Why Motherhood Matters
In light of Paul’s and the Bible’s teaching on motherhood, what is the
significance of women being mothers? Beyond the obvious biological differences,
does motherhood tell us anything about the difference between males and
females? What do you have to say to women who are not mothers (1 Tim. 2:15)?
I’ll answer this question with a quote from True Woman 101:
Since womanhood cannot be handcuffed to mere biology, I would say to women who
are not biological mothers that nurturing cannot be relegated to procreation.
Through the gospel we see that fertility and “filling the earth” extend to
Christian discipleship that bears lasting fruit. This is a joy-filled
responsibility that every Christian woman bears. The clear
glass of the gospel shows us that we are part of God’s bigger story in which he
is calling out worshipers from every nation to come and adore his Son forever.
So the goal of our nurturing is to promote human thriving in the most
magnificently fulfilling capacity possible. As women who are in Christ, then,
we should aim to do everything he gives us to do so that all the nations would
see and savor him forever. Motherhood, according to God’s good design, includes
biological and spiritual mothering and is woven into the very fabric of what it
means to be a woman. Women lovingly mother others, using their God-given gifts
to meet their needs for Jesus’s sake (2 Cor. 4:5).
It seems God has given women a wonderful nurturing instinct. I don’t mean to
imply that men can’t be nurturers, nor that women are only nurturers. However,
the fact that women can give birth and feed and nurture babies and children in
ways that men cannot highlights the beautiful uniqueness women possess as
caregivers. A woman does not have to be married, nor be a mother, to nurture
those in need. I would encourage all women to pour out their lives in deeds of
service to those in need, such as victims of abuse, orphans, widows, the
elderly, the homeless, the hungry, and the afflicted, through thousands of
God-honoring involvements.
First Timothy 2:15 has been debated and theorized so much, I’m not sure I can
add to the conversation! We know that women are not actually saved (as in
regenerated) through childbirth. Yet Paul uses this language, and so we cannot
ignore it. And I could write an entire chapter (or even a book) on what the
Lord says about motherhood. So instead, I’ll focus on the last question about
women who aren’t mothers. God was kind to begin the creation story by letting
us know that all men and women are made in his image;
therefore, unmarried women are no less significant than mothers. Also, because
all the Word is useful, all females can be encouraged and challenged by what
they read in regard to women in the Word. So the question is, what can we learn
about God when we read these Scriptures? That’s how we all—including my
unmarried sisters—should approach this passage.
If 1 Timothy 2:9–15 were the whole of Scripture, we might assume that salvation
for women is somehow tied to childbearing, but of course it is not. The full
witness of Scripture teaches that the basis of salvation is grace alone through
Christ’s atoning death and not works (childbearing or anything else we can do).
Therefore Paul must have referred to childbearing to represent Eve’s original
(and perfect!) design as a life giver and perhaps her sphere as being more
familial. Biologically, the woman alone has been designed to bear children. And
while she can reject children or, for reasons known only to God, be denied
them, this is one area of her design that a woman cannot exchange with a man.
But as glorious as physically giving birth is, being a life giver involves so
much more. It is that nurturing, maternal spirit that God has sovereignly
placed within the woman’s design. It involves viewing children (her own and
others) and younger women as gifts and as worthy of her time and best efforts.
Childbearing is one of the good works with which godly women are to adorn
themselves. It’s just in a woman to want to have a baby, and as a Christian,
the best way to extend your legacy is through your children— really, the best
disciples you’re ever going to have are your kids. And yet we know that this
world is broken. We have many women in our church who are dealing with prolonged,
unwanted singleness. Many couples are walking through infertility and
miscarriages. As we walk alongside them in their pain, we want to constantly
encourage our church that their opportunity for influence extends well beyond
their biological family.
