Mother's Who Love Series

Moms, if you want to instill authentic faith in your children then you better take your own faith seriously. If you’re just going through the motions spiritually your kids will eventually see it, and tragically, may do the same thing when they are older. As you demonstrate your faith consistently by reading the Bible, praying, attending worship, bringing your kids to programs that help them grow spiritually, and by participating in the life and mission of the church, you will send a strong message to your children.

I heard recently about a pastor who had a long conversation with someone about becoming a member of his church. When he was done the young man said he was ready to join. The pastor was curious so he asked him, “What did I say that convinced you to join the church?” The man answered, “It was nothing I ever heard you say. It was the way my mother lived.”

As I think about the kind of faith that was passed from a mother to a mother to a son, I’m convinced that a mother like this has to be more interested in having her children know the Bible than be able to speak another language before they are 5-years-old. She is also more interested in:

Her children’s souls than in their bodies or in their clothes

Her children’s eternal life than their success in this life

Her children’s relationship with Jesus than their popularity in the world

Her children’s standing before God than their social status

Her children’s spirituality than their intellectual, musical, or athletic accomplishments

While it isn’t in the text, a mother who passes along a faith that is authentic is without a doubt a praying woman. Any home in which faith is passed on from generation to generation has to be a home of prayer. One cannot imagine Lois not praying for Eunice or Eunice not praying for Timothy. We read in Acts 12:12 that the mother of John Mark opened her home for a prayer meeting while Peter was imprisoned. In Acts 1:14, Mary, the mother of Jesus “joined together constantly in prayer” with the disciples. That’s the hallmark of a godly mother.

Timothy’s family environment was fertile to his faith development. Both his mother and his grandmother held their faith deeply and shared it freely. How fertile is the environment in your family for the reproduction and the nurturing of authentic faith in the lives of your children and grandchildren? Mothers, are you passing along a legacy of authentic faith to your kids?

3 ­ Instill a Desire to Minister

The third way to impact your children is to instill within them a desire to minister. After Paul preached in Lystra, and Timothy was converted, he returned a short while later. Let’s pick up the story in Acts 16:1-3: “He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey…”

I see three qualities in Timothy that were no doubt passed down from his mother, and his grandmother: