Mother's Day Advice From A Concerned Pastor

“MOTHER’S DAY ADVICE FROM A CONCERNED PASTOR”

Proverbs 22.6

Mother’s Day is our nation’s special time set aside each year to honor you moms and encourage you who God might bless to be moms someday. Few tasks in this world are more challenging to do correctly than being a good mom, partnering with dads in rearing children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.[1]

Think of it; being responsible for other human beings, forming the personalities of little children, and establishing their patterns of thought and reason. To establish in them the habits of behavior that ultimately lead to character. To prepare them for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At the same time, when children see their mother in an intact nuclear family, they can witness their mother yielding to her husband in a manner reminiscent of a believer yielding to Christ.[2] No wonder Paul declared to Titus that young women so disposed to their husbands resulted in the Word of God not being blasphemed.[3]

Oh, the importance of mothers. Without mothers there are no babies. Without mothers nations die from population collapse. Without mothers men can never be fathers. I am of the opinion that the astonishingly bad policies adopted by so many European leaders of the previous and present generation is owing to the fact that Prime Minister May of the UK, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President Macron have no children.

What husbands will not do for their wives and wives will not do for their husbands, both are more willing to do for their children, unless they are without natural affection and have been turned over to a reprobate mind, Romans 1.28 and 31. Moms, you are so important in God’s plan. We at Calvary Road Baptist Church love children and, therefore, we salute you moms.

Now for the great challenge of motherhood. Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 22.6. When you find that portion of God’s Word, please stand and read along silently with me while I read aloud:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

What do you imagine is the most significant factor in a child’s outcome upon reaching adulthood? Is it inheritance, or is it environment? That is an age-old conversation.

I guess that moms who are exasperated by their difficulties with rambunctious little boys, who frequently remind them of the boys’ fathers, will suggest inheritance is the vital factor (so they can blame their boys’ problems on their fathers).

On the other hand, moms who have well-mannered daughters who are relatively obedient might be persuaded that it is the environment (so they can take the credit for how docile and well-mannered their girls are). I am almost joking.

Though both inheritance and environment are factors that contribute to how every child turns out or will contribute to how likely children are to make the life choices that they will eventually make, once a woman selects the father she makes her babies with, she is left with environment as the only factor that she has any semblance of control over. My, do not some women make strange choices of the men they make their babies with?

You would think that once a woman concludes that her judgment is somewhat suspect, because of the kind of guy she chose to make her baby with, she would seek the counsel and advice of those who have proven to make better decisions. Or, better yet, she would seek the counsel of those who have access to wisdom from God. You would think.

Sadly, you will no doubt agree with me that many women who did not select particularly good men to make babies with were also all too often the same women who insisted on trying to raise those babies without seeking greater wisdom than they have already exhibited. In other words, having made a questionable choice for the father of her children, many women proceed on the assumption that their child-rearing wisdom will somehow be better than their child-fathering wisdom proved to be.

Too frequently, women insist on rearing their children in a way that guarantees that their kids will be the examples of success their fathers showed themselves to be. That aspect of motherhood has proven somewhat discouraging to me over my decades of pastoral ministry.

However, this morning I want to be upbeat and encouraging to you moms who are determined, by God’s grace, to be even more successful mothers than you have been. You can become a really good mom if you are a so-so mom. If you are already a good mom, you can develop into a great mom. With God, all things are possible.

Our text should be a great encouragement to you if you are committed to properly training your children:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

This is an important verse in God’s Word to hold on to. Make sure you know the way your child should go and how to train a child, and you are just about set. That is what the teaching and disciplining ministry of a Church is all about.

It is what godly women in the Church who are mature and advanced in years provide for younger women with the humility to learn, Titus 2.3-5. All that is left is the difficult task of prayerfully performing the doing of it by God’s grace.

Let me give you four examples from God’s Word of mothers who found themselves in situations of varying difficulty, but who God graciously blessed with success in the rearing of their children:

First, THERE WAS JOCHEBED, THE MOTHER OF MOSES

Turn to Exodus 2.1-10, where we read about this mother and her famous son:

1 And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took to wife a daughter of Levi.

2 And the woman conceived, and bare a son: and when she saw him that he was a goodly child, she hid him three months.

3 And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink.

4 And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him.

5 And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river’s side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it.

6 And when she had opened it, she saw the child: and, behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him, and said, This is one of the Hebrews’ children.

