Amen, so of course the last few Sundays we've been going through a series on the wells of wellness
and I'm not going to continue on that obviously because it's Mother's Day, but let me just say
that that's, you know, not something I regret. I think Mother's Day is a great holiday. I think
it's something we should certainly pause whatever we're doing at least once a year and acknowledge
mothers, acknowledge wives, acknowledge these dear people in our lives who enrich our lives so much
through their sacrifices, the things that they do on our behalf. So I will be picking up the
series next week, but let me just start out by saying that, you know, some people might think,
oh it's just, you know, the obligatory Mother's Day sermon that the preacher has to preach,
otherwise all the moms are going to get mad. You know, I actually enjoy preaching these type of
messages. I enjoy preaching a Mother's Day message. I'm looking forward to it because I
do believe that mothers are people that should be appreciated and we're living in a society where
people just severely undervalue the role of a wife and mother, you know, maybe not amongst the people
that we rub shoulders with, but in the culture that we live in, if you can even call it a culture
these days, you know, that we live in currently in our society, you know, the role of being a wife
and a mother is something that is almost looked down upon. It's something that you just kind of
have to get out of the way. It's just something you kind of schedule in your life. It's just a
season of something that you do. It's kind of an option. It's something you might do as a woman.
You might not. It's just one of these things that you may or may not pursue with your life,
okay, and in fact, a lot of ladies that decide, hey, they are going to fulfill the biblical role
of a wife and of a mother, you know, a lot of times they kind of get looked down upon. They'll
say, oh, you know, you don't know your true value or you're just a doormat or something like that,
and, you know, we understand that's, you know, the world and Satan and all of that, and that's
that philosophy, that world philosophy that's out there, and that's probably never going to go away,
but far be it from any godly woman in this room, you know, ever to think that about herself,
to ever undervalue the role that she plays as a wife and as a mother. It's very important.
It's a very important role. Mother's Day is a very good holiday, especially in light of, you know,
just the ridiculous holidays that are out there. You know, some of the holidays that are just made
up are, you know, just they're just a joke of a holiday. In fact, if you look up, there is
a literally like some kind of a holiday every day of the year. They've really belittled holidays.
I looked this up this morning, and obviously I'm not going to go through all 365 holidays,
okay, because we'd be here, but I did look up some that are taking place just this month, okay,
and I want to go through just to kind of give you an idea of the ridiculous holidays that are out
there. For example, there's Batman Day. I believe we've missed that already. There's Batman Day,
all right, so if you ever, I guess the nerds, you know, because then it's Star Wars Day after that,
so you got your pick. You know, the nerds love this list. There's No Pants Day. I don't even
know what that means. You know, am I for that against it? I don't know. You know,
if we're talking about ladies, you know, donning the apparel of a woman, I'm for it. You know,
hey, let's do that. That might be the one day out of the year you can get women out of their
britches and into a dress, right? There's Space Day, okay, that sounds out there. There's Herb
Day. I don't know what that's supposed to mean either. Free Comic Book Day, right,
Beverage Day, Europe Day. I thought that was July 4th that we celebrated Europe. Anyway,
that's a joke. There's a Lost Sock Memorial Day.
That's like every day. Every day I go to the sock drawer and I see them scattered there. I'm like,
oh, I love those socks. Now it's just I love that sock, and I need that other sock back.
Where do they go? National School Nurse Day, okay, all right. I can get behind that.
Here's one for the moms. Clean Up Your Room Day. Hey, that's like every day or at least once a
week, right? Clean Up Your Room Day, Twilight Zone Day, Eat What You Want Day. Now I see
people celebrating that one every day, right? I've been guilty of that. Limerick Day, Frog
Jumping Day. I don't know if that means you jump like a frog or if you jump over a frog.