Women who embrace who they are (their true identity) and fulfill God’s purpose
will be rewarded. Motherhood reveals the nurturing, helping nature that God has
formed in every woman’s heart. Mothers have such a high calling and privilege to
train their children to follow Christ and to discover God’s purpose for their
lives. I can’t think of a greater role in all the world; it is truly a gift
from God. Those who cannot bear children are still called to be nurturers and
minister to children and other women in a way that only a woman can. Women who
are not mothers can be spiritual mothers to others and minister in a variety of
ways.
Exactly. The life-giving aspect of our design in no way excludes single women.
All women—married, single, with or without children—can nurture and speak
life-giving words into other’s lives. And despite the loud disrespect and
disregard for such “menial” work in our supposedly enlightened age, this role
is still largely accepted in society. Most still expect the child with a
bloodied knee to run to mom for comfort, most homemaking blogs are penned by
women, and Hollywood borrows from God’s design every time the hero steps in and
saves the damsel in distress rather than standing idly by or following in her
steps. Being a life giver is huge! Ironically, we assign more respect to a
woman spending eight hours at a computer in a cubicle than one speaking words
of life to a discouraged husband or straying child. It is that nurturing spirit
that creates the intangible atmosphere that makes a house a home. And while it
may begin in her home, a life giver’s nurturing words and actions are often
known throughout her sphere and beyond, sometimes throughout the world. Indeed,
something powerful can happen when we align with and embrace our God-given
design.
I am a mother by adoption. Two of our four children came to us at the age of
seventeen out of the US foster care system. Many good Christians uttered their
concern about adopting teenagers. Will they love us? Will they reject us? Will
they hurt us? And what about my identity as a mother? Am I less of a mother to
my children if I meet them as older teenagers? Am I not a “real” mother if I
did not carry them in my body? Am I less of a disciple of Christ if I met him
in middle age (as I did)? God constantly reveals to us his covenant love by
forging impossible trails through the conflicts of our lives. But covenant love
has earthly vessels. One earthly highway of God’s covenant love is the spiritual
mothering that leads others to our Savior. Hospitality is a touchstone of the
ministry that Kent and I share together. And for me, hospitality and mothering
go together, as both flow out of the doctrine of adoption and both require
hands-on service and consistent and sacrificial love.
[1] Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss, True Woman 101: Divine Design (Chicago:
Moody, 2012), 188.
In light of Paul’s and the Bible’s teaching on motherhood, what is the significance of women being mothers? Beyond the obvious biological differences, does motherhood tell us anything about the difference between males and females? What do you have to say to women who are not mothers (1 Tim. 2:15)?
I’ll answer this question with a quote from True Woman 101:
Since womanhood cannot be handcuffed to mere biology, I would say to women who are not biological mothers that nurturing cannot be relegated to procreation. Through the gospel we see that fertility and “filling the earth” extend to Christian discipleship that bears lasting fruit. This is a joy-filled responsibility that every Christian woman bears. The clear glass of the gospel shows us that we are part of God’s bigger story in which he is calling out worshipers from every nation to come and adore his Son forever. So the goal of our nurturing is to promote human thriving in the most magnificently fulfilling capacity possible. As women who are in Christ, then, we should aim to do everything he gives us to do so that all the nations would see and savor him forever. Motherhood, according to God’s good design, includes biological and spiritual mothering and is woven into the very fabric of what it means to be a woman. Women lovingly mother others, using their God-given gifts to meet their needs for Jesus’s sake (2 Cor. 4:5).
It seems God has given women a wonderful nurturing instinct. I don’t mean to imply that men can’t be nurturers, nor that women are only nurturers. However, the fact that women can give birth and feed and nurture babies and children in ways that men cannot highlights the beautiful uniqueness women possess as caregivers. A woman does not have to be married, nor be a mother, to nurture those in need. I would encourage all women to pour out their lives in deeds of service to those in need, such as victims of abuse, orphans, widows, the elderly, the homeless, the hungry, and the afflicted, through thousands of God-honoring involvements.
