Honoring Mom

It's Mother's Day, right? It's a time, church, when we honor and celebrate the

women who have played such important and integral roles in our lives.

And so today, May 11th, 2025, we honor them with respect, with time,

with love, and we recognize the sacrifices made as mothers.

And so we definitely honor our moms today in our midst. And I want us to take

one more opportunity to go to the Lord in prayer.

Lord, we just give you glory today. I thank you so much, Lord,

for the gift and role of a mom, Lord, in our communities, in our homes,

Lord, and how you anoint and use our mothers.

And Father, I just pray for all those who have been currently are or hope to be mothers even.

God, I pray you would bless and keep them, Lord. I pray that you would encourage

them and that you would let them know they're loved.

And your special grace and wisdom will be with them today. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen.

So Mother's Day is a time when we honor, we celebrate, like I said,

those women who played such an important role in our lives. And it's not an

exaggeration, by the way, to say that none of us would be here today if not for our mothers, right?

So, I mean, we also recognize that there are those maybe today in attendance

who maybe have struggled in your relationship in the past,

maybe with your own mothers or maybe struggled through the process of becoming

a mother yourself at some point, or maybe some here today.

Maybe you don't have your mom here anymore, right?

But you still honor and her work still continues in your life.

And you can celebrate that today because I want you to know that this day,

it's not without paying for some as we highlight motherhood to you today,

but I pray that you would know that your struggle is not in vain.

God sees you. He hears your every prayer and he holds your every tear.

I promise you, he loves you.

He cares about you and you play such an important role in your family.

And it's because of God's great love church that all the way back in the book

of Genesis, we meet the very first mother of mankind, Eve, right?

God looked upon Adam and knew that he was incomplete. He needed a wife,

and consequently, mankind received a mother.

And now, hundreds of generations later today, we need our moms just as much as we ever have.

And as we think about that important part, that integral part that our mothers play in our lives,

this morning we're going to look at four specific ways that we can honor our

moms and celebrate that unique role that they play in our families,

in our churches, right? Our communities.

And being a mom, by the way, is not just about cooking great food.

Although that's pretty high up there. No, I'm just kidding. But it's not just about that, right?

Or helping with homework or driving kids to sporting events.

Although we'd probably be remiss to ignore the sheer amount of time that moms

give in service to others, right?

I want to give you five facts real quick, though, before we go ahead about how

mothers use their time every week. Just think about this for a moment.

Mothers spend an average of 14 hours per week on household chores,

such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry.

That's at least according to the survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And then mothers spend an average of six hours a week driving their children

to activities and appointments.

That's a survey that's according to Pew Research Center.

And then the other one is mothers spend an average

of 4.6 hours per week helping

their children with homework and that's according to

a survey by the National Center for Education Statistics

and then mothers spend an average of 2.7 hours per week volunteering at their

children's schools etc right according to a survey by the National Center for

Education Statistics as well And then number five, mothers spend an average,

get this, of seven hours per week caring for their children.

That includes activities like playing, reading, helping with personal care, whatever it is.

And that's, again, by the Pew Research Center.

But y'all, get this, even after looking at those five areas,

that doesn't even take into account the phone calls, emails,

conversations that must happen every week when you have kids.

And all that is just simply to say that being a mother, it's an intense gig, Jason.

Intense, right? And it doesn't pay well, and there's very little gratitude or

recognition on the job sometimes.

Which only means that we need to take time today and every day,

by the way, to give honor to where honor is due.

But honor in the Bible, I want you to think about this as we look at this opening

slide. It actually means sustained value or great respect.

So to honor someone is to value them highly or bestow value upon them.

And I already mentioned this, but we're going to look at four ways today.

We're going to keep it simple but four ways that we

can honor esteem value respect our mothers you ready

for number one here's number one honor your

mother with respect honor your mother with respect the opening verse we read

honor your father and mother right that it may go well with you right and so

we looked at that in exodus chapter 20 another one i want to look x ephesians chapter 6 here,

Exodus 20 · chapter mention Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

Ephesians chapter 6 verses 2 and 3.

Ephesians 6:2

I'm going to pull that up for you here. Ephesians chapter 6 verses 2 and 3.

Ephesians 6:2

Listen to this. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment

with a promise, so that it may be well with you and that you may live long in the land.

We see that in the New Testament here as well, correct?

And so as we look at honoring our mothers with respect, the Bible commands us

to honor our parents. And that includes our mothers, of course.

And one way we can honor our mothers is simply by showing them respect.

We should speak to them kindly and politely, and we should listen to them when they speak.

Hey, that's a big one, y'all. If we could tackle that one, that would go a long

way with our moms, right?

Absolutely. Speak to them kindly. Listen to them politely when they speak.

And as you get older even, okay?

And I'm talking about maybe as you move into young adulthood even,

even when we disagree with them, even as a child.

Anybody ever disagree with your mom? Thought she was wrong? Thought she just

had bad information? She didn't understand you?