7 Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, Shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee?

8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, Go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother.

9 And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, Take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the woman took the child, and nursed it.

10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because I drew him out of the water.

What most people misunderstand about the mother of Moses, since they get their information from the Hollywood movie The Ten Commandments and not from the Bible, is that she was the primary caregiver of her son, Moses, until he was about four or five years old. It is likely Jochebed did not nursemaid Moses in her own home, but in quarters provided for that purpose by Pharaoh’s daughter, in the royal court. Thus, we have the unusual situation of a little boy raised by his own mother, but he was raised for another woman.

It is also likely that Moses’ father was not much in the picture, though he was probably alive during most of Moses’ childhood. So, the early life of Moses was in some ways like a modern-day broken home situation, where you have a single mom raising a kid without much help from the dad. The difference with Moses, of course, was the absence of poverty and the presence of cultural and educational advantages that other children certainly did not have, along with the benefit of his birth mother and actual dad not being estranged and fighting for the child’s favor.

So, how did Jochebed do in the few years she had this boy before turning him over to Pharaoh’s daughter? How successfully did she employ this principle of Proverbs 22.6, though that portion of the Bible would not be written for another six centuries?

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Hebrews 11.24-27 lets us know how Moses turned out:

24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;

25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward.

27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

Moses grew up to be godly rather than opting for fame and fortune.

This is what was written about Moses when he died:

“... there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face.”[4]

Moses should be an encouragement to every godly mom, especially godly moms who are single, that if you raise your child God’s way, if you

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Next, THERE WAS HANNAH, THE MOTHER OF SAMUEL

Hers was a heartbreaking story. She was the wife of a man who was married to two women simultaneously and was mocked by the other wife because she had not borne children. Her husband ‘loved’ her after a fashion, but she was not the only woman he so ‘loved.’ So, Hannah took her situation to God in prayer.

From First Samuel chapter 1, you may remember that Hannah’s heartfelt prayers were mistaken by the high priest, Eli, for drunkenness.[5] Nevertheless, God heard her prayers and gave her the baby boy she named Samuel. When the child was weaned, probably when he was around three years old in that cultural setting, she fulfilled her promise to give the lad to the LORD all the days of his life.[6], [7]

Consider the situation of Samuel’s mother. He was born into a household of confusion, with a father married to two women and half-brothers born to his father’s other wife. Add to that her promise to God, meaning that she had only a limited amount of time to pour her life into forming her son’s personality and character. Whatever mothering she would give him had to be effectively given over the short span of about three to four years, before he was delivered to live with the high priest so that young Samuel might serve Eli. Samuel was not wholly cut off from his mother when he went to live with Eli. Still, their time together was quite restricted, and the lad rose to the challenge of growing up quickly.

So, what happened? How did her efforts turn out? Listen to her words, spoken when she brought her obedient and well-trained little boy to the high priest, First Samuel 1.26-28:

26 And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD.

27 For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:

28 Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.

Check that out. Her little boy worshipped the LORD right then and there. His mom had taught him to do that. Understand that Samuel was not converted at that time. It would not be until First Samuel chapter 3 that he would actually come to know the LORD. But Hannah’s devotion to God doubtless impressed her little boy. So that, when Samuel did come to know the LORD,

“all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.”[8]

Sometimes moms find themselves trying to raise kids while dad is sleeping with another woman and seems to do his best to mess the kids up. With other dads, the problem is not so much what they overtly do wrong as their complete absence of doing anything right, because the guy is spiritually a big zero. What is a mother to do?

Mom? Remember that there is a God in Israel. Keep the faith. Pray fervently. And stay on track through thick and thin, through good times and bad, to

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Third, THERE WAS BATHSHEBA, THE MOTHER OF SOLOMON

Sometimes a mom feels that she has sinned so badly, for so long a time, that there is just no way she will be able to succeed as a mother. Such a woman was Bathsheba, young, beautiful, and unfaithful. You remember her story. She had been the wife of Uriah, one of David’s mighty men, when she committed adultery with King David.

She learned she was pregnant by King David. What did she do then? She further betrayed her husband by telling King David instead of telling her husband, who then arranged for Uriah to be murdered to cover up their sin. Then, instead of repenting for their sin, David hastily arranged their marriage in a foolish attempt to cover their tracks and deceive the people. However, they did not deceive God.

