This is my second mother's day as a mom (last year Niah was a newbie on Mother's Day). At church our pastor talked about Mary as a mother and the fact that she was chosen by God to raise his son not based on her beauty or the "things" that she did, but she was "highly favored" because she was morally pure and trusted God with anything. After an angel came to her and told her the unthinkable, that she'd have a baby, the Son of God, her response was first, "Even though I'm a virgin?" and second, "I'm the Lord's servant...May it be to me as you have said (Luke 1:34 and 38)." Oh, how I want a faith like that...that no matter what the Lord tells me, even if it seems crazy to me, I say, "As you wish." I strive for that. That is why God chose Mary...he knew her heart and her response before she even said it.
God has given me the precious gift of my baby girl. I was thinking about this after the message today...I am entrusted by God to raise my daughter (and future kids) in his ways...not my own. I was reading Ephesians this week and was thinking about Ephesians 6:4 "Fathers do not exasperate (anger) your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." That's it...bring my kids up in the training and instruction of the Lord...nothing else. What does that look like? I live my life for Christ to be an example to her.
Dove is doing a "Campaign for Real Beauty." During service today we watched one of the clips,
"Evolution"...a realistic glimpse into the world of advertising. Watch all of those videos. It's scary to think that we are so influenced by something that doesn't even exist. That lady in the ad is not real...yet I fall into the trap of thinking I don't look like that so I must need to try harder all the time. I have a responsibility to teach Niah that her beauty is within. I love cute clothes, fun makeup, getting my hair done, wearing jewelry, shoes, all that...that's not the problem. The problem is looking to all those things to make me more valuable or beautiful or worthy. God wants to see her moral purity, her faithfulness to him, her fruits of the spirit, because that is where her true beauty lies. How do I teach this? I model it myself. I live by those standards. I live to please my Jesus before people.
I have a responsibility as a mother to teach my kids moral purity, to teach them to love others as themselves, to teach them their worth is not in the way the dress or look, but in Jesus. And to do this I need to live it. I don't want my kids buying into the lies the media tells them. I don't want them giving themselves away before marriage because of the sexually charged tv shows/ads/music they see or hear. I want them to know the truth, that God gives them instructions to protect them, not because he wants them to follow a bunch of "boring" rules, but because He loves them and wants the best for them. How encouraging to know we have a God who loves us so much!
Happy Mother's Day!
