God's Gift to Families - Moms: Devotions From Time Of Graceنموونە

Mom is a disciple

The Holy Spirit does his best work in Christian homes.

And among his chiefest and most valuable assistants are Christian mothers. My personal guess is that the vast majority of the people smiling back at me on Sunday morning were brought to faith through their parents’ initiative and were first seriously discipled by their moms. Bible stories first heard snuggled in Mom’s arms and lap are never forgotten. Little Christian songs sung around the house stay engraved in the heart forever.

It is Mom first who helps small children navigate the critically important relationship with Jesus, their invisible but not imaginary friend. “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26). Little ones first hear God’s words filtered through her heart and voice. Mom is their first counselor in problem solving with a Christian worldview.

The first prayers a child ever prays originate probably from Mom’s lap. The last thing little ones in their jammies and cribs hear at bedtime is Mom’s whispered prayer for them. It is from Mom first that small children learn how to live their faith--obeying the first time, sharing their toys, restraining their innate selfishness, learning how to say, “I’m sorry.” “I need help.” “Thank you.”

Behavioral scientists are pretty sure that a child’s educational patterns are set for life by age 5. I’m pretty sure that a child’s spiritual attitudes at age 5 also will last a long, long time.