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Good morning, brethren. Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Proverbs. Turn to the book of Proverbs. And I want to say Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers that are listening in today. You know, I'm very thankful for my wife, who is a great mother of 11 now, and obviously very thankful for my mother. You know, not everybody is a mother, but everybody has a mother. And I really like Mother's Day. I like the fact that at least our nation, you know, identifies a particular Sunday every year to honour mothers. I think that's important. Jesus Christ, the Bible itself, teaches us that we ought to honour our mothers and our fathers. So, you know, I do believe Mother's Day and Father's Day, these are celebrations that are compatible with the Bible. And so we're going to be looking at the book of Proverbs today. Turn to Proverbs chapter 10 for me. Proverbs chapter 10. And we're going to be focused primarily in the book of Proverbs. The title for the sermon this morning is Proverbs for Mothers. Proverbs for Mothers. Okay, so again, yep, yep, we are tailoring this sermon for mothers, for motherhood. And what is a Proverb? I know, we obviously know it's a book of the Bible, the book of Proverbs, but Proverb has a definition. And if you don't know, I'll just read the two main definitions in the dictionary for you regarding a Proverb. A Proverb is a short, popular saying, usually of unknown and ancient origin, that expresses effectively some commonplace truth or useful thought. That's definition number one. And definition number two is a wise saying or precept, a wise saying. And that is really, when we talk about the book of Proverbs, we often identify it as the book of wisdom, don't we? It's often called the book of wisdom. But here's the great thing about the Bible, the entire Bible is a book of wisdom. Every book, every chapter contains wisdom that we can learn from. But the book of Proverbs specifically is tailored toward giving people wisdom. And I want to give mothers some wisdom this morning, as we look at the Proverbs. And it's so important for us to look at what the Bible says, you know, what is motherhood? What is motherhood? Motherhood, obviously, is not just the fact that you've been married, but the fact that you've been able to deliver children, you've been able to give birth to one or many children. And that makes you a mother. Okay. But here's the interesting thing about motherhood. You know, well, let me just give you an explanation of my family. Obviously, we've 11 children now, people often talk about how great it is to have so many kids. And it is great. You know, talk about, you know, you must be a super mom, they'll say to Christina, you know, you must be a super mom to be able to have 11 children. But the truth is, having the children is just step number one. Okay, you know, being a mother is just step number one. The hardest thing to do, even harder than delivering a child, even harder than labour, you know, is to raise your children. Okay, because how long do you have a child in your womb? Nine months. Right, but once that child is born, now you've got them till they leave the family home. Okay, so now as a mother, you've been given instruction, you've been given authority by God to raise that child to a certain standard, to biblical standards, to teach them biblical truths, so they can one day be an efficient adult for themselves. They can look after themselves and be someone of good reputation, someone that God can look down on and be pleased. Okay, so don't forget, you know, having a bunch of kids, that's wonderful, but more important than having a bunch of kids is raising them right, raising them to know the Word of God, raising them to love the Lord. Okay, and there is a, you know, the book of Proverbs warns us, if we don't raise our children well, mothers, you know, and okay, you know, you can tailor some of this to fathers as well, but I really want to focus in on mothers being Mother's Day. If you fail at this job, it'll be a disaster. If you fail at raising your kids, you can really destroy not just your life, but the lives of your children. So the Bible warns us, okay, so go to Proverbs chapter 10, look at verse number one, Proverbs chapter 10 in verse number one, the Bible reads, the Proverbs of Solomon, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Foolish son, you can have a wise son, you can have a foolish son, you can have a wise daughter, you can have a foolish daughter, you can have wise children or foolish children. Which one do you want, mothers? Do you want to raise children of wisdom or do you want to raise children that are foolish? Okay, the Bible warns us about the failure of raising foolish children and what did it say here? It says at the end of it, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother, the heaviness of his mother. The thought that the Bible wants to give you here is just think about having a big burden on your back, on your shoulder, something that you've got to carry. It makes it harder for you to walk, it makes it harder for you to bear. Quite often when someone is saved, they might be appointing their lives with their burden with sin, their burden with cares and worries, they don't know what the future holds, they don't know if they're right with God, but the moment they know that Jesus has paid for their sins, the moment they know they can have eternal life in heaven forever, that burden is lifted. You know, the burden that you once held trying to work your way to heaven or not knowing how to get to heaven, that burden's been lifted by Jesus Christ, that burden's been nailed to the cross and there is liberty, there's freedom in the knowledge, in the joy of being saved. And look, you could be a saved mother, but even with your burdens being lifted by Jesus Christ, if you raise a foolish son, those burdens will return, okay? You know, the other idea here is depression. You know, when somebody's suffering depression, they feel a heavy weight on their shoulders, they feel physically unable to continue because of the mental stress or the mental state that they are in and a foolish son will cause you to be depressed. Mothers, I don't want you to live a life of depression. I don't want you to carry heavy burdens on your back because of foolish children, okay? So the problems have warned us about this. You don't want to have foolish children that bring problems, not just on themselves, but on their mothers. Go to Proverbs 15 now. Proverbs 15 verse 20. Proverbs 15 and verse number 20. The Bible reads, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish man despiseth his mother. Okay, so we want the wise children. We don't want the foolish children. Why? Because the foolish child here will despise his mother. You raise foolish children. If you don't raise children in accordance to God's Word, they're going to grow up and they're going to hate your mother. They're going to hate their own mother. And it might be hard for you to process that. You know, it's hard for me to even contemplate hating my mother, you know? But I have seen with my own eyes, I've spoken to people that hate their mother. I'm talking about people that have been raised in a Christian home, people that have been raised in a church, and the things they speak about their mother, it's obvious that they hate them. They hate them because of the way they were raised. You know, they were raised to be foolish. You know, why? Because the mother thought she was doing well, thought she was doing things biblically, but she did not go back and check, am I raising my children to be wise? Am I raising my children to love the Lord, to love the Word of God? In actual fact, they raised a foolish child and that foolish child speaks hatefully about their mother. And I've seen this, you know? I've seen this in Christian homes. You know, it would break my wife's heart, you know, to think that one of our children will grow up and absolutely just despise, hate their mother, hate their father, hate their upbringing. Now our desire is to raise children that love their mother, that love their parents, that love their family, right? That's our goal. But look, you raise a foolish child, you're going to have children that hate your mother, okay? So I really want you to pay attention to this sermon, okay? I don't want children that cause you depression. I don't want you to have children that hate you. Go to Proverbs 19 verse 26. Proverbs chapter 19. Let's look at verse number 26. The Bible says, He that wasteth his father and chasteth away his mother is a son that causeth shame and bringeth reproach. Okay? So you can have a son that wastes his father. He wastes his father's resources. You know, he wastes his father's wisdom and he also chases away his mother. He wants nothing to do with his mother. You know, this is similar to the one that despises his mother. You know, Mom, I don't want to hear from you. Mom, I don't want to talk to you. You know, he doesn't pick up the phone and ring his mother on Mother's Day or whatever. You know, he has no honour for his mother. It says here that it will bring his mother to shame. He's a son and bringeth reproach. Okay? Cause of shame and bringeth reproach. He has no regard for his parents. No honour. No regard for his parents. In fact, this one, see this son calls of shame. He purposely lives a life to bring shame on his mother. And again, I'm thinking of the same individual that I spoke about that hates his mother. You know, he would do things that maybe naturally he would otherwise not do, but does it to just bring shame on his mother. You know, children that would do evil, children that would do wicked, not because they just desire it, but they desire to hurt their parents. They desire to break the rules and the commandments and the instruction that they've received from their parents just to bring them shame. What a horrible place to be as a mother. You know, quite often when we preach about Mother's Day, the sermons are very glowing about the nature of motherhood, the importance of motherhood, and it is so important. But there's a harsh reality that we must face in the Book of Proverbs that if you fail as a mother, if you fail as parents, you're going to raise foolish, disgusting, stupid, wicked children. And I don't want you to suffer. You know, as your pastor, I want you to love your families. I want you to love your children. I want your children to be raised up loving their parents, loving the Lord. If they can't love their parents, if they can't respect and honour their parents, if they can't follow the commandments their parents laid down, then how are they going to love the Lord God? How are they going to follow the instructions of the Lord God? How are they going to live and bring glory to God if they can't even live and bring glory to their parents? Motherhood is so important. We only get one crack at it, mothers. You only get one crack at it, okay, with your child. You fail them, it's going to haunt you for the rest of your life. You know, it's going to bring harm and damage for the rest of your life. Please go to Proverbs chapter 20 verse 20. Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 20. The Bible reads, who so cursive his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. What does it mean to curse? You know, people that mock the Bible say, well, see the Bible speaks about, you know, cursing here and they think of it like you say some swear words at your parents. Look, that's, okay, that's disgusting. That is wrong. But when you look at the word curse in the Bible, it's about bringing harm. It's about causing injury, you know. You know, someone goes out of their way, I'm not saying by accident, but goes out of their way to hurt their parents, to physically harm their parents, you know. And there's one crime that stays in my mind when I think about, there was some family in Sydney, I wish I, I should have looked it up before I preached it, but where one son, I think it was in the suburb of Ryde, absolutely, you know, butchered his parents to death and, you know, killed his parents and made it seem like, you know, that this was in someone that broke in the house or so be it, killed his parents. And he finds out later that he was guilty and the reason he did it was for the inheritance. You know, he's someone that went to curse his parents so much so that he actually killed his parents, okay. Now, if we had a righteous government, you know, that man would be put to death, wouldn't he? Okay. You, a murderer, if you're found guilty of murder, you know, you've got the two or three witnesses, then you are put to death. Murderers are put to death in accordance to God's judgment. But you know what? Someone that just curses their parents, someone that just inflicts harm, maybe not to the point of death, but the Bible says, if you go and you purposely harm your parents, you also face, you're also worthy of the death penalty. You will also face the death penalty. That's how serious, that's how wicked it is to curse your parents, to harm them, to injure them purposely. What did it say then? Proverbs 20, 20, who so cursed of his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. That's just a poetic way of saying this person deserves to die. You know, he's living right now, as his light is on now, but that man deserves for his light to be put out. That man deserves for his life to be ended. And just to confirm this, if you can go to look at verse number 27, same chapter, Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 27, it says, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. So you can see here how your spirit, you know, when it's in your body, it's seen as a candle, as a light. And then it says, yeah, searching all the inward parts of the belly. So the spirit of man is a candle of the Lord. So if that candle or that light is put out, what's that? That would mean that the spirit has left the body. And of course, what is the definition of death? When the soul and spirit leave the body. Okay, so you can see here in Proverbs 20 it's speaking about someone that cursive has to be put to death. And look, I don't want you to raise children that curse their parents, that harm, physically harm their own parents. It is worthy of death. Exodus 21 verse 17 reads, and he that cursive, his father or his mother shall surely be put to death. I say, man, that is extreme. That sounds like the Taliban. Hey, this is God's judgment. This is God's righteous judgment on wicked behavior of children of this nature. Okay. Even Leviticus chapter 20 verse 9 says, for everyone that cursive, his father or his mother, shall be surely be put to death. He have cursed his father or his mother. His blood shall be upon him. You know, we have multiple witnesses here that someone that curses their parents is worthy of death. You say, well, pastor Kevin, that's the Old Testament. You know, that's when God used to be angry, but now he's changed, right? Now he's full of love and mercy and Jesus. And you know, well, what did Jesus say in Matthew 15 verse 4? Matthew 15, the words of Jesus Christ, Matthew 15 verse 4, he says, for God commanded, saying, honor thy father and mother, and he that cursive, father or mother, let him die the death. So was Jesus in favor of the death penalty? Absolutely. Jesus was in favor of the commandments and the laws that God passed down, even in the Old Testament. I mean, he is the word of God. You know, Jesus Christ, you know, when we read the Old Testament, we read the New Testament, all of this is aligned. None of it is contradictory, okay? It is the same God, Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament, the God of the New Testament. And Jesus Christ, we know, one of great mercy and a great truth, still speaks about how important it is to put the child that curses his parents to death. So mothers, God has given you children. What are you going to do with them? What is your plan? What is your desire for them? You know, is your desire to just drop them off at some daycare, you know, at some school, at some event, so you don't have to deal with them? Or is your desire to nurture them, to train them, to make them wise, to make them godly, to love his parents, to love the Bible, to love the Lord God. That's the challenge that I have for you mothers this morning. Go to Proverbs chapter 30, verse 11. The Bible reads, and I've preached on this passage before, and I think this is speaking about the generation we're growing up in, the generation that my children are growing up in. It says here in Proverbs chapter 30, verse 11, there is a generation that curseth their father and doth not bless their mother. There is a generation like this, okay? Now when we talked about the death penalty in the Bible, we're talking about some individual, you know, some individual wicked people out there. But the Bible is prophesying of a time that there will be a generation, there's been generations like this in the past, and I believe we're facing a generation like this today, a generation that despises their parents, that hate the commandments of their parents, self-entitled jerks. Look at verse number 17. Drop down to verse number 17. The eye that mocketh at his father and despises to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick at it, pick at it, pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it. All right, so there is a generation that mocks their fathers, okay? That despises to obey their mother, okay? So do you know any children like that? Have you seen children that tease and make fun of their father? I'm not talking about just jesting with their father, but actually hating their father and mocking them, mocking the way he lives, mocking the instructions of rules that he passes down in his house. Or do you know some children that don't obey their mothers? Their mother instructs them and they disagree. Maybe they throw tantrums, all right? And boy, there is a lot of children like that in this generation, okay? It says here, this generation, it says at the end of it, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out. That's the eye, remember the eye that mocked at his father. The ravens of the valley shall pick out his eye and the young eagles shall eat it. You know, this is teaching us that this generation is blind. It's a blind generation, okay? It's like they've lost their eyes. It's like some birds have picked at it, ate up their eyes and they are blind. Now obviously physically they can see, but they are morally blind. They are spiritually blind. And when they go about life, they're just going to bring destruction. I mean, imagine a blind man just walking around, you know, without one of those dogs, you know, that assist them or without a cane or I'm not sure how other ways blind people get around. You know, they'll be tripping. They can't see where they're going. They're going to fall into the ditch. They're going to trip over hazards. They're going to walk, you know, on the street and get hit by a car, you know, for someone that's blind that has no direction. Well, if you fail at motherhood, if you fail at raising your children, you're going to raise blind children, morally blind children, spiritually blind children, and they will destroy their lives, okay? No wonder children can, you know, foolish children, wicked children can be so burdensome on their mothers. And I don't want mothers to suffer this way, you know? So take the instruction that we can get from the Word of God this Mother's Day here in the Book of Proverbs and let's learn what we can see here in the Bible. Go to Proverbs chapter 1 again, Proverbs chapter 1. So I've got eight points, oh sorry, seven. I've got seven points from the Book of Proverbs of raising children, okay? So go to Proverbs chapter 1. Sorry, just lost my place there. Proverbs chapter 1 and verse number 8. Proverbs chapter 1 and verse number 8. The Bible reads, my son, hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace upon thy head and chains about thy neck, okay? So point number one that I have for you mothers, point number one is be an authority in the family home. Be an authority in the family home, okay? Now sometimes mothers desire to be a friend to their children. They think being a friend is what my child needs. No, what your child needs is mum. What your child needs is mother. What your child needs is someone in authority that loves them, that will instruct them, that will guide them and sometimes will have to say no to their children. Sometimes they will have to upset their children because you're looking out for them. If your desire is to be just a friend, they're not going to be able to respect you when you lay down the law, okay? What did it say there? My son, hear the instruction of thy father. Yes, fathers are to pass that instruction but we're talking about mothers today. It says forsake not the law of thy mother, okay? The law of your mother. Mothers, you've got to be authoritative, you've got to have authority in your home, you've got to pass down some law, some commands, some instructions to your children, all right? It says what? These instructions, these laws, verse number nine, will be an ornament of grace upon the head of your children and chains about their necks, okay? This is like jewellery. You know, jewellery is something that is rare, something that is valuable, something that is beautiful, right? Jewellery is to enhance beauty, it's