Daily Spiritual Meditations - Mother's Day

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A Mother's Love
This devotional was written by Kelly McFadden

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.—John 15:12-13

My mom and I didn’t get along when I was in high school. I could give you my version or her version of why we didn’t see eye to eye, but both stories arrive at the same place. Put us in a room together and the result was volatile. At that point in my life, I knew our problems were her fault. She didn’t listen, she didn’t understand, she didn’t…you get my point. I left for college vowing never to be like everyone else who went off to college and suddenly became best friends with their parents.

Four months later, I apologized. My mom picked me up from the airport for Christmas break, and as I sat with her, I let her know how very sorry I was for disrespecting her for almost four straight years. As I consider my own future as a mother, I imagine my own child will go through the same phases I went through. As a young child, my mom could do no wrong. She was my hero. But as I grew, I somehow began to think I knew more than she did. Soon I stopped relying on her. By high school, I had decided she didn’t know anything and I moved on. But only four months of being away from her, I started to realize what an amazing woman my mother was and is. Now, 10 years after I vowed never to consider my mom a friend, I can’t imagine my life without her presence. I call her for advice or just to say hi. I look to her as a role model, a hero.

Being a mom is a thankless job. There’s no report card to hang proudly on the refrigerator, no ceremony to celebrate a good season, no award for being the “Most Valuable Player”, few pats on the back, and it’s not often that someone tells you how good you are doing. It took me almost a quarter of a century to finally see that she loved me like Jesus commanded. She did not die for me, but she has made sacrifice after sacrifice for my sister and I for the past 30 years. In essence, she gave up everything in her life to be there for us and love us through the good and through the bad. She still does.

I hope one day I can be a mom just like her. Is she perfect? No, and I won’t be either. But I know I will do a good job if I can match the same sacrificial and pure love she had for me. If I can love my children, just like Jesus…

Our mothers are a blessing.

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Mother’s Blessing
I bless and celebrate all mothers.

A mother’s love is strong. It protects and comforts, nurtures and forgives. It is uplifting, supportive, and unconditional. A mother’s love begins before birth and continues without end. It is an expression of the Divine.

Today I honor and appreciate my mother or anyone who may have filled the role of mother in my life. I bring to mind the wisdom she has shared, the stories she has told, and the mannerisms and characteristics that are uniquely hers.

I am grateful for all she has given to our family. The greatest thank-you I can offer is to share with others the best of what my mother taught me.

With gratitude, I bless and celebrate all mothers and the love they share.
Love never ends.—1 Corinthians 13:8

Daily Word

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THE CROWN OF A GODLY MOTHER
…when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice…
2 TIMOTHY 1:5

What influence has your mother had on your life? If someone wanted to quote you on the impact your mother has had on you, what would you say?
Many outstanding people in this world have attributed their accomplishments to their mothers. Thomas Edison, that famous inventor, wrote, “I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence that has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose…My mother was the making of me.” Charles Spurgeon, perhaps the greatest preacher who ever lived, said, “I cannot tell how much I owe to the solemn words and prayers of my mother.” Dwight L. Moody, the great evangelist of a century ago, said, “All that I have ever accomplished in life, I owe to my mother.” We even have a statue to a mother in this country. We know it in another context—as the Statue of Liberty. Auguste Bartholdi, its sculptor, used his own mother as his model!
G. Campbell Morgan, one of the great preachers of this century, and his wife reared four sons, all of whom became ministers. At a family reunion, a friend asked one of the sons, “Which Morgan is the greatest preacher?” The son looked at his father for help in answering. His father replied, “Mother!” Her “preaching” had a great impact on their character!
Today, thank God for your mother and for the impact she has had on your life. Make sure to thank her, too, through a phone call, a letter, or a thoughtful gift. Let her know how much you cherish her and her influence.

At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child or a parent. --BARBARA BUSH

--New Every Morning

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Today’s Scripture
“So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.”
(Proverbs 23:25, NLT)

God Bless Mothers

Today we celebrate Mother’s Day. We honor their love, life and investment into families. Proverbs 31 talks about the woman who honors the Lord and tells us that she deserves honor. In verse 28 it says, “Her children arise and call her blessed.”

Today, we rise up and bless the mothers, but we also rise up and bless all who honor the Lord! Psalm one says that when we take delight in His laws, when we put Him first place, we open the door to His blessing in our lives.
A Prayer Today
“Father, today I choose to bless and honor You as I bless and honor my own mother. Thank You for the gift of family and for showing us Your nurturing nature through the heart of a mother in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Joel Osteen

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Motherly Love
I bless all mothers in my prayers.

Nurturing and caring for another living being is a sacred activity. Today I take the opportunity to give thanks for all who have shared unconditional love and acceptance with me.

A mother can be anyone who takes on a role of caring for a child—whether that person is a biological or adoptive parent, another relative, a teacher, or a friend. The most important aspect in being a mother is to love and care for a child unconditionally. Patience and compassion are mainstays for these expressions of love in action. Just as caring mothers hold loved ones in their arms, so, too, do I hold them in my prayers.

“Honor your father and mother”—this is the first commandment with a promise: “so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”—Ephesians 6:2-3

Daily Word

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Bible Verses

" 'Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must observe my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:3

"Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 5:16

Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. Proverbs 23:22

May your father and mother be glad; may she who gave you birth rejoice! Proverbs 23:22

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem." Isaiah 66:13

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A Mother's Day Prayer

Lord, on this day in which we honor mothers, may we love and cherish the special women who have born us, who have nurtured us, and who have prayed for our well-being. May our hearts overflow with gratitude to you, who formed and knitted each of us in a mother’s womb. We pray you give each mom strength. We ask you to be the daily bread of tired mothers. May each mother find rest in you. Amen.