The Biblical Call of Motherhood

Motherhood is beautiful, but it can also be an emotional roller coaster. One moment you are delirious with delight, and the next, you are on your knees with hands lifted high, praying on your child’s behalf. Motherhood is a gift filled with the tension of asking God for the grace to raise the children entrusted to you, and at the same moment, releasing them back to Him, trusting His sovereignty and control. 

While this roller coaster can be exhausting, the good news is that you are not on it alone. God has given Spirit-filled instruction that can help you find joy in the journey, even in the midst of the ups, downs, and unexpected twists accompanying motherhood. 

In order to understand the calling of being a mother, it is important to recognize we’ve likely been exposed to many lies about parenting. 

How can you renounce the messages that our culture sends about motherhood and reclaim the blessings that come from your heritage as co-heirs with Jesus?

God’s Intentional Design

God’s intention for His children was not to focus on their academic achievements or unsurpassed skills on a soccer field. His intention was not for children to fill a hole in your heart created by an imaginary biological clock.

His intention is for you to pass on a rich heritage of faith to your children, hand in hand with Him. A heritage that is rooted in His truth and anchored in trusting Him and His righteousness. A heritage that honors Him and brings glory to His Kingdom.

As mothers, we have the honor of sowing seeds into our children that will bear fruit as they age into adults. Faith, when taught and passed down within the knowledge of the covenant relationship, is the greatest gift we can give. After all, faith is the only gift that ensures salvation to the one who possesses it, making it invaluable. That same faith activates the blessings given to us by Jesus through His blood covering.

The Biblical Call of Motherhood

The world needs mothers, not only biological but spiritual. Mothers speak of the nurturing care of our God. Mothers lead and love through honoring Jesus, their husbands, children, family, church, and community. Everything is to God’s glory, as Paul said to the Corinthians…

• “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” —1 Corinthians 10:31

If we want to operate in the peace of God and His best purposes for our family, we must surrender and allow our motives to be cleansed and aligned with His.

A Mother’s Call to Honor God…

• “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”—Matthew 6:33 (emphasis added)

God knows the distractions, busyness, and demands mothers face. He mercifully reminds us to turn our attention to Him, the source of our strength, comfort, and inspiration for mothering and every part of our lives. We must find a daily rhythm of turning our thoughts to Him and turning to scriptures that anchor us in truth.

The enemy attacks through shame, guilt, and discouragement. Do not take the bait! God is with you, offering healing and the best example for how to be a life-giving parent.

As you continue to seek God with all your heart, you will find Him (Jeremiah 29:23). As you learn to discern His voice, you can discern His will for your family. 

He often speaks to us through the gifting He’s given our children, places where we see their creativity shine. It is His desire for those gifts to produce seeds that will then be sown into fertile soil, multiplying blessings to be used in a way that furthers His Kingdom here on earth. You’re raising Kingdom-builders!

• “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” —James 1:17

A Mother’s Call to Honor Her Husband…

• “Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adornment be merely outward… rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” —1 Peter 3:1-4

The Lord’s instruction to honor your husband is also honoring to Him. Peter also wrote to husbands to be considerate to their wives and treat them with respect (1 Peter 3:7). This mutual honor speaks to God’s beautiful design for marriage– that you bring out the best in each other, calling out who you are truly meant to be. 

Parenting is a partnership that can strengthen marriages if Jesus is at the center. If you don’t already, consider setting specific times in the week when you and your husband pray over your children, seeking God’s vision for their lives. 

Jesus wants you both emotionally whole, strong in Him, and operating from your Kingdom identity as you lead your family. Invite Him into every detail of your marriage and parenting, and watch how He leads with grace, strength, and the support you need to lean on Him and thrive in each season of mothering.

A Mother’s Call to Honor Her Children…

• “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.”—Psalm 127:3-4

Children are precious to God and should be precious to us. As mothers, we have the joy and honor of raising our children in their true identity in Yeshua and inviting them into their biblical inheritance and heritage. The feast days reveal the Father’s heart and unveil the beautiful story we’ve been grafted into (Romans 11). 

