Appreciating Mom

The Bible instructs us to honor our father and mother; that is one of the 10 Commandments.
Proverbs 23 contains a passage consistent with that:
22 Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice.

This can provide motivation to show honor to parents, even later in life.  And, we can also be challenged to be the moms and dads that God has called us to be.  By God's power, each of us as parents can demonstrate that trilogy of "wisdom and instruction and understanding," willing to pass those components to the next generation.  Parents should be faithful to model God's principles, and their children, as they have heard and observed, can be challenged to put those principles into practice.

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With Mother's Day approaching this Sunday, it's important to recognize and cherish the role of mothers, especially Godly moms who have thrived in their role in a Christian home.  Proverbs 31
states:
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 "Many daughters have done well, But you excel them all."
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her own works praise her in the gates.

A new Barna study shows to what degree mothers are functioning well in that role of mother.
The study summary at the Barna website offers this statement: "For all the stereotypes of teens rolling their eyes at their parents, Gen Z are actually very open with and dependent on their mothers."
Mothers are "the principal housemate for almost all activities."  This includes 85% saying they share meals, 81% related they watch TV or movies together, and even 70% of teens indicate they talk about God with their moms.

Around three-quarters of teenagers indicated they went to mom for advice, encouragement, and sympathy.  The principal areas of reliance for dads were "tangible needs for money" and "logistical support."

Close to 90% of teenagers indicated they went to their mothers with questions about faith; that's about 20 percentage points higher than those who go to dad.  It does seem as if moms are in the position of being the go-to people regarding matters of faith. As the survey summary states: "Practicing Christians in their teen years consistently identify mothers as the ones who provide spiritual guidance and instruction and instill the values and disciplines of their faith in the household."  But, the data does not necessarily show fathers as insignificant in those areas.  Barna's Alyce Youngblood, the managing editor for the survey, said: "Over and over, this study speaks to the enduring impact of mothers—in conversation, companionship, discipline and, importantly, spiritual development...”

A Christian Headlines story on the survey quoted Roxanne Stone of Barna:

“We are incredibly good as churches at supporting, empowering and encouraging motherhood, and encouraging mothers to take that active role in their children’s faith lives,” Barna’s Roxanne Stone said last month when the research was unveiled. “It seems that we're falling behind on how we are supporting and empowering fathers to really become a part of the spiritual guidance, as well as the emotional guidance for their children.”

But, the father's influence is critical.  A Faithwire story regarding the Barna survey quoted from Christian author and columnist S. Michael Craven. It referred to a 2011 column on The Christian Post website, in which the author "pointed out that the religious practice of a father is a large determining factor on a child’s future church attendance."  He "cited a study from the Swiss government, which examined the impact a mother and father’s church attendance has on their children:"  The Faithwire article states:

The study, which was published in 2000, found that “it is the religious practice of the father of the family that, above all, determines the future attendance at or absence from church of the children.”

Let us consider a few concepts here relative to the survey.  First of all, mothers and fathers should seek to function in their Biblical roles and recognize the influence they have.  The roles may be different, but the potential is profound.  God has placed great responsibility on parents, and He provides the power to love, to nurture, and to direct.

We can take time to appreciate the spiritual formation, if applicable, for which our mothers are responsible in some way in our lives.  That may or may not be your experience - but where that is the case, there may be an opportunity to relate it.

Finally, we can take time to reflect on the people whom God has used to impact our spiritual growth. They are part of the story that God has written and is writing in your life.  We can also be challenged to make an impact on others.