Even if you disagree with your mom, do it in a respectful manner, right?

That means we, what? We avoid harsh or hurtful words.

And instead, what do we do? We show them love, the respect they deserve.

God's word tells us this is what's pleasing to him, what's pleasing to Yahweh.

Honor her wishes, her ideas and dreams. Respect her point of view,

even if you disagree with it.

And that leads us into our next point this morning. Honor your mother with time.

Because the scripture says in Ephesians 5 that we need to make the most of every

opportunity. The days are evil, right?

And we need to make the most of each day. And we need to give honor to where it's due as well, right?

And time is undoubtedly our most valuable asset, I think.

We can make more money. We can buy more things. We can learn new skills.

We can get more degrees, guess what?

We cannot and will never be able to make more time.

We can honor our mothers by spending time with them.

What does that look like? Well, it looks like maybe an effort to visit them,

to call them, to spend time with them in whatever way that we can do it.

And we should also be willing to help them, church, when they need it,

whether it's with household chores, maybe as a younger person or even as an

older person, right? Maybe give a listening ear.

Because moms, they have problems too, right, moms?

Yeah, I mean, but giving our time, our attention to our mothers,

we show them that they're important to us and that we value their presence in our lives.

After all, church, if time is our most valuable and precious resource,

what better way to spend it than on one of our most valuable and precious relationships?

And I want y'all to know this today. Y'all, the job of being a mom or the calling,

the role of motherhood, y'all are talking about, you are affecting the world

for generations to come.

This is a very important job, a very important role, a very important calling in life.

If God has blessed you to be a mom, hold that in high regard,

and we should hold you in high regard by honoring you with our time.

That leads us to the next one.

Honor your mother, it's probably obvious, but with love.

With love. The Bible tells us that we should honor our mothers with love.

We should express our love for them both in our words and our actions, right?

We can tell our mothers how much we love and appreciate them,

and we can also show our love by doing things for them that make them feel blessed and happy, right?

You see, there are a lot of different things, if you think about it,

you could do to show love.

That might be buying them a thoughtful gift. It might be cooking them a special meal.

It might be just spending quality time with them. But learn your mother's love language.

Is it quality time? Is it acts of service? Is it words of affirmation?

Is it gifts or is it physical touch? Giving her a hug, let her know you really love her.

But church, by showering our mothers with love, we not only honor them,

but we also fulfill God's command to love one another as it talks about in his

word in John chapter 13, verse 34.

John 13:34

And I'll tell you that that is so important. so important because true love

the bible tells us guess what keeps no record of wrongs.

Right true love actually seeks

after the best interest of someone else above our own y'all i think sometimes

we we don't take time to consider what important roles our mothers play and

i'll tell you yeah there's going to come a day when you probably will not have

your mom here anymore if you live long enough, right?

But that's when you go back and some of you are doing that already and you remember

how your mom guided you through your life, how she challenged you,

and what an impact it's made on your life and still is making today.

And so moms, I don't want you to lose that. And those of us sitting in the pew

today that want to honor our mothers today, don't lose sight of these things.

Yes, they're simple, simple ideas and simple things to look at throughout scripture.

But y'all, our mothers need this.

We need to affirm them because their job is, like I said earlier,

an intense gig, right? I mean, it is intense.

I think about everything, for example, y'all could probably think about your

mom, but that my mom put up with, right?

I mean, the big, I've been looking out here, my sister's sitting right here.

And i i'm not saying she put it with you alone right but i'm just saying oh that's right,

and so you know and you could probably think in your own situation think about

what your mom has sacrificed for you and what she continues to do and that leads

us into my last point today you know say brother judd really your last point

y'all are checking your watch just to be safe but honor your mother's sacrifice ice.

Come on, honor your mother's sacrifice. In fact, in 1 John 3,

16, we learn about laying our lives down for others, right?

When I think about the moms I know personally, the word sacrifice does come to mind.

To be a mother is to be somebody who sacrifices, amen?

To be somebody who sacrifices. Let me just share with you quickly some ways

that mothers commonly sacrifice for others and their kids, of course.

Giving up their time is one of them. Church, mothers often prioritize their

children's needs over their own.

Sacrificing personal time to take care of them, right?

And that can include staying up late to finish chores, or it can be waking up

early to prepare breakfast or taking time off work to care for a sick child.

Another way, putting their dreams on hold. You ever thought about it?

Many mothers put their own ambitions, their own goals on hold to focus on raising

their children because they know of the high calling and the high responsibility

God has placed in their lives, right?

And that can include maybe postponing their education a little bit,

or it can include postponing their career advancement or other personal aspirations.

And then there's financial sacrifices as well. Mothers often make financial

sacrifices to provide for their kids.

And that can include cutting back on personal expenses, even working multiple

jobs sometimes for certain moms or giving up a career to be a stay at home parent.

You just don't ever know. Emotional labor. Anybody ever thought about that one?

Emotional labor. You know what I'm talking about? Mothers often carry the emotional

burden of managing their family's needs and maintaining relationships.

