Mother’s Day is one of the “hallmark” holidays in our culture. Should Christians observe Mother’s Day? Yes. Here’s three reasons why and three practical ways to reform celebrating Mother’s Day.

Motherhood in Creation: Motherhood is a command and blessing from the Lord and something that married women should unashamedly embrace unless providentially hindered. The opening chapters of Genesis describe God’s creating man after his own image, male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). The first woman, Eve, was a helper made for the first man, Adam, and God instituted marriage. This was necessary because it was not good that the man was alone. Alone, Adam was unable to fulfill the creation mandate given by God in Genesis 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion [over all of the creatures in God’s creation].” Without a wife, alone, Adam could not be fruitful and multiply. God’s image bearers could not fill and subdue the earth. Women giving birth to boys and girls was God’s purpose for creation. We see in Genesis 2 a description of the creation of Adam and Eve in detail. God made Adam first from the dust, and then made Eve from the body of Adam. It is remarkable that the first recorded words of a mere man in the Bible found in Genesis 2:23 are a quotation of a Hebrew love song/poem from the man to the woman. Eve pleased Adam. And God decreed in Genesis 2:24, “therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This is the institution of marriage for all creation and the foundation of motherhood.

Motherhood following the Fall: Motherhood is a creation mandate and remains so after the fall of mankind. As Adam was created to be a king and Eve was his wife was created to help him in his reigning over creation, the need to fil and subdue the creation persists, though it is now fraught with difficulty, “thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:18),” due to the curse on creation due to sin. As no other creature, but human beings alone, is made in God’s image in knowledge, wisdom, and holiness, the world need more babies, not less, to fill the earth with God’s glory.

Motherhood in Redemption: Motherhood would become necessary for our redemption because the first promise of the gospel (Genesis 3:15) declares that “the woman’s offspring will bruise the head of the serpent/enemy/Satan.” As Adam, a type of the one who was to come (Romans 5:14) sinned and brought sin and death and condemnation to all, so Christ would by his one act of righteousness would lead to justification and life for all (Romans 5:18). We read after the Fall (Genesis 4:1) that Adam “knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain…[and Eve describes why she named him that]. It is likely that based upon God’s prior promise in Genesis 3:15 that Eve was expecting her son to do away with the serpent. Eve and the rest of us would have to wait thousands of years until an angel would visit with a couple in the little town of Bethlehem. The angel would declare that the one conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin would as Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 7:14) would be “Immanuel, God with us,” and he would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). The apostle John would plainly state, “the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). Eve’s hope and the day of serpent bruising (Genesis 4:1) was delayed. “The fullness of time,” that Eve (the first mother) hoped for in faith, had come when God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that they might receive adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5).”

Christ-Centered Mother’s Day: It is crucial for us on Mother’s Day to celebrate it as we celebrate all days, in being Christ-centered.

The majestic poetry of Proverbs 31:10-31 describes the ideal godly woman and concludes with this beautiful summary:

  25 Strength and dignity are her clothing, 
  and she laughs at the time to come. 
        26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, 
  and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. 
        27 She looks well to the ways of her household 
  and does not eat the bread of idleness. 
        28 Her children rise up and call her blessed; 
  her husband also, and he praises her: 
        29 “Many women have done excellently, 
  but you surpass them all.” 
        30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, 
  but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 
        31 Give her of the fruit of her hands, 
  and let her works praise her in the gates. 

Brothers and sisters, let us praise the Lord Jesus and the work of the Holy Spirit for the godliness in women described above wherever we observe it. In so doing, we are following the Lord Jesus, who calls us not to make an idol of our mothers (or any other thing or person) but to love him more than our mothers, "whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, (Matthew 10:37)." Mother's Day must, as all days, ultimately, be about Jesus. Here are three ways we can love Jesus as we honor mothers:

1- We can be Christ-centered in our thankfulness to Him for the godliness we have observed in our mothers. No mere sinful woman can resemble the virtues found in Proverbs 31 without the sanctifying work of Christ. See Ephesians 5:25-27, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” When we see something beautiful in the women in our lives, say something about that to the Lord whose glory it is.

2- We can be Christ-centered in our patience, forbearance, and forgiveness of our mothers. We do this as we follow Paul’s exhortation to put on Christ in Colossians 3:12-14, “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

3- We can be Christ-centered in our gifts given and gratitude we give to our mothers as the Lord Jesus takes joy in his church and ascended and gave gifts to her, notably gifts of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4; 1 Corinthians 12; Romans 12).

Happy Mother’s Day! We invite you to Christ-centered worship each Sunday at Trinity Presbyterian Church of Norman. 10:30 am at 428 W. Lindsey St., Norman, OK.