and life. So when he says to Timothy that he is reminded of his sincere faith which dwelt in Lois and Eunice, we can be be confident that he saw the change in their lives that led him to believe they truly believed in Christ.

Faith is not just something we profess with our lips. Faith is something that will lead us to live it out. Our children will know if something is real to us or something that we are just giving lip service to. Timothy embraced the faith of his mother because of the reality of faith he saw in her.

Now, we know and acknowledge the fact that simply going to church does not save us. But part of living out our faith in placing a priority on the gathering of believers. When your children see you place this importance on gathering with others and when they see you worship and show your love for God in how you sing and learn and serve others, they are seeing you live out your faith. I am a big proponent of children coming to “big church” because the gospel they see in their parents’ lives and worship is greater than anything I or anyone else could say to them.

Living out our faith is also how we live throughout the week and how we relate to others. The greatest blessing you can give to your children is by showing them how your faith changes how you relate to others.

C. Teaches Her Faith

Not only did Eunice have faith and live out her faith, she also taught her faith.

2 Timothy 3:15 ESV

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

A mother’s greatest blessing to her child is communicating the truths of her faith to her children. We like that quote that has been attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times, use words when necessary.” However, that quote was never actually spoken by him. Second, the Gospel is a message of Good News. You cannot share a message without using words. Now, the idea is that we ought to live lives that proclaim the authenticity of the words. And so we need to make sure that our lives are also preaching what we say we believe, but we cannot fully share our faith without speaking about what we believe.

Eunice was a mother who taught her son what her faith was about. And what did she use to teach him? The Scriptures. She used God’s Word to teach him about Christ.

A mother’s greatest blessing to her children is to show them Christ, both through her life and through the proclamation of God’s Word.

My wife got to experience this blessing just a little more than a week ago with our youngest daughter. Because of what Hannah had seen and heard in our family, they began talking about Jesus. As my wife was able to lead her through what the Bible says about our sin and about how Jesus came to die for our sin, she got to lead our daughter to pray and call out for Jesus to save her. While there are many blessings my kids receive from Shari being their mother, the greatest blessing my wife can give as a mother is her faith being lived out and taught and now we can say that our oldest three children have come to adopt that faith as their own.

Many of us are here this morning because of the faith of our mother and how they faithfully lived out and taught her faith to us. We need to praise God and thank Him for the gift of our moms.

II. A Mother’s Blessings Continue On to Her Grandchildren

The influence of faith doesn’t stop when the children leave home.

Continues on to the next generation!

Deuteronomy 6:1–2 ESV

“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.

Grandmothers, you are just as needed and vital as mothers are to their children. Timothy came to faith not just because of Eunice but also because of the faithfulness of Lois.

There are more and more children today who are being raised and influenced by their grandparents, whether its because of the rising rates of divorce in the home or simply because of the economic need of families to have both mom and dad working in order to provide all their families needs.

You can continue to be a blessing to your family even after all your kids are grown and out of the house. You continue to be that blessing as you continue to live out your faith and teach your children and grandchildren. Of course, many times grandchildren live far from home. You can also be that blessing as you pray for your children and grandchildren.

My grandmother, Wanda Cosentino, was a blessing to me as well with her influence of faith.

*Blessed Assurance

*Daily morning Bible reading

*Faith conversations

I believe God has brought me to where I am because of both the faith of my mother and my grandmother.

we want to honor and say thank you to the grandmothers in our congregation and beyond who have continued the work of family discipleship to lead and guide your family to Christ! Thank you for not quitting too soon.

III. A Mother’s Blessings Can Be Found in Spiritual Motherhood

Here in 2 Timothy we have seen the spiritual blessings and influence of both Timothy’s mother and grandmother in his life. However, his physical father was not a believer and had no spiritual influence in his life. Paul stepped into Timothy’s life as a spiritual father to him.

1 Timothy 1:2 ESV

To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the same way, there are individuals, who, for whatever reason, do not have the positive spiritual influence of their mother in their lives who are leading them to faith in Christ.

Just as Paul was a spiritual father to Timothy, many people need spiritual mothers in their lives. The church has and needs women who will take a step of faith and be that blessing to someone else.

Whether you have physical children or not, we want to honor and celebrate those women who have obediently answer the call to ministry to be a spiritual mother. It might be as a Sunday school teacher, leading and guiding others to grow in their faith and relationship with Jesus. It might be as a school teacher, stepping in to be an example of faith to those around them. It might be through a special friendship or discipleship relationship you have with another woman.

The thing we want to see here is that motherhood and fatherhood can occur spiritually as well as physically and we want to honor and say thank you to those who have answered that call. I want to say thank you to all the women who have sent cards to our own kids as we were making the move from Midland to Socorro. You were taking part in the spiritual guidance and encouragement of our own kids. Thank you to those women who have created special discipleship relationships in order to teach and live out your faith for others to follow. Thank you to those women who have sacrificed time and energy in order to lead others to Christ. Like Paul became a spiritual father to Timothy, you have become a Spiritual mother to others.