valuable. Well, you know what? You giving some law, you taking appropriate measures of authority is you giving your children something that is very valuable. Look, you don't have to have great riches, you don't have to have a lot of money in the bank and a lot of parents think that the best thing I can do for my children is to give them whatever they want, take them wherever they want to go, you know, and their life is so centered on whatever their children want. They raise spoiled kids, they'll spend all the money in the world to take their kids to Disney World, you know, to buy them whatever gifts they want. Hey, there's something more valuable than all of that and the more valuable is the law of their mother, instruction, guidance, direction, putting some boundaries in place so your children know what is right and what is wrong. Hey, you can be a poor mother financially but you can pass down great riches to your children, okay? Don't just think that is the role of the father, no, it is the role of the mother as well. Look at Proverbs chapter 6 verse 20. Proverbs chapter 6 verse 20 kind of repeats the same instruction that we saw in Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 6 verse 20, it says, my son, keep thy father's commandments, so in Proverbs chapter 1, he called it the instruction of the father but now it says the father's commandments, I want you to remember that, commandments and forsake not the law of thy mother. So there it is again, the law of the mother. Now notice that in this passage it calls it the commandments of the father and the law of the mother, okay? So this is important because as we keep reading, look at verse number 21, it says bind them continually upon thine heart and tie them about thine neck, the same kind of idea of jewellery as it were, right? Verse number 22, when thou goest, it shall lead thee, when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee and when thou awaketh, it shall talk with thee. But notice verse number 23, for the commandments, so who gave the commandment in this passage? The father, remember the commandment. For the commandment is a lamp. Now what is a lamp? A lamp is what you use to shine light, okay? Now notice it said there in verse number 23, for the commandment is a lamp, but then it says, and the law is light, okay? The law is like, hey, who's passing down the law in this chapter? Mother, okay? So the father's instruction is like the lamp and the mother's instruction is like the light, all right? That comes from that lamp and it says, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. The way of life, okay? What's, look, we want our children to know what real life is like, what it truly is to live life and the Bible says what is the way of life? Reproof of instruction. Reproof is to correct. Reproof is to discipline. Reproof is to say to your children, you've done wrong, this is wrong, you know, you have failed, but you can fix it, okay? That is what reproof is, making sure your children know when they've done wrong. Discipline, correction, right? But I want you to notice how the father's commandment is like a lamp and what shines out of the lamp, light, and that light is like the law of the mother. So my point that I have here is that you need to make sure that the law of the mother is consistent with the instruction or the commandment of the father, okay? Just like that lamp shines the light, without the lamp you haven't got the light, have you? Well, mothers, when you pass down instruction to your children, make sure it is consistent with the same instructions, the same guidelines, the same rules that your husband has given to your children, that the father has given to your children. Don't forget, fathers are the heads of their homes, okay? And mothers are to be a help unto the father, to their husband. And so if the husband says, you know, daughter, I don't want you to dress this way, you know, I don't want you to put on that short skirt, then mother, you need to also say, well, just like dad said, you cannot wear that piece of clothing. In fact, mother, take that piece of clothing and throw it in the bin. Be consistent with the instruction that's coming from the father, okay? Do not undermine your husband's authority because the way your children view their father is so important in their lives. The way they respect and honor their father will ultimately develop how they honor and respect their spiritual father, which is in heaven. Mothers, your instruction is to be consistent with the instruction of your father. It shouldn't be, well, dad's at work now, we don't have to follow the rules that dad laid down. No, that is wicked. That is teaching your children to not honor their father. Okay, so don't undermine the authority of your husband. Make sure that your instructions are consistent with that of your husband. And look, if you're struggling in this area, then you need to sit down with your husband and work out, you know, what is right and what is wrong. Make sure you're on the same page. You know, if mom and dad have different rules, then it's going to cause confusion in the children. They're not going to know what's right or wrong. Okay. And, you know, you see this, you know, I guess I've seen this a little bit, you know, because we're not always perfect, my wife and I, and sometimes the children will know, you know, mom will let us get away with this or dad will allow us to get away with that. So when one parent says no, the children go to the other parent and say, well, and ask again, hoping that the other parent will say yes, you know, and so children learn to get around how to, you know, find the loopholes as it were, you know, you don't want your child to be that way. You want your child to, the first parent they approach and they ask something for, if mom says no, doesn't matter if it's mom, doesn't matter if it's dad, it's no. You don't have to go to the next parent to find out if maybe I can get away with this with the other one, no. And if you are finding that in your family, if you're finding inconsistency in how you're raising your children, moms and dads, you need to get together and make sure that you're aligned aligned, you know, and again, dads, at the end of the day, you're the head of the home, okay? You're the lamp, make sure it's right, make sure it's a good lamp, make sure it's got some oil, make sure that it works, so that way your wife can be that light and be consistent with a lamp that that light is shining from. Look at verse number 24 in the same passage, Proverbs chapter 6 verse 24, to keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Now this is something that you'll notice consistent in the book of Proverbs is the warning of the strange woman, you know, warning of fornication, warning of adultery, you know, warning of a woman that is unsaved, you know, that'll cause your son to be defiled, you know, it's important that you raise your children to love marriage, to seek one wife, you know, and the wife that he would be able to be committed to, that he would keep himself pure, you know, that he would go to, you know, into the wedding as a virgin, you know, and your daughters, you know, teach