Spiritual Motherhood
Mother’s Day tends to evoke a wide variety of emotions in people. What kind of emotions does it evoke in you? For me, this year it evokes joy and awe as I move closer to my due date with my first biological child. That has not always been the case, though. I have a good mother who taught me a lot about homemaking and Jesus and who has always been there to care for me and help with anything I need, although we have never had an emotionally close relationship. This has evoked some sadness from time to time as I acknowledge the kind of relationship I would have wished to have with her.
But the hardest thing about Mother’s Day for me over the years has been wondering whether I would ever have biological children of my own. I can now look back on those years with gratitude because the Lord used my singleness and childlessness to teach me the importance of spiritual reproduction.
Not to diminish in anyway biological motherhood, but there are treasures to be mined in the realm of spiritual motherhood, as well. While God allows some women to be biological mothers and some not, He invites every woman to be a spiritual mother- to participate in the spiritual formation of others. Another word for “spiritual formation” would be “discipleship”.