Because of his prominence in God’s dealings with His people, King David has a much higher profile in the Biblical record than Bathsheba does. However, if there was ever someone who had messed up her life as a woman, wife, and mother, it was Bathsheba. Imagine, from being the sole and beloved wife of one of the bravest and most stouthearted military heroes of all time, she became one of the many wives of King David, raising their son, Solomon, among David’s many other children, in what could only be described as a severely dysfunctional household.

Solomon’s own pen recorded his mother’s efforts to raise him properly. Turn to Proverbs 31.1-9, where he recounts the advice his mother gave him to prepare him to be his people’s next king:

1 The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him.

2 What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? and what, the son of my vows?

3 Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.

4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine; nor for princes strong drink:

5 Lest they drink, and forget the law, and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted.

6 Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts.

7 Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.

8 Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.

9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.

Her desire was for her son to be both wary of the influence of beverage alcohol and a leader rather than a follower of women.

So, how did the lad turn out? What happened to the boy whose mom and dad committed adultery, whose dad committed murder, and whose mother participated in the conspiracy to cover the whole thing up? You understand that the deck was stacked against him. However, he seemed to start out right. God blessed him with great wisdom as a young king.[9] However, he eventually succumbed to the same temptations that overtook his father.

First Kings chapter 11 tells us that Solomon ended up with 700 wives and 300 concubines, and that those women turned his heart away from God. So, it appears that Solomon did not listen to his mother as he advanced in age and was greatly tempted in his reign as Israel’s king. He strayed from her instruction to

“Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings,”

though as a regretful old man, he recalled what his mother was right to teach him.

Does this mean a mom who has blown it badly should give up on her kids, that she should write them all off as lost causes because of her past wickedness or their father’s sins? No. No.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Bathsheba did not give up on her son. She trained him as best she could, even with her own sordid past and David’s failure to cooperate as a father.

To be sure, Solomon did wander off, and she no doubt bore some responsibility for her role in his being overwhelmed by his lust, as she had been. However, keep in mind that the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, both written when Solomon was an old man, show us that what his mother had taught him when he was a boy had a beneficial effect after all, and in the end.

Mom? It is never too late to turn things around in your own life. It is never too late to be the kind of mom you ought to be, no matter how badly you started or how frequently you stumbled along the way. Solomon was without a doubt damaged by his mother’s past. However, God graciously recovered him in his old age using the training his mother had given him as a child. Solomon’s life is something many moms can hold on to as, by God’s grace and mercy, they recover from the sins of their own youth.

Finally, THERE WAS EUNICE, THE MOTHER OF TIMOTHY

We learn from Acts 16.1 that Timothy was the son of a Greek man and a Jewish woman. It is not likely that Timothy’s father was a Christian man, because the Apostle Paul comments about the lad’s mother and grandmother in Second Timothy 1.5, without mentioning his father. Let me read to you what Paul wrote to Timothy:

“When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”

Thus, Timothy was a mixed-race lad raised during a time when his mother’s and grandmother’s people would have been quite prejudiced against him because he was part Gentile. So, it appears likely that we have another single mom situation, with a mixed-race child, who ends up converted and then raises her child in the nurture and admonition of the Lord with the help of her godly mother. Oh, what a blessing wise and godly grandmothers can be to godly moms. Amen?

So, how did Timothy turn out, Mom? He turned out well. Two letters in the New Testament were written to him,[10] he was commended by Paul,[11] who loved him like a son, cherished him as a co-laborer, and trusted him to the point that Paul sent him on important missions and mentored him in his ministry as the pastor of the Church in Ephesus.

Do you suppose Eunice and her mother, Lois, claimed Proverbs 22.6 as they poured their lives into that little boy named Timotheus? I think it was like that.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Being a godly mother is exceptionally challenging. Being a single mom or married to an uncooperative or unproductive man is even more difficult. However, God’s grace is sufficient, and the mother whose heart is right with God will ultimately see good results for her prayers, sacrifices, tears, labors, efforts, and devotion.

Let these women, and the many others I could have mentioned from God’s Word, be an encouragement to every one of you moms and grandmothers. When you feel faint-hearted, don’t quit. When you think that all is lost, don’t give up.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Remember these women: Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, Rahab, Ruth, and Abigail. In each case, they were women who found themselves in circumstances beyond their control while also experiencing God’s faithfulness amid the most challenging trials.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Hang on to that promise, which may also be a warning. No matter what situation you find yourself in, God’s Word is true. Trust in God’s Word. Trust in God. And raise your children by His truth.

