Moms need to hear the gospel.
I’m not just saying that moms who don’t know Jesus yet need to hear the gospel. They do. But so do moms who love the good news that saves them.
The gospel is our story and when we forget the story we are part of we become disoriented, discouraged, wandering.
It’s not too long in the life of any infant when his mother, his own mother who loves him, becomes so exhausted and depleted that she realizes she has yelled at this helpless little baby who needs her.
And in that moment there are several stories you can believe. Or, at least, try to believe.
You can tell yourself that it’s ok. That every well meaning mother does it at some point. That it’s not really you. That you’re just tired. That you’re doing your best and that’s all anyone can expect from you.
You can tell yourself that you’re a failure. That there’s no hope for you as a mom if you can’t even hold it together when this little baby cries.
You can try and control your circumstances. You can tell yourself that if you only have enough time to yourself, time with your friends, sleep, food, exercise, whatever, then it won’t happen again.
Or, you can tell yourself the story, the gospel story. The story that God, in all his beauty and majesty and goodness, created men and women to live the most full life imaginable, to delight in him, and look to him, and walk with him. But that you didn’t want to depend on God, you wanted to run your own life, lean on your own understanding, do things your own way, get your own way, control things, sleep for three solid hours, and that’s why you yelled at your baby. That this is serious. That no one who is quick to anger or selfish can be in relationship with God. And that the day we ate of the fruit we would surely die. Forever. In fire. Tormented. And that at just the right time, when we were powerless, God became man and died for the ungodly. The moms who are greedy with their time and energy. The moms who loose it. The moms who find out that they’re not nearly as patient as they used to think. And bearing all our shame he hung on a cross, was rejected and abandoned by the Father, and offers us his perfect righteousness — long-suffering, patience, goodness, kindness — in return. It is for all who repent and turn to him. It is for all who ask for help to quit going their own way. It is for all who trust in Him. And if that’s you, then he has promised that the work he began in you he will bring to perfect completion. That one day you will stand before his presence in perfect righteousness. You will no longer be easily irritated or rude. He himself will make you that way. Forever. Happy. Satisfied. Full of delight in him.
It will all happen again. You will yell again. And later you will realize you missed something, something major, in your parenting. And it’s not ok. And you will need to know how to get up the next morning. You will need to know what story you are going to tell yourself and what story is true.
The true story is beautiful. It is full of hope and grace and power. It is full of a God who uses mistakes and neglect and wickedness for good.
That is why moms need to hear the gospel.