We are approaching Shavuot, the celebration of God’s instruction and the coming of the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to carry out God’s instruction with grace and glory. This feast, and every feast, points our children to Jesus— who He is, who they are in Him, and how just as He is intentional in every detail of scripture, He will be intentional in every detail of their lives.

Children learn by example…

• “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” —Proverbs 22:6

Children look to their mothers for guidance. As they see you turn to God daily and lean on Him for answers and guidance, they will learn about who God is and how they can experience Him, too. Have you considered that having a strong relationship with God is the greatest gift you can give your children? 

God desires for us to be “all in” when it comes to a relationship with Jesus. That is the heart behind the covenant relationship. Lukewarm will not pass on the heritage of faith to our children, nor will it be enough to unlock the blessings from obedience to His callings. 

Seek God for ways in which He’s inviting you to draw closer to Him.

A Mother’s Call to Honor Her Family…

• “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” —1 Timothy 5:8

We honor family by remembering that we are co-heirs with Jesus, and our conduct represents His family name. Just as the Lord set apart Abraham and His family to reveal His light, we are to be set apart in this time. How will the world know God, who operates totally opposite to the world’s ways, if we do not walk in the Spirit and look different from our surroundings? 

Created uniquely by Him for a purpose, your children are to be raised up, embracing the favor of knowing they are kings and priests of His Kingdom, not ours. A mother’s calling is to teach them to seek God’s instruction and obey it, opening up Heaven’s doors.

A Mother’s Call to Honor the Church…

• “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body… For, in fact, the body is not one member but many.” —1 Corinthians 12:12-14

Yeshua Jesus loves His Bride! As part of His House, you fill an integral role in building His Kingdom here on earth through the Church. He has a glorious Kingdom destiny and purpose for you. If you’re struggling to hear His voice and receive vision, ask Him for the grace to perceive your true identity in Him. 

Break off agreements with man-made limitations and expectations. Your gifting and voice are needed in the Body of Believers. You honor the church as a mother by embracing who God made you to be!

A Mother’s Call to Honor Her Community…

When Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest, this was His reply…

• “…‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” —Matthew 22:37-40 (emphasis added)

The second greatest commandment reveals God’s heart for community and how we were designed to live in fellowship with others. There are so many blessings that come from a community of Believers who are authentic in their love and faith. 

If you are not fellowshipping with a community of Believers, you are missing an opportunity to find rich relationships that honor God. Jesus told His disciples…

• “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” —Matthew 18:19-20 (emphasis added)

If you struggle to find a healthy community, pray for God to connect you with like-minded people who can encourage you in your faith walk and parenting. Pray for divine connection in His perfect timing!

Motherhood Is a Ministry

Motherhood is a holy and glorious ministry in and of itself. You are called to teach and preach God’s Word, instruct your children in their biblical heritage, and pass on the legacy of the true gospel!

This calling is for mothers of all ages. May mothers with greater experience in years and communion with God continue to encourage the younger mothers around them.

Family is a heritage that is passed on from generation to generation. Look at how Paul honors and commends Timothy’s mother and grandmother for their everlasting faith passed on to the next generation.   

• “When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” —2 Timothy 1:5 (emphasis added)

This is no small assignment! We need to boldly proclaim God’s truth to the youth in our lives. The above scripture goes on to say…

• “Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you… For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” —2 Timothy 1:6-7 (emphasis added)

Let this year be the year that we “stir up” the gift of the Holy Spirit—the year that we become new wineskins to receive new revelation and new wine to pour out among those growing in their faith. 

As we approach Shavuot, may we anticipate the holy instruction God is imparting to us as mothers and receive the grace and strength to carry it out through the counsel and comfort of the Holy Spirit.

May you grow closer to God as you entrust your children into His care, knowing He is with you every step and is carrying your family to new joy and breakthrough as you honor Him!