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Mom? Grandma? I call upon you to commit yourself to God on behalf of your children and on behalf of your grandchildren. Claim God’s promise and heed God’s warning.

I am persuaded that many Christian moms, who are excellent women, do quite a good job of training their children. Their kids are undoubtedly well instructed in the law of their mother, Proverbs 1.8 and 6.20, and that they have learned to fear their mother, as the LORD commands in Leviticus 19.3.

Their youngsters have felt the sting of chastisement from their fathers when they raised a hand to their moms or spoke disrespectfully instead of honoring them, who must be obeyed. An absent father or one better off absent permits his children to disrespect or disobey their mother without fear of consequences.

That said, we face something in our culture that far too many moms have not successfully adapted to in their children’s lives. It’s called adolescence.

From the beginning until the turn of the 20th century, there were only two phases of life in the human race: childhood and adulthood. Very broadly speaking, the childhood portion of life was the basic responsibility of moms to tend to in a child’s life. The adulthood portion of life was the basic responsibility of dads to tend to in an offspring’s life. That is not to deny moms and dads overlapping responsibilities.

Now, however, especially in the world’s industrialized countries, a third phase of life has been invented, conjured up, between childhood and adulthood, made possible by prosperity and the introduction of leisure, called adolescence. Adolescence is so pervasive that most people wrongly assume adolescence has always been.

Listen to this response to a query I obtained from Grok.[12]

I asked, “When did the concept of adolescence arise in Western culture?” Grok’s response follows.

The concept of adolescence as a distinct developmental stage emerged in Western culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with key developments:

Late 19th Century: The groundwork was laid by industrialization, urbanization, and compulsory education laws, which extended childhood by delaying entry into the workforce. This created a prolonged transitional period between childhood and adulthood.

1904: G. Stanley Hall, an American psychologist, formalized the concept in his seminal work, Adolescence: Its Psychology and Its Relations to Physiology, Anthropology, Sociology, Sex, Crime, Religion, and Education. Hall described adolescence as a unique phase characterized by “storm and stress,” marked by emotional turmoil, identity exploration, and physical changes due to puberty. His work popularized adolescence as a recognized stage in psychological and social discourse.

Early 20th Century: Psychoanalytic theories (e.g., Freud, Erikson) and sociological studies further shaped the concept, emphasizing identity formation and social roles. By the 1920s–1930s, adolescence was widely accepted as a distinct period in Western developmental psychology, reinforced by cultural shifts like extended schooling and youth subcultures.

Before this, Western society generally viewed young people as transitioning directly from childhood to adulthood, often through rites of passage or early work responsibilities, with less focus on a prolonged intermediate phase. The concept was a product of modernizing societies, particularly in Europe and North America, and less applicable to non-Western or pre-industrial contexts at the time.[13]

Here is the problem in our society, in my opinion: Moms begin to loosen their grip on their children's lives as they enter what we have been persuaded is adolescence, but for several reasons, the fathers do not correspondingly tighten their grip, even when the dads are in the home.

Mom, our society and culture see two things happening simultaneously: First, children are physically maturing more rapidly than they used to.[14] Second, we see children emotionally maturing more slowly than they used to.

The result? Moms sometimes undo in their children’s adolescence what they accomplished in their children’s younger years. This typically happens when most fathers do not tighten their grip on their children as they mature, do not train them for adulthood, and do not intentionally instill wisdom and decision-making skills, leaving their children relatively unsupervised and unprepared for adulthood.

Remember how little time Jochebed had to prepare Moses? Remember how little time Hannah had to prepare Samuel? I wonder how many moms did a marvelous job with their children to the age of about ten or twelve, and then began to undo the good things they had previously accomplished because they treated their children according to their appearance (they started looking like adults), but not treating them according to their behavior (they continued to behave as children)?

Taking up where I left off last week, and not speaking to fathers because last week was Mother’s Day and this service is a continuation, in the time we have left, moms, and moms to be, and perhaps even you grandmothers, I want to set before you for consideration four things to help you so you will not undo all the good work you have done in training your child:

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

What happens if you inadvertently untrain your child after successfully training him? Let’s not do that. Amen?

