Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
Speaking to the National Congress of Mothers in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt said: “No piled-up wealth, no splendor of material growth, no brilliance of artistic development, will permanently avail any people unless its home life is healthy … No ordinary work done by a man is either as hard or as responsible as the work of a woman who is bringing up a family of small children; for upon her time and strength demands are made not only every hour of the day but often every hour of the night … The woman who is a good wife, a good mother, is entitled to our respect as is no one else …”
1 Peter 3:7 tells me and other husbands “to live with your wives in an understanding way” and “show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life…” This verse helps me realize that I need to understand my wife’s world and all the pressures and problems she is facing, her successes and her struggles. Also, I need to honor her for what she is doing well as a wife and mother.
Jesus is our best example of honoring wives and mothers. Not only did he honor his mother, but he elevated women to a radical level of importance unheard of in the culture of his day. Women, in Jesus’ time, were often treated as second class citizens and considered equal to animals and property. It was fitting for Jesus the Messiah, in his love, to shatter the status quo of women in the times in which he lived. For example, Jesus included women in his ministry, shattering the prejudicial customs of his day. He also talked to women as equals, going outside the social norms of his day. In him, all individuals, Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female are one in status (Galatians 3:28)!
Jesus was sensitive to the social and religious handicaps with which women had to struggle, and he lifted those burdens. He was compassionate and caring and we should be as well.
I am such a blessed man to have a wife such as Marla. Our children are so blessed to have her as their mother. Building a family with her has brought me great joy in this life, and I thank her for choosing to marry me and have a family with me.
On this Mother’s Day 2018 let us make every endeavor as Christians, especially Christian men, to honor our wives and mothers not just on Mother’s Day but every day!