Dance Like a Chicken Day. No, I'm not going to demonstrate that. Chocolate Chip Day, Pack Rat
Day, No Dirty Dishes Day. That's a hard one. Just take moms out of that one. No mom should even
bother with that. That's a never-ending thing. Pizza Party Day, May Ray Day, I don't know what
that means. Be a Millionaire Day. Here's one for the nerds. Talk Like Yoda Day,
which is just a stupid title. It should be Like Yoda Talk Day, right? And then there's
a Musical Instrument Day. All right, that could enrich us a little bit. Scavenger Hunt Day. I
enjoy a good scavenger hunt. Sing Out Day. That's every Sunday and Thursday. Towel Day. World Lindy
Hop Day. I'm sorry if I'm referencing some wicked cultural thing out there. I don't know. I'm
ignorant of a lot of these things. Sunscreen Day. Now that one I'm going to promote. Sunscreen Day.
Get that on. Don't get burnt out there. Hamburger Day. Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day.
It's out there. I don't know. Let's get a pillow. My Bucket's Got a Whole Day.
I don't even know what this is. Macaroon Day. I'm just listing these off because these are just
kind of the ridiculous things that people come up with. But we don't want Mother's Day to fall
into a category where it's just another holiday among holidays. In fact, you know, we ought to
honor our wives. We ought to honor our mothers. In fact, that's the title of the sermon this morning.
Honor Your Mother. You know, that is something that we are told and commanded to do in scripture
and not just any particular, you know, just not just one day out of the year. You know,
our lives should be a life that honors our mothers. Honors the godly wives and mothers
that have raised us and instructed us and taught us. So, you know, these are kind of a silly list
here. But you know what? Mother's Day is not among them. Mother's Day is a good holiday.
I'm glad we celebrate it. And I did kind of, you know, I got curious when I was looking at places,
well, where does Mother's Day come from, right? And I'll just briefly read to you quickly where
we even came up with Mother's Day. It was first celebrated in 1907 when Anna Jarvis held the first
Mother's Day. Now you guys are going to want to stick with me on this, especially you men.
If you already done messed up and didn't get anything for your wife or your mother,
I'm going to bail you out. Okay. So stick with me. All right. But Anna Jarvis, she held the first
Mother's Day service, which is a worship at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church. So it's a Methodist
Episcopal. I've never heard of that. I've heard of Methodist and I've heard of Episcopal. I've
never seen these things together, but whatever. And it was in West Virginia. Her campaign to make
Mother's Day a recognized holiday to the United States began in 1905, the year that her mother
died. So her mom died, Anna Jarvis in 1905. And she, you know, began to campaign to make Mother's
Day a national holiday. And part of it was kind of, she was a peace activist. She cared for wounded
soldiers in the civil war on both sides. And she also got with another lady who was, you know,
part of the peace movement back then. And they kind of used that to kind of,
you know, the angle of a mother to try to bring about, you know, peace and cease wars and things
like that. Certainly well-intentioned, but, you know, not very realistic. However, you know,
I'm glad that she took the time to found this Mother's Day. And she wanted to honor and set
aside a day to honor all mothers because she believed a mother is, quote, the person who has
done more for you than anyone in the world. That's what she said. And I understand, you know,
that Christ and God ultimately have given us all things, but, you know, he gave us mothers,
right? And really, when it comes down to just probably all the good things you've been instructed,
all the care that's gone into, you know, if you're a healthy, well-adjusted person,
you know, in all likelihood, your mother played a very large role in that. And they truly are people
who do more for us than probably anyone else we know. You know, at least that's the way it really
ought to be. Obviously, you know, Father's Day is coming up. I'm sure none of the men are getting,
you know, put out right now. We don't, we're not really, you know, too emotional about the whole
thing. But hey, you know what? Mother's Day is good because it helps us remember that, you know,
our mothers have done a lot for us, okay? They've done a lot for us. So she begins campaigning in
1907 to make Mother's Day a national holiday. And in 1908, right, the Congress rejected her
proposal for Mother's Day. And they joked and they said, if we did that, then we'd have to make a
mother-in-law day, right? So that was kind of, they jokingly rejected and say, well, if we do
that for mothers, then we have to do it for mothers-in-law. Of course, they were kind of