First Timothy 2:15 has been debated and theorized so much, I’m not sure I can add to the conversation! We know that women are not actually saved (as in regenerated) through childbirth. Yet Paul uses this language, and so we cannot ignore it. And I could write an entire chapter (or even a book) on what the Lord says about motherhood. So instead, I’ll focus on the last question about women who aren’t mothers. God was kind to begin the creation story by letting us know that all men and women are made in his image; therefore, unmarried women are no less significant than mothers. Also, because all the Word is useful, all females can be encouraged and challenged by what they read in regard to women in the Word. So the question is, what can we learn about God when we read these Scriptures? That’s how we all—including my unmarried sisters—should approach this passage.
If 1 Timothy 2:9–15 were the whole of Scripture, we might assume that salvation for women is somehow tied to childbearing, but of course it is not. The full witness of Scripture teaches that the basis of salvation is grace alone through Christ’s atoning death and not works (childbearing or anything else we can do). Therefore Paul must have referred to childbearing to represent Eve’s original (and perfect!) design as a life giver and perhaps her sphere as being more familial. Biologically, the woman alone has been designed to bear children. And while she can reject children or, for reasons known only to God, be denied them, this is one area of her design that a woman cannot exchange with a man. But as glorious as physically giving birth is, being a life giver involves so much more. It is that nurturing, maternal spirit that God has sovereignly placed within the woman’s design. It involves viewing children (her own and others) and younger women as gifts and as worthy of her time and best efforts.
Childbearing is one of the good works with which godly women are to adorn themselves. It’s just in a woman to want to have a baby, and as a Christian, the best way to extend your legacy is through your children— really, the best disciples you’re ever going to have are your kids. And yet we know that this world is broken. We have many women in our church who are dealing with prolonged, unwanted singleness. Many couples are walking through infertility and miscarriages. As we walk alongside them in their pain, we want to constantly encourage our church that their opportunity for influence extends well beyond their biological family.
Women who embrace who they are (their true identity) and fulfill God’s purpose will be rewarded. Motherhood reveals the nurturing, helping nature that God has formed in every woman’s heart. Mothers have such a high calling and privilege to train their children to follow Christ and to discover God’s purpose for their lives. I can’t think of a greater role in all the world; it is truly a gift from God. Those who cannot bear children are still called to be nurturers and minister to children and other women in a way that only a woman can. Women who are not mothers can be spiritual mothers to others and minister in a variety of ways.
Exactly. The life-giving aspect of our design in no way excludes single women. All women—married, single, with or without children—can nurture and speak life-giving words into other’s lives. And despite the loud disrespect and disregard for such “menial” work in our supposedly enlightened age, this role is still largely accepted in society. Most still expect the child with a bloodied knee to run to mom for comfort, most homemaking blogs are penned by women, and Hollywood borrows from God’s design every time the hero steps in and saves the damsel in distress rather than standing idly by or following in her steps. Being a life giver is huge! Ironically, we assign more respect to a woman spending eight hours at a computer in a cubicle than one speaking words of life to a discouraged husband or straying child. It is that nurturing spirit that creates the intangible atmosphere that makes a house a home. And while it may begin in her home, a life giver’s nurturing words and actions are often known throughout her sphere and beyond, sometimes throughout the world. Indeed, something powerful can happen when we align with and embrace our God-given design.
I am a mother by adoption. Two of our four children came to us at the age of seventeen out of the US foster care system. Many good Christians uttered their concern about adopting teenagers. Will they love us? Will they reject us? Will they hurt us? And what about my identity as a mother? Am I less of a mother to my children if I meet them as older teenagers? Am I not a “real” mother if I did not carry them in my body? Am I less of a disciple of Christ if I met him in middle age (as I did)? God constantly reveals to us his covenant love by forging impossible trails through the conflicts of our lives. But covenant love has earthly vessels. One earthly highway of God’s covenant love is the spiritual mothering that leads others to our Savior. Hospitality is a touchstone of the ministry that Kent and I share together. And for me, hospitality and mothering go together, as both flow out of the doctrine of adoption and both require hands-on service and consistent and sacrificial love.
[1] Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss, True Woman 101: Divine Design (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 188.