Four things you moms need to do to make sure you are not untraining your children during that manufactured phase of life referred to as adolescence:

First, STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF FATHERS

Though it is a tragic reality that some homes do not have fathers, it is an even greater tragedy that such homes often produce more homes without fathers. Single moms frequently raise their daughters to be single moms. What a tragedy. Boys raised without dads in the home end up being dads who are not in their children’s homes—also, a tragedy.

I have shown you the success that can be found by godly and committed mothers who seek to diligently raise their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but that does not mean life would not have been both easier and better with a supportive and not a weasel good-for-nothing unwilling to discipline his children dad in the home.

Moms, if there is a dad in the home, you are foolish if you do not emphasize his importance to your children. However, if there is no dad in the house, you are just as foolish not to emphasize the importance of a dad, though it is more difficult to do with kids who have no dad at home and who become used to having no dad at home.

Such homes sometimes produce girls who think it is perfectly okay to make babies without having dads around. It is not OK. Such homes also frequently produce guys who think it is perfectly okay to make babies without the prerequisite of marriage or the necessity of hanging around. That is not okay, either.

Single moms need to work extra hard at talking about and preparing their daughters for marriage by stressing the importance of husbands and fathers. Single moms also need to work extra hard to talk about and prepare their sons to marry, emphasizing the importance of being a responsible husband and father. Stress the importance of fathers to your children, especially if the father is not in the home.

How should this be done? Seek the pastor’s counsel. Or seek your godly dad or granddad’s counsel, if such a man is available. A male perspective on various childhood issues is vital for sons and daughters. Unless you stress the importance of fathers, you risk raising an effeminate boy who is always angry at his dad but who seems never to confront the issues he has with his dad, or you risk raising a violent and promiscuous boy. Also, you risk raising a daughter who never comes to appreciate the masculine side of any issue, especially the masculine side of child rearing. However, ladies, stressing the importance of fathers can only be accomplished without trying to boss their dad around or change their dad.

Second, AVOID FEELING SORRY FOR YOUR CHILD

Understandably, a loving mom would have deep feelings of regret over the loss her child experiences by not having dad in the home. Also, there are occasions that even moms in a mom-and-dad household will be tempted to feel sorry for her child for one reason or another.

May I suggest to you moms that you learn to distinguish between feeling sorry for your child (being sympathetic) and being empathetic? Your child may experience pain or loss from not having a dad in the home. Or from having to deal with physical suffering, or because of some other issue. That causes a loving mother pain because of her child’s difficult situation. However, she should not feel sorry for her child. She should not feel sympathy. That is wrong. That is sin.

When you feel sorry for your baby, for whatever reason, when you sympathize, you are expressing the opinion that God has allowed something bad to happen to your child that should not have happened, and that you think should be corrected. However, that is not true. God loves your child far more than you do, whatever the situation, and He would never do wrong to your child. So, be careful to avoid feeling sorry. It creates resentment toward God in your child’s heart and mind.

What is better, what is godly, and what will not cause your child to become a defeatist who thinks God is out to get him, is when you empathize with your child. What is empathy? It is feeling your child’s pain, appreciating their suffering, being well aware of your child’s difficulties, and recognizing that God is all-wise and merciful, good, and kind.

There are too many unwise decisions moms make who feel sorry for their children when they should have felt empathy for them. Sympathetic moms will allow their children to miss Church, engage in clearly un-Christian conduct, dress in an entirely inappropriate way, and do other things they know to be wrong. Why? They feel sorry for the kid and want to make it up to them.

Such sympathy-based decision-making by mothers only unravels the good training children received earlier in life. Do not undo in teenage kids what you accomplished before they were in grade school.

Third, EMPHASIZE YOUR PERSONAL CONSISTENCY

Young people misinterpret inconsistency for hypocrisy. There is nothing young people dislike so much as hypocrisy. Why is this so? They dislike that characteristic that is most like them, and there are few hypocrites as hypocritical as teens and immature adults.

To put that into Church and Bible language, you moms must be faithful. Is it right to go to Church? Is it right to have a prayer life? Is it right to have personal devotions? Then it is always right to go to Church, pray, and read God’s Word, and you should rarely miss or permit your children to miss Church. A couple of times a year for vacations is one thing but allowing a kid to skip Church to do homework, or to go to school activities, or to go to a ball game, or to go to the beach, completely unravels a lifetime of instruction that Church is more important than those other activities. That is inconsistent, Mom. Don’t do that, and don’t permit that.

