The Characteristics Of A Godly Mother – Dr. Charles Stanley

[Music] what is it garden a mother looks like we could talk about a beautiful mother rich mother youthful not all kind of mothers but what about a godly mother does that mean she's perfect no it does not but that does mean she has a quality about her it separates her from those [Music] four decades ago we started in touch ministries to lead people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ throughout the years we've seen God's greatness his love and his blessings in such awesome ways that we just want everyone to know him so let's open God's Word and seek Him together next on InTouch the characteristics of a godly mother well there lots of mothers in the Bible some of them good some of them not too good and when we think about mothers and how important they are to all of our societies each one of us has had one and whether you like it or not you have a mother you may have loved her or maybe you didn't love her but you have a mother and they're precious and God's eyes so with that in mind I want you to turn to second Timothy and I want you to turn to the first chapter if you will and if you look at the first verse of this second epistle to Timothy and notice what he says to him here Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus the Timothy my beloved son grace mercy and peace from God the Father and Jesus our Lord I thank God whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day longing to see you even as I recalled your tears so that I may be filled with joy for I am mindful of the sincere faith within you which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and I'm sure that it is in you as well for this reason because of this relationship I remind you the Kindle of fresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying out of my hands but God has not given you a spirit of timidity but of power and love and discipline and Paul writing to Timothy because he was probably a little discouraged with their work in the church there so in thinking about the scripture and thinking about one of the characteristics of a godly mother anyway what does a godly mother look like we could talk about a beautiful mother rich mother youthful not all kind of mothers but what about a godly mother does that mean she's perfect no it does not but that does mean she has a quality about her that separates her from most a godly mother that is a godly mother is a mother who prays and reads the Word of God not necessarily every day but it's the heaven of her life it's the habit of her life because she accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior she believes the Word of God and she knows that the instructions in the Word of God will help her to be a better wife Anabella mother when the children come along not only that it's going to affect everything about her it's gonna affect the way she dresses the way she handles herself the way she works the kind of wife she is and the kind of mother she'll be so that's God's goal for every mother to be godly not perfect but righteous that is her conduct her character her conversation and instead of keeping with the word of God doesn't mean she'll be like anybody else looks like anybody else I'll do anything somebody else does but she's a godly woman and her life is rooted in the Word of God and in prayer that's the reason she does such a good job of raising her children because they're reflections of her secondly I think about this kind of mother she's a mother who has learned to trust God for every need in her life because reading and thinking and praying and meditating from the Word of God she's recognized God's made some promises he's made a lot of promises in the Word of God for meeting needs that isn't just a physical these and material needs but emotional needs and a woman a mother has emotional needs that we men don't quite fully understand and we'd like to understand better but God made a woman that way and that's the way she is and so a woman who loves God it was in the word she is trusting God and trusting God for every need and she doesn't talk about being poor she doesn't talk about having less than she talks about God's sufficiency for her life I never heard my mother talk about being poor now we were poor but she never said it she never mentioned that she didn't think about poverty she thanked God for the nine dollars and ten cents a week she made in a textile mill never spoke about being poor unless then never compared herself with somebody else that wasn't her attitude she trusted God a third quality I think of a godly mother is that she's generous toward others and that's the way my mom was a very generous I can remember when we had almost nothing we always gave somebody something when you left our house she gave you something that was her heart a generous heart is not selfish a generous heart is thinking about others because sometimes the only thing you have to give the person who's visiting you is a word of encouragement and think about how powerful that is sometimes a word of encouragement is far more powerful than money or some position in life but there's something about your character something about who you are something about your spirit something about the way you carry yourself that is a godly mother is one who is generous toward others and knows what generosity is about and knows when they compliment somebody they complimenting them in a way that does something call them she's building them up everybody needs to be built up nobody wants to be torn down and not only that if a mother I can she's not she's gonna be generous sort of children and told her husband and told other people and when I think about that I think about how many times I saw my mother give somebody who came to see us something I don't know what it was but it was like she couldn't let him leave without giving him something I can remember sometime when I young children would come to the door knock on the door back instance back during the Depression days and they'd ask if we had an extra bread we might not have had any extra but my mom was gonna give him a piece whether we had any or not that's just who she was she was a generous woman and generosity is a godly quality now what can I do for me myself and I and my family but what can I do for others that's a christ-like spirit and so it was so entrenched in my life that even now if you came to my house I don't think about it I don't try I don't remember half the side I'll remember this it's just built within me before you leave my house I'm gonna offer you something I don't know what it'll be generosity is good for everybody think about it it's good for you to give of yourself it's good for the other person who has needs but we don't think about being generous that's a very important quality of a godly woman then of course a godly woman's going to obey God she's going to obey God for several reasons one of which he knows that obeying God is profitable for her it is only not only profitable for her it is very profitable for her children and its profitable for a husband and so when we think about obeying God you've heard me say it over and over and over again oh my god leave all the consequences him