The Role of a Christian Wife and Mother
Romans 8:5-6 clearly describes the spiritual mind and the carnal mind.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
After the fall of man, all of us are born spiritually dead, with an inherent carnal mind.
Our spirit is revived by the Holy Spirit when He enters our heart and we are born again.
As we study the word of GOD, our mind is renewed. As we obey the Holy Spirit's promptings, we grow spiritually and progress from a carnal person to a spiritual person.
The carnal person is self centred, selfish and worldly as opposed to a spiritual person who is CHRIST centred and others - directed.
Therefore, from being a carnal minded person to becoming a spiritual minded person is a process. We must constantly make the decision to progress in the right direction towards perfection.
Then we will be perfect wives and perfect mothers!
Preparation
It is the bride who has to go through extensive preparation for marriage to her bridegroom.
Let us lift up our eyes to see this in the spiritual sense. The Church, which is the Bride, is preparing for CHRIST Who is the Bridegroom. Those of us, men and women, who love the LORD and are waiting to see Him and to be with Him, are His Bride.
Revelation 21:2
Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
In what way are we being prepared?
You know the story of Esther.
Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had completed twelve months' preparation, according to the regulations for the women, for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women.
Myrrh is a bitter perfume and speaks about self denial and suffering.
It is about taking up our cross and following JESUS.
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.
Mark 8:34-35
Perfumes and beauty speak about life in the spirit, manifesting the glory of the LORD in our lives.
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.
2 Corinthians 2:14As husbands and wives grow spiritually, together we will reflect the image and the glory of GOD in this dark world.
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:27When CHRIST takes His rightful place, that is, the first place in our lives, our relationships with others will be right and blessed.
Change of Identity
When a girl gets married, her maiden name is dropped as she takes on her husband’s name. This is symbolic of a changed identity.
Her relationships are rearranged.
and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
Matthew 19:5
From being under the authority of the father, she is received by her husband, who then takes responsibility to defend her, protect and provide for her. This is true spiritually too.
When you are born again, you become a ‘CHRIST’-ian, as you take on His name!
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
Isaiah 43:1
Firstly, you belong to the LORD through and through and then you give yourself to your husband.
After marriage, you lay down your goals in life, priorities and rearrange other relationships so that you can become one with your husband.
The vows and the commitment you make to your husband is that of Ruth to her mother in law.
But Ruth said: "Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me."
Ruth 1:16-17This is also the commitment we make to the LORD when we give our life to Him. We make the decision to follow Him and there is no turning back. In fact, it is this commitment that enables us to keep our marriage commitment. Our relationship with the LORD and with our husband are both covenant relationships that are for eternity and cannot be broken.
Although as husband and wife we continue to be individuals and very different from each other, we become one as we share life together as one unit. We complement and complete each other.
The children are not mine or yours, but ours.
It is so also with our finances and possessions. They are not mine, his or hers, but ours.
In the spiritual sense, we surrender all that we are and all that we have, to the LORD, including our will. That is true worship.
Suitable Helper - Loyal and Profitable
Genesis 2:18
And the LORD God said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."
The wife has to understand her own husband so that she can be a suitable helper to him. So there is no place for a wife to run down on he husband's weaknesses, because that is where she is meant to fit in and help!
There is also no room for comparing husbands because you are specifically suited for your own husband!
Proverbs 31:11-12
The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
The LORD JESUS said:
Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
John 16:7
So just as the Holy Spirit is suitable and profitable for a Christian, a godly wife is to her husband.
Comforter
As the mother is the comforter for the child, the Holy Spirit is the comforter for the believer.
John 14:15-16
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
As the husband takes on the responsibility of the father for his wife, she needs to take on the responsibility, in a sense, of a mother for her husband.
That is how the clash happens between mother in law and daughter in law!
But the wife must carry a different attitude to the mother, because she is on a different level in the structure of authority.
Genesis 24:67
Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent; and he took Rebekah and she became his wife, and he loved her. So Isaac was comforted after his mother's death.
Submissive and Respectful
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Ephesians 5:22-24
True submission is when you yield and give in when you don’t agree!
Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband.
1 Corinthians 7:3
Ephesians 5:33
Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Therefore the responsibility of the wife is to show affection and respect to her husband, and to submit to him as to the LORD and to be subject to him in everything.
Gentle Influence by the Side ..
Genesis 2:21-23
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."
This was the first surgery ever, performed on the first man, by the Creator, under General Anaesthesia!
Therefore the woman should always be by the side of her husband, a gentle influence.
1 Peter 3:4
rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
The Holy Spirit plays that role in the life of a believer.
John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
If you are walking carnally, you can influence your husband negatively.
Consider Eve and Sarah offering the wrong thing to their husbands.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6
Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan.
Genesis 16:3
Consider Jezebel and Zeresh wives of Ahab and Haman influencing their husbands.
1 Kings 21, Esther 5
Proverbs 31:10-12
Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good and not evil All the days of her life.
The Holy Spirit convicts us but doesn’t condemn us. He corrects us gently.
The wife should be sensitive to her husband, but even more so to the Precious Holy Spirit.
She should have the fear of GOD and not fear her husband!
For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands,
as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror.
1 Peter 3:5-6
If her husband plans to do anything that is not pleasing to the LORD, she should be able to gently correct him. The LORD would find her responsible, if she goes along with her husband to displease the Holy Spirit.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a good example.