joking. It doesn't make any sense because any mother-in-law already is a mother. So anyway,
they were kind of taking a jab at mother-in-laws, right, which I don't have a problem with mother-
in-laws. You know, my wife had a great one. But however, owing to the efforts of Anna Jarvis by
1911, all U.S. states observed the holiday. So she starts out 1905 or 1907. And in 1911,
you know, it's not just a great platform for a gun. She also gets Mother's Day
recognized as a national holiday. Here we are today celebrating Mother's Day, thanks to the
efforts of Anna Jarvis. Now, here's where I wanted you guys to stick with me, all right? Here's where
I'm going to bail you out. So she gets it made into a national holiday. And although Jarvis,
you know, went to great effort, she later became very resentful of the commercialization of the
holiday, all right? See where I'm going? Right? And it became associated with the phrase a
hallmark holiday, right? Who's ever heard of that hallmark holiday? Kind of like Valentine's Day,
right? Valentine's is a legit hallmark holiday. They're like, let's just make up a way to get
people to buy flowers and cards and chocolates and, oh, by the way, we'll supply all those things
for them, right? So she becomes very upset because in a very short time,
that by the early 1920s, Hallmark cards and other companies had started selling their cards and
their products. And she believed that they misinterpreted this and exploited the idea
of Mother's Day and that they emphasized not the sentiment but the profit. So that was kind of her,
you know, she had a bone to pick with them, right? So she's against the commercialization because she
wanted to make it about, you know, acknowledging mothers, you know, in a sentimental way, not
through just buying things, right? As a result, in fact, she organized boycotts of Mother's Day and
threatened to issue lawsuits against companies involved. So you guys that, you know, aren't
taking mom out for lunch or you guys that failed to buy something, there you go. You're glad you
came, aren't you? Right? Because you say, well, you know, the lady who started Mother's Day,
she didn't think it was anything about gifts or anything like that. Now, don't take it as I'm
saying, don't do nice things and buy gifts for your mother. By all means, do that. Now, at least
give her a call. At least say hello. Wish her Happy Mother's Day. You know, if you're going to opt out
on the gift giving, you better have something sweet to say, right? You better have some heartfelt
sentiment, right? Because that was what Mrs. Jarvis originally intended. You know, don't just take
this one point and run with it. It's like, well, I'm off the hook. You heard the deacon, right?
Well, you better you better wax eloquent, buddy. You know, you better get down on one knee and
start breaking out some Shakespeare or something. And so she she's I mean, she's threatening
lawsuits and she's writing. She's thinking, you know, that people should express their
feelings through for their mothers, honor their mothers through handwritten letters,
expressing their love and gratitude instead of buying gifts and pre-made cards.
So Jarvis, even protest, I'm just going to read this because I think it's kind of amusing. Jarvis
protested at a candy makers convention in Philadelphia in 1923 and a meeting of American
war mothers in 1925. By this time, carnations had become associated with the Mother's Day
and the selling of carnations by the American mothers, war mothers to raise money, angered
Jarvis, who was arrested for disturbing the peace. So the lady who founded Mother's Day
got so mad at the fact that people were buying carnations and flowers and cards.
She ends up getting arrested for disturbing the peace. All right. So there you go. You guys can
thank me later. But, you know, I understand her sentiment. Right. And I appreciate, you know,
that she took that stand and she was very adamant about honoring mothers. I think that's a good
thing. Mothers should be appreciated. I think Mother's Day is a great holiday. Maybe not as
good as talk like you today. But, you know, it's up there. OK. But, you know, I think we should
show our appreciation for our mothers. Now, let me say this. You know, I think Mrs. Jarvis here
was kind of onto something. You know, we should learn how to express our the, you know, our love
for our mothers. We should learn how to express how or show how we honor our mothers, I guess is
what I'm trying to say. You know, and even beyond some handwritten note or some thoughtful gift
or some nice sentiment, you know, the greatest way you can show your mother respect, the greatest way
you can honor your mother, because that's what honor is. Right. A high form of respect is to
live as she has raised you to live, to live the godly life, to live a life that would please her.