that's the bottom line of life that's the bottom line what do you what do you say beyond that obey God who is omniscient omnipresent omnipotent has all power love trying he can provide everything obey God and leave all the consequences then watch that if you leave the consequences Tim you don't worry about it I can think about the times when my mother and I prayed about very serious things and it was just not go to sleep too worried about it and thinking about it not my mother that's not the way she thought she thought that when she gave it to God that's why she left it that's who she was and being obedient to God was part of her life so think about this what's the atmosphere in your home everybody everybody's household has an atmosphere what's that miss fear when you walk in there's an atmosphere of freedom as an atmosphere of welcome there's an atmosphere of love are you can walk in a home and you know something's wrong nobody has to say anything nobody has to do anything you just know that something is wrong and I'm loving those how to create a godly atmosphere sometimes that's very difficult if she's married to a husband who does not agree with her about her spiritual walk with the Lord or whatever but the atmosphere in your home love welcomed tension stress all kinds of atmospheres a godly woman is going to have a spirit of obedience to God which she will not worry about a lot of things but she will be a godly person reflecting the Lord Jesus Christ himself and then I think you could say that one of the qualities of a godly mother is that she's forgiving forgiving is absolutely essential not only does the Bible teach us to be forgiving but think about this people who are unwatched this people who are unforgiving a living in stress living in tension no matter what else they do that looks right feels right whatever is an unforgiving spirit is a spirit of tension stress now if somebody would say well you don't know who I'm living with well I don't know who you're living with but I know also that God who lives within you if you're a follower of Jesus he has given you the capacity to forgive in him but the whole issue of forgiveness is a vital part of a family spirit being able to forgive because all of us have thought that parents were not forgiving all I thought they mistreated us in some way well I didn't deserve that I didn't deserve this the truth is we probably all deserved more than we got but forgiveness is that forgiveness is the spirit of a follower of Jesus look what he forgave us wrong so be ye kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one another which is the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ or what he'll do so in your household is the spirit of forgiveness there because there's that listen there's always going to be tensions about certain things in life and so you won't let your son drive this car or that one or your wife didn't get this or that and so forth and so tension builds up if you can't forgive you're living in stress it doesn't make a difference who you are what you have and how much if you're not forgiving you're living with stress stress goes to the mind it gets to the heart you don't need it God doesn't want you to have it so forgiveness is the key to eliminating that in your life and then I think about the whole attitude of persistence you say what's that got to do with this we're persistent means that I keep at it and I just keep doing what I'm to do until I get it done and not just let things lay around my remember of my mom I didn't lay Holly the pair trousers around kick it up and or if I laid something around it it was out of place fix that that was she never left the table after we ate she never lets it just a mess persistence means I know what I should do and I'll do it I don't wait for somebody else to do it I get it done and I think that's the key that oftentimes people forget in life but people who accomplish things in life are persistent that is if this is the goal this is what I'm gonna do and I'm gonna do it till I get it done I don't walk away I don't stop talking I don't stop loving I don't stop embracing yeah I don't I don't stop because things are not going my way persistent means God has given us a life showing us what to do going through a tough time I don't quit and I don't give up and I think that was one thing that was very difficult to me to have somebody give up when you and when you have given your best and for some reason either don't appreciate it or whatever it might be and I think about at times when I have to get on my knees and ask God and Lord don't let me be discouraged no matter what I say no matter what I feel don't let me be discouraged let me keep moving keep doing it and you'd have to be in my position going through those difficult times and that's a stand up in front of everybody every Sunday and preach the gospel and I remember how I had to be from very very soon my heart was clean pure and forgiving without an in doubt and so God worked through all that but you but you have to you have to keep going for example a mother with a young child how many times do you get up in the middle of the night to take care of that child God has planted within a mother this awesome sense of deliberate and willingness to do whatever needs to be done for her children and I think husbands taught us certainly need to appreciate that in any godly mother persistent you she can be counted on no matter what happens so would you be that kind of mom you you'd be that kind of mom a wife that you can be candid on no matter what times get rough still trust you you're not nagging and you're not fussing and you're not you're owning and you're not comparing you a family with somebody else's family and you can paint what they have with what you have no none of that fits the life of a godly woman doesn't mean she can just push her around it's not that it's just that she's determined to be what God wants out of me it's the same quality that all of us need in our life that we don't just quit and give up because things are not going this because we don't have what we'd like to have we're persistent you can trust us no matter what and then of course Jesus was a servant he teaches through his word you are not to be servants that is we are to have a servant spirit that is we're not living for ourselves but for others and I think of all the people who need a servant spirit in order to be happy is her mother because what does she do she serves everybody every day all of her life she's giving of herself well the next time you get tired and say I'm just fed up with this remember that Jesus was a servant he served those he worked with and the truth is service is an outpouring of yourself when you're giving yourself away to someone else for some need in their life that's what you do you're giving you of yourself and a servant spirit is a godly spirit not only that a servant spirit gets a long ways further in life than a person who's selfish whether it's on your job among your friends or whatever it might be a servant spirit doesn't ask the question well how does that suit my sched you how do I feel what's coming to me what am I going to get for all this no a servant spirit is what can I do for you how can I help him how can I help her you serve the Living God by serving your family and a servant spirit is a godless spirit so we think about godliness that's what we're talking about then I would say to live an orderly life an orderly life is an organized life that is things fall in the sequence and the think about little children who have to get up and go to school and they're just six years old or seven years old you have schedules you have to live by if you're not orderly listen where there is no orderliness there is confusion frustration anxiety attention stress and arguments because that's what it boils down to and the orderly life is an organized life she knows what she's gonna do how she's gonna get it done how long it's gonna take and she goes about getting it done and if you don't think about this whoever you are and what kind of parents you are your children are going to exhibit some if not many many many of your attitudes and your habits that's just the way life is and so the parent cannot neglect their children and say well you know you'll you'll be okay know there are restrictions and there are attitudes and there are habits that need to be built into every single one of us we all develop habits and we pass along their words if a son sees his father being disorderly and that no sense of organization just doing whatever comes next he's gonna have a great tendency to be lazy the same thing is true of a girl and so it's very important that we live the kind of life we want our children to live and all I think about Jesus life he had 12 disciples handling them was an issue I'm sure he knew exactly what to do but I am sure that Jesus was a very orderly person and that in his relationship with those rebel disciples the same was true that is a characteristic that either bills lifts and enables and enriches a person or the very opposite of all those is true then to be an encourager when I think of all the qualities that need to be true of a parent of a mother and encouraged if you'll think about this when the child is born and that mother holds that child up to her breast you know what she's doing she's starting out encouraging that child because that child senses something from that mother from the time he or she was born and then as that child grows that encouraging word yes you can I know you can I love you you the sweetest one I you you only known she goes encouraging that child no telling how many people in prison wouldn't be there if their mother or father had encouraged them do your best be a best no matter what don't quit don't give up and yeah but an encourage you and I can think about the times when I was a kid and I'd come home and my grades weren't the best in the world I just wasn't that smart and my mother would always ask me this she wouldn't get on my case and said why didn't you do better and does that never she'd say did you do your best I see yes ma'am that's all that matters if I got a bad grade she will know one thing if I did my best she was happy always a word of encouragement never a word to discourage me and there is something about being an encourager and I think of times when I would get discouraged from different reasons but she always have a good word and every single mother needs to be an encourager you say well you don't know my kids I know this I know the power of encouragement well my husband's don't appreciate me under the power of encouragement there's something about encouraging what it doesn't sends a message yes you can yes you will I'm trusting you I'm believing in you I'm helping you you can count on me there's something about that that absolutely changed as a whole Adam estate you're in then I mention one last thing and that is probably one of the most difficult things is to love unconditionally that unconditional part puts it in a whole different category I had a stepfather for a number of years there wasn't anything about him that I loved all right I wanted to have him around but he was there and I had to learn what it meant to love somebody that I didn't and my mother told me that by her own actions she taught me to love and forgive when I didn't even want to be forgiving I didn't even want to be loving I wanted to have nothing to do with it but that wasn't the way life was and finally I think Lord how do I deal with this but one thing I mother always did when I left home when she if she had to leave before I left she she would do the same thing she always hugged me and told me she says my mom loves you she always liked me I can still feel it she's been gone a long time but I can still feel that hug and her telling me my mom loves you there's something about a hug when somebody says for well I love you see you if your husband if you guys if you tell your wife in the morning well I'll see you seven and see ya mm-hmm and never hug her never touch her never express loves her shame on you every woman needs a touch the right kind of touch I got it a touch that says I'm thinking about you I love you I appreciate you I'm gonna be looking bubble to see you when I get back that isn't anything that a man can't give if he loves the mother of his children loves his lawyer there's something powerful about a touch and every woman who loves her husband her children she'll tell you that something powerful about a touch not a sexual touch a loving touch not that I want something I just appreciate something and I believe those 10 qualities will make any woman a fantastic wife and a fantastic mother well thank you moms but being the mom you are the wife you are the mother you are and may your kind increase there's something awesomely powerful about again the woman I got any mother amen and father had grateful we are you can grant to every mother here a sense of fulfillment a sense of the feeling of being loved that goes beyond anything a man can do because your God and I pray that if there's any woman here in him over here who is unsaved that she would recognize how absolutely essential and important it is that she give her life to Christ and become a godly mother she might be the first in her family but lord give her the courage give her the courage to make the most important decision in her life that in order to become the woman she wants to be in that wife and mother she needs to be she needs you make that crystal clear in her heart and I prayed that before she leaves this place this morning she would whisper this prayer to you Heavenly Father forgive me for my neglect forgive me for my sin I ask you to forgive me for all my ways that are wayward and I ask you to receive me as one of your children in Jesus name Amen if you've been blessed by today's program please visit us at intouch.org e in touch leading people worldwide into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ and strengthening the local church this program is sponsored by in touch ministries and is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts

Channel: In Touch Ministries

Views: 148,899

Rating: 4.921432 out of 5

Keywords: Charles F. Stanley, Charles Stanley, In Touch with Dr. Charles Stanley, In Touch Ministries, Preaching, Bible teaching, Dr. Stanley, Intouch ministries, intouch

Id: v6p_3q6KrEs

Length: 27min 2sec (1622 seconds)

Published: Fri May 11 2018