A Mother’s Power

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  
2 Timothy 3:14-15

A Mother’s Power
Godly mothers have something to offer their children. They can offer them an example of faith, which brings courage, power, love, and self-discipline. Whether it’s intentional, or not, each of us will leave our legacy behind! Your children won’t forget the way they saw you live your life.  Influence begins with example. The life we choose to live will have an impact on those who come behind us that’s far greater than any of us can even imagine. 

In the Bible, Timothy was raised by his mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois.  Timothy’s grandmother gave him the best gift that a grandmother could give - a faith passed down that he could carry with him as he faces the things in life that leave him uncertain and unsure.  

Like Timothy’s mother and grandmother, the greatest thing that we can offer our children and grandchildren is OUR example of a loving spirit, a courageous faith, a powerful relationship with God and the self-discipline that it takes to be all that God has called us to be! A sincere faith is a "genuine faith". It's the real thing. The Greek word translated "sincere" is the word unhypocrites. It’s "unhypocritical faith"; faith that models a consistency between what is says and what it does. It's an "exampled" kind of faith.

Four things we can pass on to our children through a sincere faith:

• Courage: An example of sincere faith will serve as a reminder to the next generations to face life with courage.  

• Power: Mothers can share a sincere faith that’s characterized by POWER! The way Paul put it in our text for today is that a sincere faith finds its object in God who offers the spirit of power. Timothy, in the face of more articulate and dynamic teachers possibly felt helpless and powerless. But Paul says to him, "rekindle that gift of God in you, reaffirmed by my laying of hands on you, but first given you through your mother and grandmother...it’s the gift of the divine Spirit's power.” As mothers and grandmothers, we have the great opportunity to teach our children that they’re not helpless and powerless in the world. We have the opportunity to teach those little ones that all the power of the universe walks with them daily in Jesus Christ; that they have the strength to BE and DO for the glory of God ANYTHING that they can dream. 

• Love: Through the actions of his mother and grandmother's sincere faith, Paul tells Timothy that God has given him a "spirit of love". And the kind of love Paul mentions here is that great biblical word for love, agape. It’s one of the four words that’s always used to characterize love. Agape is used to characterize God’s sacrificial love!

• Discipline: Paul tells Timothy that he’s also been given a spirit of self-discipline by God, through the sincere faith passed on to him by grandma Lois. Paul's reminder to Timothy is that God has given him through the sincere faith passed on to him, the self-mastery to stand firm in the storms of cultural forces that would sweep him away and scare him into seclusion. 

God is still calling young people like Timothy to be his leaders for tomorrow. And God is still using the sincere faithfulness of grandmothers and mothers to transmit his message of hope to the young.  Whether it’s intentional or not, each of us will leave our legacy behind! The life we choose to live will have an impact on those who come behind us that’s far greater than any of us can even imagine.  Be the example that God has called us to be as mothers and grandmothers.