You know, I'm sure every mother in the room would want nothing more for her children than that.
They would live a life that is honoring to God. You know, apart from any financial success,
their children might have, apart from anything else, they want them to be healthy and happy
and live godly lives. That's really what a mother wants, because a mother is a very
nurturing creature, right? That's what they want for their children. So let's give them that,
you know, let's, let's make sure we honor them. Let's go to Proverbs chapter number one,
Proverbs chapter number one. Get the Proverbs, we'll look at a couple passages there.
You know, living a godly life is the greatest gift you could give your mother. You know,
obviously you're not going to be able to do that on one day. That's something you're going to have
to do consistently over time. That's something you're going to have to demonstrate over an
entire lifetime. And yeah, even after, you know, your mother has gone on to the grave,
continue to honor her in that way, her memory by living as she would have you to live,
to live that godly life. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter one, verse seven,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother. So he's
talking about the things that our parents teach us. These are very important things,
things that we should hear and not forsake. And one of them is the law of thy mother. You know,
the things that your mother instructs you in, the things that your mother teaches you
are things that you do not want to forsake in life. And you know, a mother obviously being
very self-sacrificial, you know, and instructing and teaching you those things, she's doing it for
your benefit, right? And she's doing it so that you would, you know, live a life that's pleasing
unto God and one that she could be proud of. But if we forsake what we're instructed, you know,
that's not going to happen, then we have to ask ourselves, are we really honoring our mother at
that point? You know, we need to honor our mothers by doing the things that they have taught us,
not forsaking the law of our mother. Look at verse nine, for they, what is the they there?
The instruction, the law that we've been taught by our parents, they shall be an ornament of grace
unto thy head and chains about thy neck. And the chains there, it's not talking about like,
you know, a heavy chain that you would use to, you know, padlock or lock something inside,
but like a golden chain, right? Like something you would wear as an ornament, right? An ornament
of grace, chains about thy neck, right? It's going to adorn your life. The things that we are being
taught by our mothers, the things that we're being taught by our fathers, the instruction
and the law that's being given to us will adorn our lives. You know, and sometimes it's kind of
hard to see that when you're, when maybe when you're younger, you really don't understand
exactly how the world works, where, uh, what life is really like sometimes. And we're just kind of
trusting our parents that they're teaching us the right thing. But, you know, as we grow older and
we get wiser and we go through more experiences, you know, we stop, we start to see the instruction
and a law that we've been given less than, you know, less of, uh, to be like a, you know, just,
uh, our parents coming down us. We stopped, we stopped seeing it in this negative light. We
start to see it for what it really is. It's an ornament of grace. It's chains about thy neck.
And look, not everybody has that. Not everybody has a father and a mother. We're going to instruct
them in the things of the Lord. And if you have that, man, you've got something very special.
They shall be an ornament unto you. So how are we going to show appreciation for our mothers,
you know, beyond just mother's day is to walk in the law of our mother. And that's not something
you just do on one day. And again, I'm not against mother's day. I think I kind of made
that abundantly clear there. I think it's a good holiday. I think it's good to step, set time aside,
but how, you know, to truly honor your mother, it's going to take more than just, you know,
one afternoon. It's going to take one, more than just one brunch and a nice, you know,
card or whatever. It's going to take a life of not forsaking what she has taught you,
of putting those things into practice, of following in her footsteps. Go to Proverbs
chapter number six. The Bible says in Ephesians six verse one, children obey your parents in the
Lord for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with
promise that it will may be well with thee and thou mayest live as long on the earth.