Acts 5:9
Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out."
Intercessor
JESUS is our model intercessor, Who continues to intercede for His own, before the Father.
Hebrews 7:24-25
But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
The Holy Spirit also helps us in our intercession, praying GOD's heart for us and through us for others.
Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
The wife should not be an accuser, but an intercessor for her husband.. Like Abigail.
1 Samuel 25:39-42
So when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the Lord, who has pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and has kept His servant from evil! For the Lord has returned the wickedness of Nabal on his own head." And David sent and proposed to Abigail, to take her as his wife. When the servants of David had come to Abigail at Carmel, they spoke to her saying, "David sent us to you, to ask you to become his wife." Then she arose, bowed her face to the earth, and said, "Here is your maidservant, a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord." So Abigail rose in haste and rode on a donkey, attended by five of her maidens; and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.As the Bride of CHRIST, we must be interceding for the servants of the LORD as well.
Bearing Fruit
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Romans 8:14
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
The Holy Spirit enables us to bring forth the fruit of the Spirit that characterises CHRIST.
The woman bears children for her husband, who resemble and carry the characteristics of their father.
Genesis 24:60
And they blessed Rebekah and said to her: "Our sister, may you become The mother of thousands of ten thousands; And may your descendants possess The gates of those who hate them."
I pray GOD’s blessing on each one of you, men and women -
May you bear much spiritual fruit and may you have many spiritual descendants, thousands of ten thousands, who will know how to overcome their spiritual enemy and live victoriously for CHRIST!
MOTHER
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Psalm 127:3
Receive your child, as a gift from GOD, with gratitude to Him and with Joy
When you have a child, a precious gift is entrusted to your care. You must receive this gift from the LORD with gratitude and joy, and take the responsibility to nurture and bring up in the ways of the LORD. A woman is made for that purpose specifically. Recently, a young mother, while lovingly cuddling her baby, said to me, “I never imagined I had the ability to love someone so much!”
He grants the barren woman a home, Like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 113:9
We now find that many women are carrier conscious and are not willing to play the role of the mother. The child is consedered a nuisance!
Responsibility to Nourish
El Shaddai means The Multi Breasted One. GOD is pictured as a mother, who is able to meet all our needs from His very Being! Eg. Jehovah Rapha, J Jireh...
The mother is created so suitably to feed and nourish her baby from her own body.
As one whom his mother comforts, So I will comfort you; And you shall be comforted in
Jerusalem."
Isaiah 66:13
Isaiah 49:15-16
"Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.
A sick child or a sleepy child wants its mother, not even the father.
Matthew 1:23
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
In Hebrew Imma means Mum. GOD is with us like a mother is with her child.
Train up
As Christian mothers, we carry the responsibility to constantly point our children to the LORD through our example of devotion to the LORD and also by teaching them the word of GOD.
Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
Rebecca wasn’t a good example of a godly mother! She taught Jacob to deceitfully take the blessing of the birthright of Esau. Genesis 27
when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
2 Timothy 1:5
We need much wisdom from the LORD in planning our children’s lives at varying stages of their lives. When we begin to stress our children with many activities and place high expectations on them, going with the trend of the world, we should ask ourselves, “Why do I want my child to do this or learn that?” Is it to bring glory to themselves or to myself?
Our goal and motive should be to see the LORD’s name glorified through our children.
Our desire and prayer should be to see our daughters arise as effective intercessors and our sons as Godly men who will preach and teach the word of GOD accurately.
Surrender
Hannah who was barren, prayed earnestly to GOD and received a son. After little Samuel was weaned, Elkanah and Hannah brought him to the temple and released him for the service of GOD! It wouldn’t have been easy for Hannah to do this. She said:
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord." So they worshiped the Lord there.
Even the very precious gifts GOD gives us, He expects us to surrender to Him.
That is true worship. Abraham worshipped GOD when he laid his precious son Isaac on the altar in obedience to Him.
Although we love our children very much, the LORD has to take first place in our lives and in theirs.
...And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. Matthew 10:37
Intercede
Susanna Wesley
If a passing stranger walking through the rural village of Epworth, England, on any given day (between 1700 and 1720) had peered through the window of the home of the rector of the local Anglican church, he might have caught sight of something quite strange. Depending on the time of day, this observer might have seen a woman sitting in a chair with her kitchen apron pulled up over her head while ten children read, studied, or played all around her.
Two of those ten children would have been little boys — John and Charles — who would grow up to shape the course of Christian history and thus change the world. The woman under the apron would have been Susanna Wesley, who assumed this odd posture for two hours almost every day.
Malachi 4:4-6
"Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, Which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, With the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. And he will turn The hearts of the fathers to the children, And the hearts of the children to their fathers, Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse." -
Who is able to stand in the gap between fathers and children? It is the wife and the mother who is able to play this crucial role and intercede, to break the curse and release blessings on the family.
I pray such a Spirit of Elijah to come upon every mother, to bridge the gap between your children and their father.
Let the mighty, zealous Spirit of Elijah descend upon each one of us, both men and women, so that we may arise as the Bride of CHRIST, to draw many sons and daughters to their Heavenly Father!
Let us stand in the gap before the LORD, to intercede for souls, pleading for HIs mercy and grace, pleading the Blood of JESUS, so that multitudes may be saved, before His soon return.
GOD BLESS YOU!
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