In this message, Dr. Stanley details the many facets of a godly mother as well as describes the lasting impact she can have on her family. Learn how to live the kind of life you’d want for your children.

well then 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

society 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

sighs 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 on 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 her work in the church

there so in thinking about the scripture

and thinking about what are the

characteristics of a godly mother anyway

what does a godly mother looks like we

could talk about a beautiful mother rich

mother youthful not all kinds

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 for 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 habit 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 came

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 needs and material

needs but emotional needs and a woman

the 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 efficiency for her

life I never heard my mother in all the

years of her life

and my father died when I was nine

months of age so she lived about that

was about seven eight years I don’t know

it was nine years before she married

again but 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

thanks and yard but 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

I’ve forgotten the mother is that she’s

generous toward of us and that’s the way

my mom was 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 taught of us 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 gonna she’s

gonna be generous sort of children and

told her husband and taught 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 your children

would come to the door knock on the door

back is the 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 have to say I 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 and

you know what he asked me why it was

built into me that’s that’s just before

your friends your family somebody leaves

you you want to give them something

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 she 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

obey 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 trial 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 would just not go to sleep that

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 is 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 is here when you walk in

there’s an atmosphere of freedom as an

atmosphere of welcome as the 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 a mother knows 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

welcome 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 under watch

this people who are unforgiving a living

in stress living in tension no matter

what else they do that looks right feels

right whatever it is an unforgiving

spirit is a spirit of tension stress now

if somebody will 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 anybody but the

whole issue of forgiveness is a vital

part

of a family spirit being able to forgive

because all of us have thought their

parents were not forgiving all I thought

they mistreated us is some 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 when 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 so what do you 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 are 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 or

persistence 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 I remember my mom I didn’t lay

violate a pair of trousers around pick

it up and oh 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 left 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 often times

people forget in life the 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 and father

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 it’s awesome sense of deliberate

and willingness to do whatever needs to

be done for her children and I think

husbands fathers certainly need to

appreciate that in any godly mother but

sister she can be counted on no matter

what happens so would you be that kind

of mom you’d be that kind of mom a wife

that you can be counted on no matter

what times getting 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

paying 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 you got

along so to 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 to suit us well

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 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 a mother

because what does she do she serves

everybody everyday 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 the godless spirit not only

that a servant spirit gets a long ways

further in life and 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 sketch you

how do I feel what’s coming to me

what am I going to get through 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

there’s something about a servant spirit

you can listen you can be the richest

person on your block or in town you can

have the most notoriety but if you don’t

have a servant spirit there’s something

missing in your life now you may not

know what it is but people notice what a

servant spirits about there’s something

about your attitude the way you shake

hands well you can’t handle yourself who

you are you’re not always talking about

yourself but somebody else 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 a

schedule you have to live by if you’re

not old early listen where there is no

orderliness there is confusion

frustration anxiety tension 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 I think about in

fact our friend of mine who was

surpassed him it’s an excellent preacher

he’s going now he told me he said my

mother and my father never corrected me

he said so I grew up throwing my clothes

around and he talked about all the

things that he did that spoke of

disorder in this and he said when I got

married did I have a problem I said

because you just kept doing what you’d

been doing who’s responsible about the

parents should have told him better

finally he said I learned what it was

all about but after a lot of tension

stress arguments fretting and all kind

of attitudes that were not right because

that’s the way I grew up and if you’ll

think about this whoever you are and

what kind of parent 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 there

was if a son sees his father being

disorderly and 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 12 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 Huddle’s 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 and 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 for different

reasons but she always had a good word

and every single mother needs to be any

courage 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 does it 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

did 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

like 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 I 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 remember 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 ya

if your husband if you guys if you tell

your wife in the morning well I’ll see

in 7:00 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 forward 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 a

mother

amen and fell behind 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 you’re 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 the

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

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