His Encouragement: For the mothers

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Welcome! Welcome, dearest friends, to His Encouragement: Biblical Inspiration for Your Thursday. Every week, I join a few blogging friends to bring you a Bible passage and a little hope-filled discussion. We pray that these devotionals help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you.

Today’s Scripture

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8, ESV

A few days from now, here in the United States, many people will be honoring the women in their life as they celebrate Mother’s Day.

History of Mother’s Day

According to Wikipedia, the first modern Mother’s Day was in 1908 when Anna Jarvis held a memorial service for her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis. Ann had been a peace activist and had tended to injured soldiers from both sides during the Civil War. Anna wanted to honor her mother’s legacy and, indeed, ALL mothers, because they are “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”. (Source)

Unfortunately, even Anna became appalled at how quickly her idea of a day honoring mothers was commercialized. Spending money on cards, candy, and other lavish gifts was not what she intended. She wanted the day to be a special day for people — for families — to individually and genuinely express their love and appreciation for their own mother.

Setting aside the commercialization of the holiday, I think Anna was on to something. In the daily grind, we can forget to show love and gratitude to those that mean the most to us because we think they already know without us having to tell them.

Show love and gratitude

However, if we neglect to show love and gratitude to these very special people, they can begin to feel used and unappreciated. Our loved ones, especially the mothers and mother figures in our lives, work hard — physically, mentally, emotionally — to care and nurture their families, friends, neighbors, churches. While they do not do it for recognition, a little recognition of their efforts can lift a heavy heart, lighten burdens, and remind them why they do what they do.

So whether or not you celebrate Mother’s Day, I challenge you to take the time to reach out to your mother, your grandmother, your sister, your friend, your mentor and let her know you love and appreciate her. It can be through a letter or card, through a text or phone call, or a visit.

And for those of us whose mothers are no longer with us, my heart goes out to you during this time. May you be comforted by the happy memories and cherish the pearls of wisdom your mother passed down to you.

(Need encouragement? Check out this post with great advice from real moms.)

Encouragement for mothers

For those of us who are mothers, there will be days where it seems all of our efforts are for naught and nothing is going right. Hang in there! Give the burdens of your heart over to the Lord! (1 Peter 5:7) One day your children will realize just how much you love and care for them and also how much you sacrificed for them, and they will be grateful.

For those who long to be mothers but are unable to, be strong. The Lord knows your pain and sorrow. He sees you and is there to comfort you. (Psalm 56:8)

For those who never knew their mothers or did/do not have a good relationship with their mothers, you have the opportunity to break that cycle with your own life choices. Choose to love! Choose to show kindness and compassion to those within your sphere of influence.

May today’s verse be an encouragement no matter which scenario is reflected in your life: “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8)

What verse has touched your heart this week? Share in the comments below!

Be sure to also visit my fellow bloggers and read their encouragement for your Thursday as well:

• Trisha of Joy of Reading
• Nicole of The Christian Fiction Girl
• Jessica of A Baker’s Perspective
• Becca of The Becca Files
• Gina of Stories by Gina
• Rev. Rebecca Writes

Hi there, blogger. Would you like to join us in sharing encouragement from the Word of God every Thursday? Don’t be shy! Contact Trisha or Nicole today!

Are you in the market for a new Bible?
Bibles.com is a great place to find the perfect Bible for you.
From hardcovers to paperbacks, regular to study Bibles, many
versions and translations are available and in mutliple languages.
Get your Bible today!

Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash.