Motherhood as the Bible Describes It

God gave them to us to borrow for a limited amount of time. We might have asked for them; maybe we didn't. But once those babies first landed in our arms, they became our responsibilities to properly raise, teach and love.

What mother doesn't look into her newborn's face and reach that feeling of total bliss, vowing to be the best mother she can be, to raise this child with the utmost love and devotion? The difficulty lies in finding good mothers from whom to learn the craft, forcing her to search for "experts."

After my first son was born my mother-in-law said, "I don't know why you think you have to read so many magazines and books to learn how to be a good mother. The Bible tells you all you need to know." This prompted me to search the Word for truly great mothers and learn from their examples. What I found was a wealth of women who exemplified the term "mother." The Bible is replete with examples of women who modeled motherhood in a way that glorified God and I needed to look no further for the best advice available.

Eve was the first mother to acknowledge that her children came from God. In Genesis 4:1, after Cain was born she said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." The first step toward becoming the best mothers that we can be is to recognize that God loans us children for a time. Ultimately, those children will choose for themselves which paths to take in life and, if we've done our jobs right, they will find their "real" Father, the Lord God.

Hannah, understanding that she was barren, prayed that God would bless her and make her fruitful. When she had given birth she named her baby Samuel because "I asked the Lord for him." Some might say that Hannah's answer to prayer was her baby, but in reality it was far greater than that; she was granted the privilege of giving Samuel back.

Rachel, too, was barren for a season, and she raged with jealousy each time her sister, Leah, bore another child. Finally, Rachel blamed her husband, "Give me children, or I'll die!" But Jacob let her know that God prevented her from conceiving. Rather than accept this news, Rachel gave her maidservant to Jacob so that, through Billhah, she could have children.

Understandably, Rachel was never happy with that situation. Can you imagine your husband having children with several other women? Later, Genesis chapter 30 recounts Rachel's blessings when she not only bore Joseph, but Benjamin too.

Rachel is an example of a mother who played favorites. She felt that her children, especially Joseph, were better than Jacob's other sons. This jealousy spread among the brothers, who sold Joseph into slavery, a disaster that God "meant for good." Joseph belonged to Him all along even if Rachel hadn't recognized it.

Who can forget Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist? To have a child at her age was nothing short of a miracle and Elizabeth acknowledged it in Luke 1:25, "The Lord has done this."

When the relatives suggested that John be named Zechariah after his father, Elizabeth said, "No! He is to be called John." She knew that John the Baptist was only a borrowed child who was named by God and belonged to God.

The angel Gabriel told Mary right from the start that her child was the Messiah, Jesus Christ. She knew that her son was God and that someday he would leave her and be sacrificed as the Lamb. I don't know how any of us would feel to know that the babies that we struggled in pain to birth and then struggled in life to raise would eventually be nailed to a cross to suffer and die. Mary gracefully gave this borrowed Son back to the One who gave Him to her in the first place.

Finally, Proverbs chapter 31 tells about a mother who is a wife of noble character, rising early in the day to feed and clothe her family. Verse 26 states that "faithful instruction is on her tongue." The Proverbs 31 woman understands that God has given her a precious gift, a family, but only for a season. So she faithfully raises those children as she believes God wants her to. And "her children arise and call her blessed."