them not to be the evil woman, teach them not to dress like that strange harlot, teach them to be a woman of virtue, and you'll see, you know, I'll get into this a little bit later as well, but this is something that is consistent for us in the book of Proverbs. Please go to Proverbs chapter four and verse number one, Proverbs chapter four verse number one. Point number one was be an authority figure in the family home, okay, be an authority figure in the family home. Point number two is give them tender love, give your children tender love from the mother. Proverbs chapter four verse one reads, here are ye children the instruction of a father and attend to no understanding, for I give you good doctrine forsake ye not my law. Look at verse number three, for I was my father's son tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. So you can see here how Solomon speaks about, you know, being his father's son, how his father has taught him, but he also says in the eyes of my mother, you know, she treated me tenderly, right, I was beloved in the eyes of my mother, and so mothers, you need to show or give your children tender love, all right. When it says here beloved, beloved, that means dearly beloved or much loved. Your children must know that you love them, you know, tell them that you love them, show them that you love them, you know, they must know, even when a child is being disciplined, this is an act of love. Make sure your children know when they're being disciplined, when they're crying, when they're upset that they're being disciplined, that you're doing it because you love them. Children must know that mum loves them, okay, and again be careful about showing favoritism, you know, to giving one child more attention than another child, praising one child and you don't praise the other child, this will cause a child to feel that they're unloved by their mother, okay. So listen, mothers, you've had, you know, of course fathers are to love their children as well, but there's something special about a mother's love, there's something special, why? Because you've had that child in your womb for nine months, you've known that child longer than anyone else on this planet, you know, you've known them at least nine months longer than anybody else, you've at least loved that child nine months longer than anyone else on this planet, okay. Fathers, it takes us time, you know, we see our wives grow, she gets pregnant, we can't really relate to that child, obviously we would pray for that child, but we can't really get too attached with that child until he's born or until she's born, you know, we can hold that child, you can see that child, but mum, she feels that child, she's given that child nutrients, she feels that child kick, she obviously develops a love for that child much earlier than anybody else, the love of the mother is so important. Notice in verse number three it says, tender and only beloved, tender. You know, mothers, you ought to see your children as tender, something that is tender, what's tender? You know, like delicate, something that is delicate, you take a glass, you know, if you were to drop a glass bowl, it'll shatter, okay. You need to treat it very carefully and you need to be very tender, very delicate with your children. You know, the idea that I get when I think of a tender or something that's delicate, I think about, you know, a gardener, I think about someone that is maybe a gardener, they're planting some seeds, you know, it takes work, right, making sure that, you know, that, you know, you're trying to grow a plant, you make sure that it has its nutrients in its soil or fertilizer, you go and you water that plant, you make sure that it gets the sunlight that it needs and, you know, you would also, you know, I'm not a gardener, I don't know, but, you know, you'd also have to protect it from nasty, you know, creatures, you know, little insects, snails and slugs that want to eat up that plant. If you're trying to grow that plant, you're being very delicate, you're being very tender with that plant, aren't you, and you're protecting that from harm, okay, and you're making sure that it gets the nutrients that it needs. That's the idea that I get with tenderness and that's how you ought to view your children as a tender, delicate creature, you know, it needs to be nurtured, it needs to be protected, it needs to be loved and I looked at a study, there was a study done in 2016 which demonstrates, you know, scientifically how important the mother's love for a newborn child or very little children is. It actually plays a significant role in the development of the child's neural system or the brain, you know, brain development and I'll just read a portion to you in the study. It says, in this study, the researchers observed steady growth in the hippocampus of children with supportive mothers across multiple brain scans taken at different time periods, so supportive mothers, mothers that show them love, that show them nurture and care, all right. It says, they also found that the growth trajectory in the hippocampus was associated with healthier emotional functioning when the children became teenagers but again they found that when maternal nurturing didn't begin until later in childhood, the love and support didn't seem to provide the same benefits in brain growth, okay. What this research is showing us is that the mother's love is so important, you know, especially in those early years, all right, those early years of a child, so to make sure that child grows up into one that is stable emotionally that can, you know, does well in emotional circumstances versus those that have, did not get the nurture, did not get the love from their mother, they're more unstable as teenagers and, you know, we see this with teenagers, obviously a child that goes into a teenage, they've got all those raging hormones in them, they're going through changes mentally, physically, there are things on their mind and quite often you'll see teenagers upset, moping around, you know, making foolish decisions in life and you know what, if you haven't shown them love at an early age, they're going to be worse off, they're not going to be emotionally grounded but if you do show them love mothers at an early age, they will be able to grow up and be emotionally strong, okay. So this is supported by science but we don't need science, we've got the Bible, the Bible tells us how important it is for a mother to show love, tender love toward her children, okay. The next point that I have for you is you need to discipline them and I already spoke about discipline, okay, but go to Proverbs 29, Proverbs 29 and look at verse number 15, Proverbs 29 and verse 15, my apologies, my phone's going off there, Proverbs 29 and verse 15, because even though you're called to be tender and mothers tend to be a little bit more tender with their children than fathers, okay, this doesn't mean that you don't discipline your kids, all right, you do need a heavy hand when it comes to discipline, Proverbs 29 and verse number 15 reads, the rod and reproof give wisdom, remember at the beginning we wanted children that are wise, we