The Bible is saying if you want to live a long life, a blessed life, you need to honor your
parents. That's the promise of that commandment, that if we honor our parents, we will live
a long life and it will be well with us, right? You know, if we forsake the law of our mother,
if we shake the instruction of our father, you know, if we have godly parents, what we're really
forsaking is godliness. We're forsaking doctrine. We're forsaking sound doctrine. We're forsaking
the Bible, right? But if we have godly parents that are instructing those things and we don't
forsake those, well, you know, God's going to bless us for that because they've led us
and brought us up in the nurturing and admonition of the Lord. Look at Proverbs chapter six verse
20. My son, keep thy father's commandment and forsake not the law of thy mother. There it is
again, you know, twice in the scripture and just a few chapters separating it. The Bible is
emphasizing the fact that you should not forsake the law of your mother. And look, kids are so
quick to do this sometimes, to not do what they're told, to talk back, to get a bad attitude, and to
just not go along with mom, okay? And that it ought not be that way. You know, we ought to
keep their commandments and not forsake them. We have to bind them continually upon thine heart,
not just one day a year, continually upon our heart, and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest,
it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. And when thou wakest, it will talk with
thee. You know, the things that your mother is teaching you and instructing you in childhood
and in your teenage years and your young adult years, those are the things that will guide you
through life if you let them. You know, and I understand not everybody has a godly mother. I
get that. Not everybody has a mother in their life that is teaching and instructing these things. But
you know what? If we do, all the more, right? And even those of us that might not have, you know,
a godly example of a mother to look to, you know, I bet if we thought hard enough, we'd probably
see some things that even our mother, all of our mothers, taught us, regardless of whether they're
saved or unsaved or how they live or what their philosophies are, you know, they've probably taught
even if it's just the most basic things. I mean, think about just the most basic things that you've
learned from your mother. I mean, how else would you have learned them? You know, somebody else
would have teach you and maybe given you, you know, kind of a weird look, like you didn't know that.
You know how a vacuum works. You don't know how to clean a plate glass window with, you know,
some Windex. Like, you don't know how to do these basic things. Even that, you know,
obviously mothers have much more than that to teach us, but what I'm saying is, for those of us
that might kind of say, well, you know, I really didn't have a godly mother, so I really don't have
all this, I don't have this ornament of greatest shape, but you know what? The things, even the most
basic things are guiding us, right? The things that we figured out, all thanks to our mothers. We can
at the very least be grateful for that, even for the most simple things that our mothers taught us.
I'm trying to think of some examples, but I'm not sure if I want to share any of them.
Some things that I learned that were very basic. But anyway, let's move along here. These are the
things that are going to guide you, right? The things that our mothers teach us will guide us
through life. We ought to honor our mothers for that, okay? You say, well, you know, I didn't,
I don't have any of that. You know, maybe mom wasn't even in the picture. Okay, well, think about
the fact that your mother sacrificed herself, at least in bringing you into this world.
You know, I don't, I don't think some people, you know, people have never witnessed childbirth,
sometimes don't understand how intense that really is, you know, and I'm just talking about it from,
from, you know, having observed it, you know, I've never gone through it,
praise the Lord, right? But, you know, I'm saying this, is that, you know, even if you don't have
anything else to be thankful for, well, your mom gave you life, you know, she didn't run down to
you know, she didn't run down to the abortion clinic, you didn't try to snuff you out before
you could even draw your first breath, you know, she went through the pain of childbirth,
she went through the discomfort, the morning sickness, the, the everything that comes with,
you know, bearing a child, all those nine months leading up to it, and then finally, you know,
going through the jaws of death to bring you into this world, and I'm not being overly dramatic when
I say that, you know, thank God we live in a country where women can quickly receive the
care that they need in order to not die in childbirth, the mortality rate, you know,
isn't, isn't as bad as it used to be, right? So mother sacrifice, you know, to some, at the very
least of bringing us in the world, but honestly, probably everybody in the room in all likelihood
could think about all the other things that their mother did for them over the years, besides just
bring them in into this world, and they did for their benefit, for our benefit, okay?