That can include even, y'all, you know this. You can be a conflict manager one day, right?

I mean, you can be managing conflict. I mean, that's part of it.

You could be mediating disputes and maybe providing emotional support the next

second to maybe your children and partner, right?

And then there's physical labor. Come on. And there's some physical labor there, moms, right?

Often taking on physical demands, caring for your family.

I can think, I've mentioned some of these, such as cooking or cleaning, laundry.

Y'all, back in the day, my mom even mowed our lawn some because my dad worked

all the way in Pensacola, Florida. He had to get up real early,

like three o'clock in the morning. and he had to take off and drive to work early.

And so he, I mean, he arrived home late as well, right, with a long drive.

And so someday she would do all this stuff, and then we'd be out in the yard.

She'd be mowing. I'd be picking up sticks.

And, you know, of course, my dad showed me things mowing. My mom showed me things

mowing. But I'm just saying, sometimes moms, how many of you here,

you're involved in physical labor, right?

You're doing things. In fact, it can sometimes even mean a full-time job for some moms.

But life itself regardless can take on a

toll on their physical health too at times right

and their well-being and so basically

in short i say all that to say that mother sacrifice in

many different ways to provide for their families and they ensure their well-being

by doing that right their love moms your love your dedication i'm gonna probably

get an amen for this one okay but they're often taken for granted But I want y'all to know this.

It's important to recognize and appreciate all that they do.

Just think for a moment today how your mom has impacted your life.

And I pray most all of you here have had positive experiences.

I recognize some of you may not have, and I grieve with you for that.

But I want you to know that the role that a mother can play in a person's life

will set them up for life.

You know, a mom that leads their kids along with their dad as well is the ultimate,

but that leads their kids into that relationship with Jesus Christ that models

that out in front of them, that shows them what it's like to really love somebody, their dad, right?

See, that's how God has it set up ultimately. So our kids can see what it's

like when our hearts are broken, or we don't get our way, or we have a misunderstanding.

We get to model for them how to resolve conflict, how to love people, even when they hurt us.

We show them all those life skills. You know, conversely, yes,

I know that moms are not perfect, are they?

They're just like us as dads or anybody else sitting in this room.

We are imperfect people.

That's why we need Jesus. And I want you to know today, maybe you're sitting

here today, maybe as a mom, and maybe the Holy Spirit's brought something to your heart.

I don't know. But maybe you think, you know what?

Sometimes I don't feel like a great mom because of this, this, and this.

But I want you to know today that, you know what? If you've blown it in a certain

area, there's forgiveness in Christ.

There's an opportunity. If you've never put your faith and trust in Christ,

first of all, that you can do that today and really become the one that God intended you to be.

But I also want you to know if you already know the Lord, maybe you might have

some things in your life that you say, Lord, I need to stop this.

I'm setting a bad example for my children. Lord, I need to give this to you.

I need to let you call the shots in my life because moms, you have that important

role and you make such an impact and you can change the trajectory of your child

for his or her whole life.

You make an impact on the world to come.

You may not realize that those little things you do, those little encouragements,

those sacrifices that you make can change

somebody's life forever and it can affect others for generations generations

but our mothers like i said they're imperfect just like us they have bad days

right moms they send from time to time and just like any other relationship

church guess what they will let you down eventually.

Nobody's going to never let you down except Jesus. But I want to say this today as we close.

Today, we've seen that being a mom is an intense gig. Like I said,

it doesn't pay well. There's very little gratitude or recognition sometimes.

And we've also seen that there are many ways that we can honor our moms,

according to God's word.

Let's recap it. We can honor them with respect.

We can honor them with time. We can honor them with love and recognition,

right? and honor their sacrifice.

If you don't have a plan as to how you're going to spend the rest of today,

think about those four main points today. Just pick one of them.

Pick one of them. Make an effort to show your mother the honor they deserve.

Let me just challenge you this, not just on Mother's Day, but every day of the year.

You know, it's cool that we have Mother's Day listed on the calendar. Okay. Yeah. Okay.

But really, if that's the only time you show these things to your mom.

It's not really a good thing, is it?

Your mom probably doesn't feel any of those, right?

And so every day is Mother's Day, so to speak, right?

Every day we should be doing these things is what we're saying,

what God's Word is saying.

Every day we should show all this to our mothers and let them know we love them.

But let's remember this as we close with this last slide, that by honoring our mothers, guess what?

We also honor the God who created our mothers and gave them to us as a blessing.

That's how you honor him, right? Remember that very first scripture we read

this morning in Exodus chapter 20.

Exodus 20 · chapter mention

Honor your mother and father. Give to them what's due, right?

You're going to please Yahweh, God Almighty, by doing that.

All of us will. Thank you, moms. I just want to say thank you,

moms that are here today. I encourage you. We lift you up in prayer.

Don't lose heart. Stay the course. Stay the course because your investment in

your children will pay off.

And I want you to know, look to Jesus.

Look to him for guidance in every area.