I was once asked by a hopeful convert if there were biblical reasons for not engaging in dancing. I said, “Yes, there are.” That satisfied him. He seemed uninterested in what the reasons were, but he wanted to know that there were reasons. Mom, there are reasons why kids should not go to dances, reasons having to do with temptations to commit fornication, reasons having to do with lewd and lascivious behavior, reasons having to do with not allowing your kids to hang around kids who do that sort of thing, and reasons related to the kind of adult supervision (or lack thereof) found at such events.

“Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners,”

First Corinthians 15.33. That verse means, “Evil companions result in bad behavior.” Do not let your kids hang around people who go to dances, who do not go to Church, who are ungodly, even if they are cousins, unless your child, under your supervision, leads that other youngster in the right direction.

I know, I know. You sympathize with your kid who pleads to go to something. You feel sorry for your kid because you cannot do what you would like to do for him. That causes you to be inconsistent in your decision-making and in maintaining the family standards you ought to enforce. However, wrong is wrong. There are reasons why we oppose immodest attire and inappropriate behavior. Both are wrong. Make sure your stand against evil influences and those who do those things is consistent, Mom.

“But my kids are almost grown. They’re 18 years old.” So what? Time magazine, dated May 10, 2004, page 65, part of an article on rules for parents:

“The most important thing children need from their parents is love, but a close second is structure. Even teenagers need rules and limits. Be firm but fair.”

What do you know? Sometimes, even the so-called experts stumble across a principle already found in the Bible. “Honey, as long as you live in my house, you follow my rules.” To do otherwise, you undo their training.

Finally, OPPOSE FEMINISM IN ALL ITS FORMS

Do you remember what Bathsheba taught her son, Solomon? Proverbs 31.3:

“Give not thy strength unto women, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings.”

That sounds very chauvinistic to many women, but it underlies a profoundly important concept when it comes to raising children. God’s plan is for males and females to occupy different, but complementary, roles. Thus, if boys are to be explicitly trained how men should relate to women (and they should be), then girls should also be expressly trained how to relate to men (and they should be).

It is one thing for men to impress upon boys the proper stance of manliness intentionally. The effect is all the more profound when mothers intentionally impress upon their sons the appropriate stance of manliness toward women, and when they train their daughters to cultivate the wisdom to desire a truly manly husband, and to settle for only a truly manly man.

Feminism seeks to overturn the Biblical order and relationships between men and women, especially between husbands and wives. At its root, feminism is not a movement to guarantee voting privileges for women or equal pay for equal work. Those advances result from the development of Western civilization influenced by Christianity, not feminism.

Feminism is a revolt against the divinely instituted functional hierarchy in the home, not to any woman’s advantage. This is an assertion I can prove with some relatively recent, unpleasant, but undeniable events. Where were the feminists when President Clinton exposed himself to an Arkansas government employee named Paula Jones? I defy you to look up their astonishingly muted reactions and justifications for his conduct. Again, where were the feminists when President Clinton was taking advantage of a young intern named Monica Lewinski? The prominent feminists were as quiet as Church mice when that wicked man was taking advantage of that foolish young woman. Where were the feminists when President Clinton was convincingly accused by one woman of raping him and another woman of groping her? Silence so loud it was deafening, except for the feminists who attacked his victims. Where are the feminists to stick up for the young girls who are being molested and impregnated by grown men and then butchered in abortion clinics across the country?[15] Where are the feminists demanding the Jeffrey Epstein client list of those engaged in sex trafficking young girls be released for all to see? The feminists are nowhere to be found. Such silence can only be explained by the fact that feminism is not really a movement to advance the cause of women, or even to protect women. It is an anti-Christian left-wing political effort that uses women to advance a subversive agenda. Feminism is a leftist political effort aimed at destroying our culture, and its original advocates are known atheists and communists, such as NOW founder Betty Friedan.[16]

So, why should mothers be outspoken opponents of feminism? Because feminism over the last seventy-five years has contributed to the breakdown of the family unit, to the willingness of foolish girls to have children out of wedlock because they don’t think they need a husband or a father for their babies, to the reluctance of many men to assert spiritual leadership in their homes because of the mixed signals they receive from feminist women, and to the rejection of a God-ordained structure for the family unit. Feminism is one of the worst enemies of girls and women, as well as boys and men. A wise woman not only recognizes the unique relationship women are supposed to have with men, but she also advances her cause by speaking against the forces that would destroy that relationship. Good moms will not only discourage feminist thinking in their daughters but will also point out the errors of feminism to their sons. God’s way for women, for wives, and for mothers is better than the anti-Christian, unbiblical alternative that deprives girls of the generational wisdom they need to know how to interact with the men in their lives properly.

