How much do you think a good mother is worth? If your mother worked for wages, how much would you have to pay her? Of course, these are silly questions! You could never put a price on the worth of someone’s love, but consider this. Once someone did actually calculate the cost of hiring someone to do a mother’s work. And guess what—you couldn’t afford to have a mother! God’s Word tells us that the price of a virtuous woman is far above rubies.
Many mothers clean the house thoroughly once a week, and straighten up things every day. They shop for groceries, plan menus for the family, and prepare meals. They bake, pack lunches, and change the sheets on the beds. They do the washing, ironing, folding, mending, and purchase the clothing. They drive their children to places they want to go, to music lessons, and school activities. They also help with homework, and care for someone in the family who is ill.
If you hired someone to do their jobs you’d need a butcher, a baker, a teacher, a nurse, a maid, and a chauffeur. But you still wouldn’t have a mother’s love. You can’t buy that.
Most children get so used to having a mother around that they don’t think much about her. They just expect her to do all these things because she is MOM and it is her JOB!
Remember, your mother is really just a person like you. She started as a little girl, and learned as she grew. Now, as your mother, she has a very important responsibility within the framework of the family. Yet she probably learned about what makes a good mother, and how she could prepare herself to be one, while she was growing up.
Perhaps there isn’t a mother in your home. Or maybe your mom works and isn’t able to be home and do all of those things for her family. The way each home operates and who does what, is different from others. But the parents or those in charge of the home have a great responsibility.
Did you ever stop to think that you have a responsibility in your family too? Being a parent is an important assignment from God. But your place is also important. God gives many instructions to children in His Word. He expects them to obey their parents, to honor their elders, and to respect authority. They are promised the blessing of God if they do. And having God’s blessing on our lives is important if we want to be happy.
When you try to do your best as a part of the family circle, you are learning in the same way most mothers learned. You are preparing to accept the additional responsibilities that may be yours someday. You’re not a parent now, but someday you might be! If you have learned to fulfill your part in the family as you grow up, it will help you to assume the new responsibilities of adulthood.
Compare your family to a car. The engine won’t run without a battery. The car won’t move without wheels. It can’t be turned or directed without some sort of steering system. All cars are not alike, just as all families are not alike. But in both cases, each part needs to be in place and functioning for the car to run smoothly.
So it is with the family. When each of the members does his part, the home is a happier place for all who live there.
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