So how are we going to honor our mothers? Is it going to be just through celebrating once a year,
just kind of taking a pause and say, hey, thanks mom, or actually what it's going to be is to
honor our mothers throughout the course of our lives by living a godly life, a life that honors
them, okay? By walking in the things and not forsaking the things we've been instructed in.
Go to Proverbs 31, Proverbs chapter 31. It makes me think of 3 John where he said,
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. That was John's greatest
joy, that his children walked in truth. You know, what's going to make your mother happy? What's
going to make your father happy? What's going to make us proud as parents? It's when our children
walk in truth. You know, it's not how much money they earn. It's not going to be, you know, how
successful they are in the world. Although if they're successful, great, I'm not against that.
What I'm saying is, you know, if they're successful and they've forsaken the things of God,
if they don't honor the Lord, if they're not reading their Bibles, attending church and
serving God in some shape or form, you know, that's not going to be a source of joy to me.
In fact, it's going to be a source of, it's going to actually grieve me. You know, it's going to be
something that actually, you know, is the opposite of joy. It's going to be something that makes me
sad. It's going to be something that bothers me. If I were to raise children that then grew up to
be wicked people, I'd feel like I failed, right? If they forsake the law of their mother, if they
don't hear the instruction of their father and begin to live a wicked life, you know, I'm not
going to have that joy. And John said it, he had, I have no greater joy. You know, obviously on
Mother's Day, we think about our mothers and we, we appreciate our mothers and we try to express
that, right? We want to bring joy to them. Look, the greatest joy you can bring your mother is to
walk in the things that she has instructed you in, okay, to not forsake those things.
Obviously this, you know, this sermon is very pro-mother, right? Sometimes on Mother's Day,
I've made the mistake of kind of getting after the moms a little bit. I don't think that's a good
day to do that, but today's no different. You know, I haven't learned from my lessons, right?
I do want to take a minute and just speak to the mothers directly too and say, look,
if we feel like maybe we're unappreciated, we might have to ask ourselves, are we behaving
like a mother that can be appreciated? And obviously, you know, I would, I would be willing
to bet that that is the case for everybody in here, you know, every mother in here.
But, you know, a mother, you know, should be appreciated for the things that she does,
not just because of the fact that she's a mother, right? If you're in Proverbs 31,
look at verse 27. It says, she looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the
bread of idleness. Of course, Proverbs 31 is about the virtuous woman, right? Which is not
necessarily a standard, but a goal for women to strive for, right? It's not, as you read Proverbs
31, this is a very ideal woman, okay? I don't know if it's the unicorn wife and mother. I don't
know if she's really out there. You know, I'm sure every woman excels and does better in certain
areas than others. But, you know, one way that we can excel as mothers is to look well to the
ways of her household. You know, that's what a good mother is doing. You know, sometimes I think
people get this idea that moms are just somehow in it for themselves. And you kind of have to ask
yourself, like, what's your mom getting out of being a mother? Okay, well, let's just start at
the beginning. Well, she got to carry you in a room for nine months. I'm sure that was great.
You know, she had to swell up and go through all that discomfort.
Then she had to, I'm sure, and then childbirth, and she's like, well, that's what I was aiming for.
You know, that's what she wanted out of having a child. No, that's not why she did it either.
Well, maybe it was all the care for the newborn. That's why moms do what they do,
right? Because they love staying up, working, you know, all those odd hours, being on a baby's sleep
schedule, you know, nursing a child. I'll not go into that, but that's no fun, right? Dealing with
the sickness, and then, you know, more children come. So they just, it just gets compounded, right?
