A COMMANDMENT WITH PROMISE

A Commandment With Promise.

“'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”(Deuteronomy 5:16).

Because of the many years the Lord has given me, I have been able to observe many interactions between “mothers” and their children.  I have seen many happy families and many dysfunctional families.  The key person in the “happy” and successful homes has always been the mother.  We cannot go back in our past to correct any mistakes we have made or that our mother’s made as they were raising us.  But, there are some basic principles from the Bible we can learn on how to treat our mothers and on how mothers should live within the home.

To Children – Young and Old

For those “blessed” children who have grown up in a home with that special mother who loved and nurtured them, I would encourage you to follow God’s Word.  For those of you who did not experience a close relationship with your mother, I would also encourage you to follow God’s Word about honoring your mother.  This is the only commandment that has a promise of blessing with it.  

God has given us Mothers to provide faithful and caring supervision.  He has given them to us to love us when everyone else has forsaken us.  He has given us Mothers to show us what love is really all about.  It seems strange that God would have to command us to honor our mothers.  But as human nature has it, we usually take for granted those who do the most for us.  So God has reminded us that our Mothers have a place of honor in our lives.  This honor demands respect, courtesy, and purposeful displays of affection.  Today is a day to demonstrate that honor and love.

God has promised to add more years to your life if you honor your Mother.  You may exercise, eat right, and do all the healthy things required to live longer.  All of these things are good, but this is a promise from God, and He always keeps His promises.  When we honor others, especially our parents, God honors us. This is not a command for just one day a year, but for a life time.

God has promised that if you would honor your Mother, things would go well with you.  Do you want your career to be successful?  Do you want your children to grow up and be successful?  God has given us a formula for success and that formula is to honor your Mother.

“By this all shall know that you are My disciples, if you have love toward one another” (John 13:35).  This is especially true of loving your mother.

To Our Mothers

Mothers, your family is depending on you for love and care.  Regardless if you are a working mom, a stay at home mom, a wife with no children, a step mother, or a grandmother, you are the key person who will determine if your family is successful.

Mothers your family is depending on you for prayer.  Mothers are our intercessors.  When most of us want something, the first parent we usually ask is our Mother.  Our Mothers will usually be able to convince our Dads to give us our request.  When we get into trouble our Mothers are usually the first person who comes to our defense.  They will usually defend us even when we are in the wrong.  This is the nature that God has given them.  The Holy Spirit is our intercessor to our Heavenly Father.  “Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8:26).

Mothers, the first and the best thing you can do is to be a Godly, Bible believing mother. If a mother believes and follows God’s Word, she can be a good influence with her children. God says this of a Godly mother: "Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and gives her praise." (Proverbs 31:28).  If you are not a mother, then insert the word, grandmother, aunt, teacher, friend, or father.  Your children will not remember many things about your achievements in life, but they will never forget your influence in bringing them to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To those of us who have been temporally separated from our mothers or from our children, by death, distance, or a dysfunctional relationship, God wants you to know that is why He has prepared Heaven. “"And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." (Revelation 21:4-5).

To All of Us

If your Mother is not alive today or if she lives far away, how can you celebrate this day.  It is a difficult day for many of us who have lost our mothers, or who cannot be with them today..  But today, there are many Mothers who do not have children to share their love with.  There are many wonderful Ladies who do not have any children who would love to receive a call, visit, or a card from someone.  You may have an Aunt or there may be someone in a nursing home today, that would love to hear “Happy Mother’s Day”.  Take a flower to your Mother’s grave site, say a prayer for her, tell her how much you miss her, and then transfer that love to someone who needs it today.  Even if your Mother is close by, share your love with other’s who will not be honored today, unless you do it!!

“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27).