don't want children that are foolish, we saw the destructive behaviour a foolish child will have if we raise them as fools, it says the rod and reproof give wisdom, you want your child to be wise, you have to get that rod out occasionally and discipline your child, they need it, it's not just a tap, a loving tap with a rod, a loving tap with a hand, no, you take that rod and you apply some force, you apply some pain, it'll give your child wisdom according to the Bible because look, it says but a child left to himself without discipline bringeth his mother to shame, do you want to be ashamed mothers, do you want your children's behaviour to bring shame on your life, of course not, do you want them to bring shame upon themselves, of course not, how do I, what do I do, the rod, okay, reproof, correction, discipline and look, the word rod here is not some euphemism for just standard correction, no, the Bible's very clear, use an instrument, use the belt, use some rod, use something that'll help you give a consistent smack on the bottom, this is an important part of raising your children mothers if you don't want to be ashamed, look at Proverbs 22, Proverbs 22 verse 15, Proverbs 22 verse 15, so correcting your children with a rod, what did it say, it said it gave wisdom, okay, what else does it do, in Proverbs 22 verse 15, it says foolishness is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him, do you want the foolish child, no, well guess what, foolishness is already bound in the heart of a child, a child by default is going to do foolish things, the child by default needs direction, needs instruction, they can't be left to their own devices, they can't be left to make their own decision, to make their own rules because they're going to do foolishly, they're going to make foolish decisions and mum, one way for you to drive that foolishness out of their heart is the rod, you don't apply the rod, you're not going to give them wisdom and you're going to leave them in a state of foolishness, all right, in a state of foolishness and so look, mothers, you are given the role and the responsibility and look, speak to your husbands, if they don't, look, I don't know what your condition, situation is, some mothers don't discipline their kids, some mothers don't do that, you know, they'll say to their children, if their children are acting up, I've heard this with my own ears again, you know, I've heard mothers say, you just wait till dad gets home, all right, you'll regret it, you know, when dad comes home, I'm going to tell them exactly what you've done, you don't have to tell dad when he gets home, listen, when dad gets home, he's tired, he's gone to work all those hours to make sure he can provide for his family, he wants to come home, he wants to come to a peaceful home, he doesn't want to come to a home where he now has to dish out discipline on a bunch of kids and mothers, if you leave it only to the dads, the children aren't going to respect you, they're going to respect dad but they're not going to respect their mother, mothers know, your children act up at home while dad's at work, you get that rod and you apply it, you use it according to the bible, it's your job as well, you don't have to wait till dad gets home and look, if your child's done foolishly, they've broken the rules, you've disciplined them, you've given them a smack, you use the rod, they've cried a few tears, they've apologised, you don't even have to bring it up when dad gets home because once they've apologised, you forgive them and you forget it, you don't bring it up again, okay, now here's, you know, if dad gets home and they continue in the same way then yeah, let dad take it from there but you know, quite often dad's in the workplace and mum's at home, you need to make sure the discipline is acted upon immediately, don't wait till dad gets home, okay, point number four that I have for you, go to Proverbs 28, Proverbs 28 verse 24, Proverbs 28 and verse 24, the fourth point that I have for you mothers is instruct your children to be self-sufficient, instruct them to be self-sufficient, Proverbs 28 verse 24 reads, who so robbeth his father or his mother and saith it is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer, you know, there are children that think there's nothing wrong with stealing, robbing from their own mothers and fathers, you know, they've lived in the family home and they just feel entitled, they think mum and dad needs to give them everything they want to the point that they will even steal from you, to the point where a child will even go through their father's wallet or their mother's purse and steal, steal money, okay, that happens, alright and why? It's because you've raised children to not be self-sufficient, you've raised children that are so dependent on their parents that when they don't get what they want, they actually will take it from them, they will steal it from their parents and boy again I can think of, you know, grown men that are still leeching off their parents, grown men that should be making a life for themselves, that should be providing for their own families but they're leeching off mother and father, the only way they can provide is by sucking all the resources that their parents have saved up and used, instead of their parents being able to enjoy life, they're just sucking them dry instead of being self-sufficient and look, spoiled children will have their mother wrapped around their fingers, you raise spoiled children, you're in trouble, what you need to do, the way you raise self-sufficient children is when they grow up and they're old enough, you know, they don't have to be very old, they can be even five, six, seven, you know, you can start giving them chores, start, you know, tell them when they wake up in the morning to make their beds, you know, when they play in their rooms to pack up their toys before they go and play with another toy, teach them to put away the toy they were playing with originally, okay, show them what it means to work and as they get a bit older you can give them more responsibilities, you can get them to help with the chores, get them to do the dishes, get them to do the washing, get them to iron the clothes, get them to vacuum and to cut the grass and to put out the garbage, get them to be an effective worker in the home so they can learn to be an effective worker and self-sufficient when they get into, when they become an adult, when they get into the workplace, when they get married, when they have their own responsibilities so they don't have to suck their parents dry and rob from their parents, you need to raise children that are ready for the real world, that are ready to provide for themselves, all right, and so, you know, your child, the more your chores you give them, the more work you give them, there's going to come a time in their minds they're thinking, man, my parents, you know, they give me work because they're lazy, they give me work because they don't want to do it themselves, that thought is going to go through their mind, remember foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, right, but here's the thing and I'm sure you