Why Motherhood Matters
Andreas Köstenberger and Thomas Schreiner:
In light of Paul’s and the Bible’s teaching on motherhood, what is the
significance of women being mothers? Beyond the obvious biological differences,
does motherhood tell us anything about the difference between males and
females? What do you have to say to women who are not mothers (1 Tim. 2:15)?
I’ll answer this question with a quote from True Woman 101:
Since womanhood cannot be handcuffed to mere biology, I would say to women who
are not biological mothers that nurturing cannot be relegated to procreation.
Through the gospel we see that fertility and “filling the earth” extend to
Christian discipleship that bears lasting fruit. This is a joy-filled
responsibility that every Christian
woman bears. The clear glass of the gospel shows us that we are part of God’s
bigger story in which he is calling out worshipers from every nation to come
and adore his Son forever. So the goal of our nurturing is to promote human
thriving in the most magnificently fulfilling capacity possible. As women who
are in Christ, then, we should aim to do everything he gives us to do so that
all the nations would see and savor him forever. Motherhood, according to God’s
good design, includes biological and spiritual mothering and is woven into the
very fabric of what it means to be a woman. Women lovingly mother others, using
their God-given gifts to meet their needs for Jesus’s sake (2 Cor. 4:5).
It seems God has given women a wonderful nurturing instinct. I don’t mean to
imply that men can’t be nurturers, nor that women are only nurturers. However,
the fact that women can give birth and feed and nurture babies and children in
ways that men cannot highlights the beautiful uniqueness women possess as
caregivers. A woman does not have to be married, nor be a mother, to nurture
those in need. I would encourage all women to pour out their lives in deeds of
service to those in need, such as victims of abuse, orphans, widows, the
elderly, the homeless, the hungry, and the afflicted, through thousands of
God-honoring involvements.
First Timothy 2:15 has been debated and theorized so much, I’m not sure I can
add to the conversation! We know that women are not actually saved (as in
regenerated) through childbirth. Yet Paul uses this language, and so we cannot
ignore it. And I could write an entire chapter (or even a book) on what the
Lord says about motherhood. So instead, I’ll focus on the last question about
women who aren’t mothers. God was kind to begin the creation story by letting
us know that all men
and women are made in his image; therefore, unmarried women are no less
significant than mothers. Also, because all the Word is useful, all females can
be encouraged and challenged by what they read in regard to women in the Word.
So the question is, what can we learn about God when we read these Scriptures?
That’s how we all—including my unmarried sisters—should approach this passage.
If 1 Timothy 2:9–15 were the whole of Scripture, we might assume that salvation
for women is somehow tied to childbearing, but of course it is not. The full
witness of Scripture teaches that the basis of salvation is grace alone through
Christ’s atoning death and not works (childbearing or anything else we can do).
Therefore Paul must have referred to childbearing to represent Eve’s original
(and perfect!) design as a life giver and perhaps her sphere as being more
familial. Biologically, the woman alone has been designed to bear children. And
while she can reject children or, for reasons known only to God, be denied
them, this is one area of her design that a woman cannot exchange with a man.
But as glorious as physically giving birth is, being a life giver involves so
much more. It is that nurturing, maternal spirit that God has sovereignly
placed within the woman’s design. It involves viewing children (her own and
others) and younger women as gifts and as worthy of her time and best efforts.
Childbearing is one of the good works with which godly women are to adorn
themselves. It’s just in a woman to want to have a baby, and as a Christian,
the best way to extend your legacy is through your children— really, the best
disciples you’re ever going to have are your kids. And yet we know that this
world is broken. We have many women in our church who are dealing with
prolonged, unwanted singleness. Many couples are walking through infertility
and miscarriages. As we walk alongside them in their pain, we want to
constantly encourage our church that their opportunity for influence extends
well beyond their biological family.
Women who embrace who they are (their true identity) and fulfill God’s purpose
will be rewarded. Motherhood reveals the nurturing, helping nature that God has
formed in every woman’s heart. Mothers have such a high calling and privilege
to train their children to follow Christ and to discover God’s purpose for
their lives. I can’t think of a greater role in all the world; it is truly a
gift from God. Those who cannot bear children are still called to be nurturers
and minister to children and other women in a way that only a woman can. Women
who are not mothers can be spiritual mothers to others and minister in a
variety of ways.