Where it just, you know, this just gets greater and greater. That's why she does it, because she
just loves, you know, being sleep deprived, and she just loves being stressed out, and she just
loves, you know, not being able to make herself up the way she wants to, and she likes, you know,
how it's just taking a toll on her body physically. That's why moms do what they do, right? You know,
moms do all that for our sake. They do that for their children's sake, so that they can raise
somebody up and send them out in the world to be, you know, a godly example to others. That's what
they do. They get a lot, obviously, there's a lot of joy that comes from having children,
but, you know, having, you know, anyone who's had children knows that it's not just all giggles
and smiles and sundresses and twirling and just love yous and running around. There's a lot of
crying and yelling and arguing and spanking and messes and sick. There's a lot that comes along
with that, right? It's a mother really is a very sacrificial person, and they give up a lot just
to fulfill that role for our sake, so they can bring life into this world and care for us.
That's what a good mother does. She looketh well to the ways of her household. You know,
she's caring for the children. She eateth not the bread of idleness. You know, motherhood is not
light work. It's not idle work. You know, I used to make the mistake of people would say,
does your wife work? And I'd say, no, she stays at home. And then I started thinking, I was like,
yeah, she works. Oh, she's employed, buddy. She works for me, right? And I don't even have to
make a list. Life as a mother is a cruel taskmaster. She doesn't need me piling on,
right? You know, that is a job. Try it sometime. Whenever my wife's bedridden, like when she has
another child and I have to kind of step up, you know, become the dad mom for a few weeks or
whatever, you know, I try my best, but it's like, after a while, it's like, are you, are you better
yet? I mean, you look okay to me. Hey, you didn't lose that much blood. I'm ready to like, what type
of blood? What's your blood type? Let's get a transfusion going. Let's, let's get that in you
right now. Let's get back to this. Right. It's been a whole day of me having to look after these
kids. It's been 24 hours of me having to do dishes and make meals and laundry. Right. And then I'm
begging to go back to work. Right. Because it's work, you know, is it the most glamorous work?
Is it the, is it the things that the world is going to lift up and say, oh, this is the ideal
course? Not, but you know what? It's, it's, it, it's that work that brings all the best things
to our lives. You know, things, and those are the very things that we tend to take for granted.
Right. We tend to just take mom for granted that of course, she's going to make me breakfast. Of
course, she's going to do my laundry. Of course, she's going to cook me a meal. Of course, she's
going to clean up after me. Of course, she's going to help me with this and help me with that.
She's my mom. She has to not necessarily not all moms do that. Don't take mom for granted.
Honor your mom and your life. She makes a great sacrifice. And she does not, it says there that
she eateth not the bread of idleness, you know, and it doesn't go unrecognized in her house.
And it shouldn't in any of ours. Verse 28, her children arise up and call her blessed.
Right. They bless their mother, her husband also. And he praises her. Right. I skipped over first
Peter three, where the Bible tells us that husbands should give honor unto their wives.
You know, we should honor our wives. We should honor the mother of our children.
We should honor them. Right. Respect them highly.
Okay. Because of what? Because of the sacrifice that they make for us. So honor your mother.
And you know, the point of the sermon that I'm trying to make is not just today.
Don't just honor mom today. Honor mom over the course of your life with the way you live,
the things that you do, how you behave yourself, the decisions that you make.
You know, if mom has taught you and instructed you in the right way,
you need to walk in that. You need to honor that.
Go to Psalm 35. I'll close there. It'll be a short one. I'm sure everyone's got to get mom
down to IHOP this morning. Right. There's nothing wrong with that. I'm not making fun of that. You
want to take mom to IHOP? I think it's great. You got room for one more? Right. Honor your mother
in your life. The Bible says in Proverbs 19, you're going to Psalm 35, it says,
he that wasteth his father and chaseth away his mother is a son that causeth shame and bringeth
reproach. You know, if we forsake the things that we've been taught by our parents, you know,
it's going to bring reproach. And not upon them. It's going to be reproach in our own lives.
You know, I used to, I've known people like this who grew up in a Christian home.