Let me wrap this up with some final comments.

Mom? Remember when you talked to your babies about God and how important it was to attend Church? It is just as crucial for an 18-year-old as it is for a 4-year-old. Do not undo what you have done.

Remember when you dressed your little girl in feminine outfits and bragged on her for acting the sweet little lady? Why do so many moms say nothing when their daughters dress like construction workers (or worse) as they get older? Do not undo what you have done.

What if there is no dad around? In such cases, an adolescent daughter will likely be very interested in boys because every hug a girl does not get from her dad, she wants to get from someone else.

Mom, anticipate that temptation. Talk to your daughter about not having a dad around and how important it is for her to do things right so her children will have dad around. Do not undo what you have done.

Single moms should rail against men who do not do the right thing and tell their sons what kind of men they expect them to grow up to be. Rail against the foolishness of fornicating women, unwed mothers, and females who tolerate men in their lives who misuse and abuse them. What lessons do such women teach their kids by not having high personal standards in their relationships?

Show your daughter what kind of woman you expect her to be, and how important it is to you, to her, to her children, and to her future husband, for her to be a virgin when she marries. Do not undo what you have done.

Do not feel sorry for your kid. Empathy is good, while sympathy is bad. Talk about the goodness and greatness of God, His mercy and love, His holiness and righteousness, His power and wisdom. Work hard to ensure your child never feels like God has wronged them. Don’t undo what you have done.

Many of you moms have gotten off to a great start with your kids. I compliment you and commend you. Let me encourage you to stand fast, hang tight, and keep on.

Do not undo with older kids what you have succeeded in doing with younger kids by lowering your standards for them or for yourself.

As for raising your children in Church, set aside the naiveté that focuses on the conflicts seen in every congregation. There will always be spiritual struggles in this spiritual warfare called life.

What the foolish misunderstand is that those places where there is no conflict are dead zones, where darkness prevails, and there is no light of truth or Gospel witness that penetrates the darkness. Things are usually quite tranquil in cemeteries.

This concludes my very long Mother’s Day sermon, which took two services to deliver. I have assumed that my audience is moms, grandmas, or moms-to-be, and that you are already persuaded about the necessity and importance of the Gospel and the Christ-centered life.

I hope to encourage you, Christian women, with the examples of the mothers of Moses, Samuel, Solomon, and Timothy, and to give you four things to do to ensure you do not untrain your children during adolescence.

Stress the importance of fathers, even when there is no dad in the home. Resist the temptation to feel sorry for your child, for any reason. Be personally consistent as a Christian woman. And oppose feminism in all its manifestations.

__________

[1] Ephesians 6.4

[2] Ephesians 5.24-25

[3] Titus 2.5

[4] Deuteronomy 34.10

[5] 1 Samuel 1.13-14

[6] 1 Samuel 1.11, 23-28

[7] See footnote for 1 Samuel 1.22 from John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1997), page 378.

[8] 1 Samuel 3.20

[9] 2 Chronicles 1.1-12

[10] 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy

[11] 2 Corinthians 1.1; 1 Timothy 1.2, 18; 6.20; 2 Timothy 1.2; Philemon 1

[12] Grok is an AI developed by xAI, designed to provide helpful and truthful answers to a wide range of questions. It draws inspiration from works like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and JARVIS from Iron Man, aiming to assist users in understanding the universe and tackling various tasks. Grok 3, the latest version, is accessible on grok.com, x.com, and through iOS and Android apps, with features like voice mode and a free plan with limited usage quotas. For more details, check https://x.ai/grok.

[13] https://x.com/i/grok/share/EXrsXasnIzhrlrpoBSeh2UtZG

[14] https://x.com/i/grok/share/b5msjy0E5K5Vpl6aBbH7eEJrE

[15] 1. **Illinois Right to Life (2018)**

- **Link**: [Planned Parenthood's Sex Abuse Cover-Up](https://illinoisrighttolife.org/planned-parenthoods-sex-abuse-cover-up/) [](https://illinoisrighttolife.org/planned-parenthoods-sex-abuse-cover-up/)

- **Summary**: This article details multiple cases where Planned Parenthood allegedly failed to report statutory rape. Examples include a 12-year-old girl in Arizona impregnated by her 23-year-old foster brother, where the clinic did not report the abuse until a second abortion six months later, and cases in California and Connecticut where clinics failed to report abuse of minors by adult men. The source cites court documents and criminal investigations, such as *State of Arizona v. Tyler Kost* and *People of the State of California v. Gary W. Cross*.