Exactly. The life-giving aspect of our design in no way excludes single women.
All women—married, single, with or without children—can nurture and speak
life-giving words into other’s lives. And despite the loud disrespect and
disregard for such “menial” work in our supposedly enlightened age, this role
is still largely accepted in society. Most still expect the child with a
bloodied knee to run to mom for comfort, most homemaking blogs are penned by
women, and Hollywood borrows from God’s design every time the hero steps in and
saves the damsel in distress rather than standing idly by or following in her steps.
Being a life giver is huge! Ironically, we assign more respect to a woman
spending eight hours at a computer in a cubicle than one speaking words of life
to a discouraged husband or straying child. It is that nurturing spirit that
creates the intangible atmosphere that makes a house a home. And while it may
begin in her home, a life giver’s nurturing words and actions are often known
throughout her sphere and beyond, sometimes throughout the world. Indeed,
something powerful can happen when we align with and embrace our God-given
design.
I am a mother by adoption. Two of our four children came to us at the age of
seventeen out of the US foster care system. Many good Christians uttered their
concern about adopting teenagers. Will they love us? Will they reject us? Will
they hurt us? And what about my identity as a mother? Am I less of a mother to
my children if I meet them as older teenagers? Am I not a “real” mother if I
did not carry them in my body? Am I less of a disciple of Christ if I met him
in middle age (as I did)? God constantly reveals to us his covenant love by
forging impossible trails through the conflicts of our lives. But covenant love
has earthly vessels. One earthly highway of God’s covenant love is the
spiritual mothering that leads others to our Savior. Hospitality is a
touchstone of the ministry that Kent and I share together. And for me,
hospitality and mothering go together, as both flow out of the doctrine of
adoption and both require hands-on service and consistent and sacrificial love.
[1] Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss, True Woman 101: Divine Design (Chicago:
Moody, 2012), 188.
In light of Paul’s and the Bible’s teaching on motherhood, what is the significance of women being mothers? Beyond the obvious biological differences, does motherhood tell us anything about the difference between males and females? What do you have to say to women who are not mothers (1 Tim. 2:15)?
I’ll answer this question with a quote from True Woman 101:
Since womanhood cannot be handcuffed to mere biology, I would say to women who are not biological mothers that nurturing cannot be relegated to procreation. Through the gospel we see that fertility and “filling the earth” extend to Christian discipleship that bears lasting fruit. This is a joy-filled responsibility that every Christian woman bears. The clear glass of the gospel shows us that we are part of God’s bigger story in which he is calling out worshipers from every nation to come and adore his Son forever. So the goal of our nurturing is to promote human thriving in the most magnificently fulfilling capacity possible. As women who are in Christ, then, we should aim to do everything he gives us to do so that all the nations would see and savor him forever. Motherhood, according to God’s good design, includes biological and spiritual mothering and is woven into the very fabric of what it means to be a woman. Women lovingly mother others, using their God-given gifts to meet their needs for Jesus’s sake (2 Cor. 4:5).
It seems God has given women a wonderful nurturing instinct. I don’t mean to imply that men can’t be nurturers, nor that women are only nurturers. However, the fact that women can give birth and feed and nurture babies and children in ways that men cannot highlights the beautiful uniqueness women possess as caregivers. A woman does not have to be married, nor be a mother, to nurture those in need. I would encourage all women to pour out their lives in deeds of service to those in need, such as victims of abuse, orphans, widows, the elderly, the homeless, the hungry, and the afflicted, through thousands of God-honoring involvements.
