The Virtues Of A Christian Mother

The world needs mothers who are mothers not merely in name but in every sense of the word. In the home, the father is the priest of the household while the mother is the home missionary. The distinctive duties of a woman in the home are more sacred, more holy, than those of the man.
A woman must realize the sacredness of her work and in the strength and fear of God take up her life mission. It is the duty of the mother to educate her children for usefulness in the world and for the home. A Christian wife and mother should not sacrifice her strength and allow her powers to lie dormant, leaning wholly or solely on her husband.
A woman should feel that she is her husband’s equal and always stand by his side, be faithful at her duty post while the man is at his. The women’s work in the education of her children is in every respect as elevating and ennobling as any post of duty he may be called to fill in the society. The mother is the queen of the household just as the father is the king of the home. She has in her power the moulding of her children’s characters so that they will be fitted for the higher and moral life.
In doing her work rightly, the woman is doing service for God. Doing her work will inspire her with courage and she will realize the worth of her work and put on the whole armour of God, that she may resist the temptation to conform to the world’s standard. The mother’s work is for time and for eternity.
When married men go to work, leaving their wives to care for the children at home, they are also doing a great and important work as the husband or father. The man is in the missionary field while the woman is a home missionary, whose cares and anxieties and burdens frequently far exceed those of the husband and father. The woman’s work is a solemn and important one. The husband in the open missionary field receive the honour of men, while the home toiler receive no earthly credit for her labour.
But if she works for the best interest of her family, trying to fashion the children’s characters after the divine model, the recording angel writes her name as one of the greatest missionaries in the world. God sees things in a different vision from the way man views them. If the mother fails in her duty to instruct, guide and restrain, her children will naturally accept the evil and turn from good.
Every mother must often talk to God through prayer, saying “teach us how shall we order the child, and what shall we do unto him?” The mother should heed the instruction which God has given in His word, and wisdom will be given her as she needs. Let every mother feel that her moments are priceless and that her work will be tested in the solemn day of accounts. A mother should guide her children in the right way.
Next to God, the Christian mother’s power for good is the strongest known on earth, and a Christian mother must ever remain humble and wide awake to discern the dangers that surround her children. She must keep her soul in a pure, holy atmosphere, regulate her temper and principles by the word of God, and faithfully do her duty, living above the petty temptations which may assail her.
The perception of children is quick, and they discern patient, loving tones from the impatient, passionate command, which dries up moistures of love and affection in the hearts of children. The true Christian mother will not drive her children from her presence by her fretfulness and lack of sympathizing love.
If mothers allow themselves to wear untidy garments or dresses at home, they are teaching their children to follow in the same slovenly manner. Many mothers think that anything is good enough for home wear, be it soiled and shabby, thereby losing their influence in the family. The children draw comparisons between their mother’s dress and that of others who dress neatly, and their respect for her is weakened.
The true Christian wife and mother performs her duties with dignity and cheerfulness, not considering it degrading to do with her hands whatever it is necessary to do in a well-ordered household. Children are the heritage of God and parents are answerable for their work in the household, so the mother and father must act as rational beings and live in such a manner that each child may be properly educated.
The mother should have the strength and time to employ her mental powers in disciplining her little ones for the society. She should have courage to act nobly her part and do her work in the fear and love of God, so that her children may prove a blessing to the family and to society. Mothers should calmly consider what provision can be made for their children as they have no right to bring children into the world to be a burden to others. Lacking the instructions they should have, children will grow up to dishonor God and to communicate to others the evil of their own natures, and thus an army is raised up whom satan mages as he pleases.