**Fox News (2008)**

- **Link**: [Planned Parenthood Caught Covering Up Statutory Rape](https://www.foxnews.com/story/planned-parenthood-caught-covering-up-statutory-rape) [](https://www.foxnews.com/story/planned-parenthood-caught-covering-up-statutory-rape)

- **Summary**: This report discusses an undercover video by Students for Life of America, where a woman posed as an underage girl reporting a relationship with an older man. The Planned Parenthood staff in North Carolina allegedly failed to report the case to authorities, despite acknowledging it was statutory rape. The article includes a debate on the ethics of the sting operation, with critics arguing it was a setup to target Planned Parenthood.

**Catholic News Agency (2018)**

- **Link**: [Did Planned Parenthood cover up child abuse and sex trafficking?](https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/did-planned-parenthood-cover-up-child-abuse-and-sex-trafficking-40592) [](https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/amp/news/38527/did-planned-parenthood-cover-up-child-abuse-and-sex-trafficking)

- **Summary**: This article references a Live Action report alleging widespread failure by Planned Parenthood to report child sexual abuse. It cites a 2010 case in California where a 13-year-old girl, raped by her father, received abortions from Planned Parenthood without authorities being notified. A former Planned Parenthood educator, Monica Cline, claims the organization adopted a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy to avoid reporting statutory rape. The report calls for a congressional investigation.

**Christian Post (2018)**

- **Link**: [Undercover Videos Expose Planned Parenthood's Cover Up of Child Rape, Prostitution](https://www.christianpost.com/news/undercover-videos-expose-planned-parenthoods-cover-up-child-rape-prostitution.html) [](https://www.christianpost.com/news/undercover-videos-expose-planned-parenthoods-cover-up-child-rape-prostitution.html)

- **Summary**: Live Action released videos from 2008 and 2011 showing Planned Parenthood employees allegedly advising undercover investigators (posing as minors or pimps) on how to avoid reporting statutory rape. For example, a Bloomington, Indiana, clinic worker suggested a 13-year-old lie about her 31-year-old boyfriend’s age. The article claims this reflects a pattern of negligence across multiple states.

**Live Action (2017)**

- **Link**: [15 times Planned Parenthood was caught helping a rapist](https://www.liveaction.org/news/15-times-planned-parenthood-helped-rapist/) [](https://www.liveaction.org/news/15-times-planned-parenthood-caught-helping-rapist/)

- **Summary**: This article lists specific cases where Planned Parenthood allegedly failed to report statutory rape, based on a 2015 Alliance Defending Freedom report. Examples include a 14-year-old in Connecticut abused by a 41-year-old man and a 16-year-old in Ohio abused by her father, where Planned Parenthood performed abortions without reporting. The source is from a pro-life advocacy group, so consider its perspective.

**Live Action (2025)**

- **Link**: [Planned Parenthood’s repeated failure to report child sexual abuse has impacted countless lives](https://www.liveaction.org/news/planned-parenthood-failure-report-child-sexual-abuse/) [](https://www.liveaction.org/news/planned-parenthoods-repeated-failure-reporting-sexual-abuse)

- **Summary**: This recent article summarizes cases where adult predators allegedly took minor victims to Planned Parenthood for abortions or birth control without reports being filed. It mentions a Utah case involving a 15-year-old abused by a 34-year-old man and an Ohio case involving a 16-year-old abused by her father. The article emphasizes mandatory reporting laws and calls for defunding Planned Parenthood.

**WorldNetDaily (2010)**

- **Link**: [Planned Parenthood hides child sex abuse – 10 times!](https://www.wnd.com/2010/02/125711/) [](https://www.wnd.com/2010/02/125970/)

1 - **Summary**: This reports on a Live Action undercover sting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where a woman posing as a 14-year-old with a 31-year-old boyfriend was allegedly coached by Planned Parenthood staff to avoid reporting. The article claims this was the 10th instance of such behavior, referencing prior stings in states like California and Indiana.

[16] http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/friedan-per-horowitz.html 5/17/2025

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