Several years ago, I must have heard or read a wonderful Mother’s Day message preached from Proverbs 1:7-9. The message was so simple and practical, I remembered it for a long time afterwards. The margins of the Bible I was using at that time still bear the outline, “Seven Life Lessons for Mother’s Day.” I thought I would share this outline with you today.
Begin with Scripture (always the best place to start). Proverbs 1:7-9 says:
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 Listen, my son, to your father's instruction, and don’t reject your mother's teaching,
9 for they will be a garland of grace on your head, and a [gold] chain around your neck (HCSB).
1. The first lesson we should learn is to honor our mothers. Even a great king, even the wisest man who ever lived, will bow to Momma. God chose the truthful sayings of wise King Solomon to convey truth about Himself in Scripture. For all his fame, for all his riches, and for all his splendor, even though they eventually brought ruin and apostasy to his life, Solomon never forgot to honor his mother, Bathsheba. Consider the model Solomon gives all sons and daughters with his reception of his mother as recorded in 1 Kings 2:19.
So Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah. The king stood up to greet her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne, and had a throne placed for the king's mother. So, she sat down at his right hand.
We should honor our mothers. They are not perfect. Neither were Bathsheba or Solomon. Neither are any of us. Still, we should bestow upon our moms dignity and respect. For what it is worth, the One Man Who is perfect, Jesus, honored His mother, even seeing to her care as He hung on a cross!
2. The family is God’s idea. The Bible assumes a mom and a dad will speak into their children’s lives. “Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and do not forsake your mother's teaching” (Proverbs 1:8). Families are not merely some social entity derived from behavioral or social instincts. No, God ordained the institution and design of family in creation. The first two chapters of the Bible clarify God’s original intent for families:
27 So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.
28 God blessed them, and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth ...” (Genesis 1:27-28). … This is why a man leaves his father and his mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24).
God’s idea is that one man and one woman raise children who will know Him and make Him known. Families are His first plan to declare His glory among the nations. So, family is an important value to God, and should be to us!
3. To that end, family is God's basic school to teach children how to live in the world. Dad is to be an instructor and Mom is to be a teacher. So, the family is a school. Not only should families “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth …,” but God’s idea is that our families fill the earth people who know how to live in this world and be ready for the next.
4. The beginning of this knowledge, the core curriculum for the God’s school called family, is the fear of the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (verse 7). The basic theme of all of Mom and Dad’s tutelage in our lives should be the fear of the Lord. The words parents use, the way they live, all they convey to the next generation by declaration or deed, should be informed by and intended to promote the fear of the Lord. (We will discuss in more detail the fear of the Lord in this morning’s talk).
5. God’s Word says both fathers and mothers must share the responsibility to teach the family. He does not say, "Dads instruct, and moms change diapers." He does not say, "Dads work, so they are not responsible to teach their children." He does not say, "Moms work, so they can pass the responsibility to teach onto a care-giver." No, God says fathers instruct, and mothers teach. They both share this enormous responsibility.
6. God expects children to learn from their moms and dads. When children learn from their parents the fear of the Lord, their hearts are sealed and steadied against temptation and tragedy. When children, 4 or 14 or 40 or 80 years old, live what they learn, they honor their parents, one of God’s Top Ten Commands (Exodus 20:12), and so they honor God.
7. God promises a reward to sons and daughters who listen to and learn and live the lessons godly parents teach. These life lessons will be a will be “a garland of grace on your head, and a [gold] chain around your neck” (verse 9). Though we may not always feel like this is true, God-centered living and instruction is a source of tremendous joy and fulfillment. God guarantees these life lessons will adorn our lives and our children’s lives like victory crowns. In addition, lives grounded in the fear of the Lord will find “strong confidence, a fountain of life,” (Proverbs 14:26-27) and the road to life, so they will be able to “sleep at night without danger” (Proverbs 19:23).
Little wonder, then that Paul writes, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother – which is the first commandment with promise – that it may go well with you may have a long life in the land” (Ephesians 20:12). What we call “traditional family values” bear a striking resemblance to God’s original family values.
To the ends of the earth until the end of time!
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