can relate to this parents and we all grow, we all mature and we can always look back and we can see things that we didn't understand before, okay, and I can relate many times where I may have felt my parents were too strict in my upbringing, my parents when they said no and I wish at that point in time that I had said yes but as I've gotten older I can look back and think well that's why my parents said no, that's why my parents were strict, that's why because my parents were protecting me from harm, you know, and your child that thinks mom and dad are, you know, making me work because they're lazy, at some point when they're old enough and they're self-sufficient and they're working hard and they've been successful in life, they'll be able to look back and say thank you mom and dad, thank you for teaching me to work, thank you for helping teaching me to be self-sufficient, okay, and so, you know, a lot of the investment you put in your children, you won't see it until later in life, until they can develop mentally and come to a realisation that, you know, mom and dad meant well for me, they meant the best for me and it's so important, especially for boys, that you raise them to be real men of responsibility, they know their place is to find work, they know their place is to find a wife one day and be able to provide for that woman in the future, okay, so that's point number four, point number five is raise children with integrity, raise children with integrity, please go to Proverbs 23, Proverbs 23 and verse number 22, Proverbs 23 verse 22, the Bible reads, hearken unto thy father that begat thee and despise not by mother when she is old, okay, so raise your children with integrity, raise your children to listen to their fathers, mothers again, you have more time with your children, generally speaking, dad's at work, mom's at home, teach your children when dad gets home, listen to them, give him your ear, dad's wise, he's lived a life, you know, he's got life experience, you know, make sure they know to honour and to listen to their fathers, you know why this is so important today is because there are television shows telling your children that fathers are idiots, okay, you know, when I was a child, I used to watch the Simpsons, the Simpsons a lot, you know, there's Homer Simpson and man, that man's a fool, you know, that man is dull, that man is thick, he's stupid, he's a fool and that's the impression not just on the Simpsons but that's the impression of many fathers on television shows, you know, there was this show, you probably know it's called Peppa Pig and it's a very popular children's cartoon, we used to let our children watch it until my wife noticed that the father, father Pig, Peppa Pig, I don't know, you know, again the television show portrays him to be a complete jackass and a complete fool and this is what the media is trying to do to the next generation to despise their fathers, you know, to despise manliness, you know, to take down what it means to be a man and, you know, the blurring of the genders, all this stuff. No, mothers, make sure you teach your children to listen to their fathers, you know, teach them, teach your children to be someone of integrity, of moral, you know, of certain ethics and ultimately those morals, those ethics and integrity must come from the word of God, must come from this word, okay, look at verse number 23, let's keep going, buy the truth and sell it not, also wisdom and instruction and understanding, where are we going to get the truth, where are we going to get wisdom, instruction, understanding, all from God's word, this is the basis, this is the foundation, mums, of your child's education, of your child's ethics, to know what is right and wrong must be built on this strong foundation of God's words, tell them to buy the truth, help them, teach them the importance of telling the truth, of seeking the truth, of having the truth, not being a child of lies and listen, children learn to lie very easily, very young in age they learn to lie because they don't want to get in trouble so they'll tell a lie, parents don't laugh it off, don't think it's a minor sin when they tell lies, you know, in my family home telling lies is like one of the worst things they could possibly do, okay, and we usually give them multiple smacks if they tell a lie, okay, telling a lie is wicked, it says here buy the truth and sell it not, you know, sell it not, this is like don't be a sellout, we'll use that term right, don't be a sellout, you know, there are certain truths, certain things that you ought to teach your children to stand on, don't let them be a sellout, don't let them sell that out for some type of progression in life, no, it's better to stick true to the word of God, stick true to the instructions that their mother and father has given, that's going to protect them in life, you know, that's where they're going to have true success, true integrity, you know, don't allow them to betray the things that they stand for, that your family stands for and, you know, another thought that I have here and again I've noticed this in Christian homes, quite often, you know, children that grow up in Christian homes will have some type of biblical upbringing, right, there will be some things that they're instructed by mum and dad that are biblical but where sometimes parents fail is to show their children that it's in the Bible, to show them where they can find this truth, you know, this is so important because children need to know where mum and dad are getting their ideas, why is mum and dad raising me like this, why have they taken the rod and disciplined me, you know, why is it that my friend down the road doesn't get disciplined with the rod like I do, you know, you need to tell your children because son, daughter, look at the Bible, God says this is important, God says this is loving the children, God says this is what we must do, you need to point your children back to the Bible, it's so important, don't just raise your children with biblical standards, show them where those biblical standards are in the Bible so they can then understand this is coming from God, okay, coming from God. The sixth point that I have, go to Proverbs 31, Proverbs 31, very famous passage in the Bible about the virtuous woman, Proverbs 31 verse number one, the sixth point that I have for you is warn against destruction, warn your children not to destroy themselves, okay, there are certain sins, there are certain lusts of the flesh, covetousness that children or they grow up as teenagers and young adults will desire, will be tempted to follow, you know, the peer pressure may come upon them, they need to know that if they follow through that they can destroy their lives, warn them against destroying their lives, Proverbs 31, mothers, this is so important, the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him, his mother taught him, Proverbs, his mother taught him wisdom, King Solomon, the wisest man that we can read about besides Jesus Christ, so much wisdom and a lot of that wisdom came directly from his mother, his mother taught him a few things, what did she teach him, verse number