“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13). When reading this verse, some people conjure up images of soldiers in a foxhole. A hero who jumps on a grenade to save his squad exemplifies the literal sense of this verse. To no lesser an extent, so do many moms. Mothers aren’t called on to lay down their lives in the sense that they die for their children, but they do sacrifice their desires repeatedly for their children. Who actually wants to have their sleep interrupted by a 3 am feeding? Or what about the financial strain of clothes that kids continually outgrow and the food that teenagers seem to consume by the crate? Or the hours lost playing chauffeur to ball games, birthday parties, and school events? Unlike dads, moms even start sacrificing months before the child is born.
Mother’s Day isn’t a Christian holiday, but sacrificial love and the gratitude that it inspires are both Christian virtues. Motherhood is a special calling that challenges moms by giving them endless opportunities to grow more like Christ. It also gives endless opportunities to disciple our children so they can grow up knowing the love of Christ, and just as importantly, having it modeled for them. That is a high calling indeed! One can put on a show every Sunday morning, but it’s just not possible to fool one’s children. They see it all. They see moms and dads stumble and sin. Parenting is also a lesson in humility.
Moms deserve our gratitude and encouragement. Those who wish to be moms deserve our compassion. Those who have lost their moms, or whose moms failed to parent them properly deserve our sympathy and understanding. We should live with these attitudes, not just on Mother’s Day, but year-round.