First Timothy 2:15 has been debated and theorized so much, I’m not sure I can add to the conversation! We know that women are not actually saved (as in regenerated) through childbirth. Yet Paul uses this language, and so we cannot ignore it. And I could write an entire chapter (or even a book) on what the Lord says about motherhood. So instead, I’ll focus on the last question about women who aren’t mothers. God was kind to begin the creation story by letting us know that all men and women are made in his image; therefore, unmarried women are no less significant than mothers. Also, because all the Word is useful, all females can be encouraged and challenged by what they read in regard to women in the Word. So the question is, what can we learn about God when we read these Scriptures? That’s how we all—including my unmarried sisters—should approach this passage.
If 1 Timothy 2:9–15 were the whole of Scripture, we might assume that salvation for women is somehow tied to childbearing, but of course it is not. The full witness of Scripture teaches that the basis of salvation is grace alone through Christ’s atoning death and not works (childbearing or anything else we can do). Therefore Paul must have referred to childbearing to represent Eve’s original (and perfect!) design as a life giver and perhaps her sphere as being more familial. Biologically, the woman alone has been designed to bear children. And while she can reject children or, for reasons known only to God, be denied them, this is one area of her design that a woman cannot exchange with a man. But as glorious as physically giving birth is, being a life giver involves so much more. It is that nurturing, maternal spirit that God has sovereignly placed within the woman’s design. It involves viewing children (her own and others) and younger women as gifts and as worthy of her time and best efforts.
Childbearing is one of the good works with which godly women are to adorn themselves. It’s just in a woman to want to have a baby, and as a Christian, the best way to extend your legacy is through your children— really, the best disciples you’re ever going to have are your kids. And yet we know that this world is broken. We have many women in our church who are dealing with prolonged, unwanted singleness. Many couples are walking through infertility and miscarriages. As we walk alongside them in their pain, we want to constantly encourage our church that their opportunity for influence extends well beyond their biological family.
Women who embrace who they are (their true identity) and fulfill God’s purpose will be rewarded. Motherhood reveals the nurturing, helping nature that God has formed in every woman’s heart. Mothers have such a high calling and privilege to train their children to follow Christ and to discover God’s purpose for their lives. I can’t think of a greater role in all the world; it is truly a gift from God. Those who cannot bear children are still called to be nurturers and minister to children and other women in a way that only a woman can. Women who are not mothers can be spiritual mothers to others and minister in a variety of ways.
Exactly. The life-giving aspect of our design in no way excludes single women. All women—married, single, with or without children—can nurture and speak life-giving words into other’s lives. And despite the loud disrespect and disregard for such “menial” work in our supposedly enlightened age, this role is still largely accepted in society. Most still expect the child with a bloodied knee to run to mom for comfort, most homemaking blogs are penned by women, and Hollywood borrows from God’s design every time the hero steps in and saves the damsel in distress rather than standing idly by or following in her steps. Being a life giver is huge! Ironically, we assign more respect to a woman spending eight hours at a computer in a cubicle than one speaking words of life to a discouraged husband or straying child. It is that nurturing spirit that creates the intangible atmosphere that makes a house a home. And while it may begin in her home, a life giver’s nurturing words and actions are often known throughout her sphere and beyond, sometimes throughout the world. Indeed, something powerful can happen when we align with and embrace our God-given design.
I am a mother by adoption. Two of our four children came to us at the age of seventeen out of the US foster care system. Many good Christians uttered their concern about adopting teenagers. Will they love us? Will they reject us? Will they hurt us? And what about my identity as a mother? Am I less of a mother to my children if I meet them as older teenagers? Am I not a “real” mother if I did not carry them in my body? Am I less of a disciple of Christ if I met him in middle age (as I did)? God constantly reveals to us his covenant love by forging impossible trails through the conflicts of our lives. But covenant love has earthly vessels. One earthly highway of God’s covenant love is the spiritual mothering that leads others to our Savior. Hospitality is a touchstone of the ministry that Kent and I share together. And for me, hospitality and mothering go together, as both flow out of the doctrine of adoption and both require hands-on service and consistent and sacrificial love.
[1] Mary Kassian and Nancy Leigh DeMoss, True Woman 101: Divine Design (Chicago: Moody, 2012), 188.