two, what my son and what the son of my womb and what the son of my vows, look at verse number three, give not thy strength unto women nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings, she was worried that Solomon would destroy himself, he'd destroy himself lusting after women but what's the thing that destroyeth kings, verse number four, it is not for kings O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine nor for princes strong drink and I've told you how there's a, you know, there's a theme in the book of Proverbs about, you know, warning your children to not chase off with a strange woman, not to give in to fornication or adultery and it's the mother's job to teach their sons have your eyes set on one woman on your wife, keep yourself pure on the wedding day, so important for mothers to teach their sons yes and their daughters, you know, their daughters not to be a strange woman but not just lust but also alcohol, okay, Solomon's mother said King Solomon don't drink wine, it's not for you, okay, don't drink strong drink, don't drink alcohol, okay, this will destroy kings, this will destroy your children, lusting after women and drinking themselves stupid, you know, getting addicted, you know, you can, you know, put in hard drugs and things like that as well in this context if you wanted to, okay, mothers teach your children to not destroy themselves, make sure they have a view of marriage, that is the proper place to have that physical intimacy, right, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 7 verse 9 but if they cannot contain let them marry for it is better to marry than to burn, okay, the Bible warns us against fornication, teach your children of marriage, prepare them for marriage, prepare your sons to be a provider, prepare your daughters to be a help meet for a man okay, warn them against destroying themselves by chasing the lust of the flesh and alcohol, now look I've tried alcohol, right, but it's something I've never enjoyed but there are other people that struggle with this, you know, some for some reason I can't really relate to this but for some reason just fleshly people want to drink, it's like they can't go without, all right, becomes an addiction and you know you might say well just one drink, you know, just one beer, just one glass of wine, listen that's the first step of a downward spiral okay because those substances are addictive and then it goes from one to two to three to a drunkard, you know, the Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 1 wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise, hey we started by saying we want to raise wise children, children with wisdom, well the child that is addicted to alcohol that gets into the wine, that gets into the strong drink, that starts drinking the beer, the Bible says he is not wise, you know, and mothers that could be the path of your children so you need to put things into place today, teach your children today that they are not to destroy themselves. Now if you can also go to Proverbs, sort of lost my place here, Proverbs 23 please, Proverbs 23 and verse 24, Proverbs 23 verse 24, we already read verse number 22 and verse number 23 but I want you to read verse number 24 and 25 with me now and this is the seventh point that I have for you, seventh point, have a joyful house, so important, it's important to warn your children of dangers, it's important to discipline your children, it's important to take motherhood serious, right, but it's also important to enjoy, it's important to laugh, it's important to have a joyful house, you know, where children can laugh and have fun and get along with their siblings, you know, love the company of their parents, enjoy life, you know, God has given you children, yes a serious task but enjoy them, enjoy the life that God has given you, enjoy the children that God has given you, look at verse number 24, the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him, mothers God wants you to have joy, God wants you to raise wise children and enjoy their company, look at verse number 25, thy father and thy mother shall be glad and she that bear thee shall rejoice, you know, Mother's Day, I want you to rejoice, I would love nothing more for mothers across this nation to have great joy, you know, even unsaved mothers because it's such an honourable thing just to be a mother, you know, it'd be a wonderful thing if mothers could rejoice in their children, sadly like I told you we have a generation that brings shame to their parents and there aren't many mothers rejoicing anymore, so it's important, you know, as a godly woman, as a saved mother for you to find the joy in the children that God has given you, if you can tap into that joy, you're going to desire to have more and more children because it'll bring more and more joy, you know, and make sure that when your children do right, you celebrate, you rejoice with them, you know, just recently one of my sons, you know, he's getting toilet trained and he's been using the toilet, you know, he did a number two in the toilet and, you know, when they're little like that you can celebrate, obviously when they're older they'll be embarrassed by it but when they're little you celebrate and you say hey, you know, to the family hey, you know, so and so has used the toilet, you know, and everyone's happy and that child that's on the toilet will be happy, will know that hey, he's brought joy to mum and dad, I know it's a silly example but when your child matures, when they do right, when they learn and they grow and they do well in their studies, they obey, they've done their chores, you know, chores, don't turn a blind eye to it, don't just say well, you know, they should have done it anyway, they should obey the rules anyway and have that kind of attitude, know when they do what's right, rejoice, have joy, you know, show them that you are pleased by their action, you know, when Jesus Christ was baptized, the voice of the father said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, God the father looked at his son and said I am pleased son, you are doing well, you've been baptized, you're starting the ministry, okay and listen, when your children do well, when your children do right, rejoice, tell them that you're pleased, okay, why? Because foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, you know, it took some effort to do what's right, it took them some time and progress to say no, I'm not going to be foolish, no, I'm not going to disobey, I'm going to do what's right because mum and dad have instructed me, because the word of God has instructed me and so they've made some effort to be righteous, hey, that ought to bring some joy in your life, okay, so don't forget, you know, make sure you have a joyful house. Let me give you those seven points as a conclusion, point number one is be an authority figure in the family home, number two, give them tender love, number three, discipline them, number four, instruct them to be self-sufficient, number five, raise children with integrity, number six, warn against destruction and number seven, have a joyful house. Alright, God bless and happy Mother's Day.