You know, I didn't know it when I met them. I had, you know, these old friends that, you know,
were worldly and they're living wicked lives. And then I come to find out that, you know,
I ended up meeting this one friend in particular. I met up meeting their parents. I actually ended
up staying in their house for a while. And they were very instrumental in me after I got saved,
getting on my feet. You know, they were godly people. And it would just blew me away at how
much this hadn't been handed to this guy. You know, and he had other siblings that were, you
know, good godly people that love the Lord, but this guy had just gone out and just forsaken all
of it. You know, and you know who I thought less of? It wasn't his parents. It was that guy.
I remember thinking, man, you had everything. Like, what's your problem? You got a godly mom.
You got a godly dad. You have this nurturing home. You got these, this great family. You got
these siblings that care about you. They're still even to this day trying to bring you back around
and help you, even after all the mistakes you've made. And then to hear it, you know, the way you
just blow them off or whatever, you don't want to straighten out. It's a reproach to those people.
It's not a reproach upon the parents, right? If we waste our mother, if we chase away our parents,
if we waste those things, we're going to cause shame upon ourselves. And we're going to bring
reproach upon ourselves, right? And obviously, you know, it's going to, you know, to whosoever
much is given of him shall much also be required. And this is kind of the point I'm making, is that,
you know, it's going to be even more of a shame and reproach if you're somebody who knew better,
right? I mean, sometimes you run into people, they're, I mean, they're just,
they just come from broken back. I mean, you feel sympathy for them because of their backgrounds,
where they came from. They had a hard, hard life coming up. They came up hard. They came up
difficult. It's understandable. And you want to help those people feel sympathy. But then you
find somebody maybe who's in that same position in life through mistakes and you find out they've
had it, they had this primrose path laid out in front of them and they just blew it. And it's like,
I don't really have the same reaction to those people. Kind of like, what's your excuse? Oh,
your excuse is that it's not that you didn't know better or that you, you know, you were kind of set
up to fail. Your excuse is that you're just a jerk. That you're just an ungrateful jerk who
didn't appreciate what was given to you. Oh, that's your, you know, that's a shame and reproach to
people who chase away and forsake their parents when they have godly parents. It's a shame.
So honor your mother in your life, right? Because your mother is somebody who's going to have,
whether you realize or not, is going to have a huge impact upon you. And I read this verse
in Psalms 35 verse 14, you know, a while ago, and this one really stuck with me.
It says in verse 14, I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother. This is David
expressing, you know, his sorrow, how he feels about being betrayed, right? But notice the
analogy he uses here at the end to express that. I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for
his mother, right? He's trying, let me try to express to you how sad I feel. Let me try to
express to you how down I am. I'm, it's like my mom died, right? And I'm turning us there because,
you know, when mom is gone, you know, that a lot of times that's when it hits us really how much
our mothers were an impact upon our lives. And once mom's gone, she's gone. And we don't want
to wait for mom to be gone before we start to appreciate her. You know, we need to start seeing
that now so that we can express that, you know, our appreciation and our gratitude to our mothers
now, not when she's gone. Okay. And on this verse, you know, it's a heavy verse, right? I bow down
heavily. It's a hard verse, but it's a great truth in life. You know, when mothers pass,
that's a very significant thing in our lives. Very significant. Why is that? Because of the roles
that our mothers play in our lives. It's huge. It cannot be undervalued. It deserves more than
just one day in our lives. It deserves our entire lives. It deserves us honoring her in her life,
and yay, even in her death. You know, even after they pass down, the greatest way to honor your
mother is to continue to live as you've been instructed, to not forsake that law. That's the
greatest honor you could give to your mother. The greatest honor of a godly mother in this world
is godly children. And you know what? That's what every godly mother wants more than anything else.
You know, more than flowers and chocolates and sweets. Now, don't worry, moms. You still deserve
all that, especially today, right? You still deserve all the sweet things you're going to get
and all the cards and gifts by all means, but you know what moms really want? The best way to honor
them is to honor them with your life and not just one day out of the year. Honor them with your
whole life. It's the greatest honor we could give them. Let's go ahead and pray.