“Like mother, like daughter” Ezekiel 16:44

The story is told of a young bride who was preparing a large piece of beef for lunch. The husband was shocked and mystified when she cut one end off the beef and threw it away. “Why did you do that?” he asked. “Because my mother always did,” replied the wife.

A few weeks later the husband was visiting his mother-in-law and said, “Your daughter tells me you always cut one end off the beef before you roast it and I was wondering why you do that?” “Well,” replied the mother, “I do it because my mother did it. Why not ask her?” So the husband phoned his wife’s grandmother and asked her why she always cut one end off the beef before she cooked it. To which she replied, “I never owned a roasting pan large enough to hold a large cut of beef. Why do you ask?”

Yes, the influence of a mother over her child is profound. As the Bible says, “Like mother, like daughter” Ezekiel 16:44. That’s a sobering thought. Mothers possess power and influence over their children. The example they provide influences their sons and daughters as children and adults. As Charles Dickens said, “The virtues of the mothers shall be visited on their children …”

It’s therefore not surprising that the mother of Sir Walter Scott enjoyed poetry and music. George Washington formed his habits of orderliness and business from his mother. Charles Wesley developed his love for the Word of God from his mother Susannah. And Arthur Compton, the Nobel prize winner, had his love for astronomy cultivated when his parents gave him a telescope as a small boy.

This raises a simple question, “Mother, what kind of an example are you giving to your children?”

As you consider your answer why not contemplate the following. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” Which is basically saying that children need a mother who will teach them right from wrong. Children need a mother who will inspire them toward high ideals. And society needs mothers who will model righteousness and truth so that these same values will become apparent in the lives of our children.

That’s quite a challenge. But God gives mothers the ability to train up their children in the way they should go. When mothers turn to God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, they take the first step toward successful motherhood.

So, if you haven’t done so already, begin with a personal relationship with God. Place your trust in Jesus and He will give you the strength and resources to nurture your children in His ways. As it says in Romans 10:9’ “… if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Do that today. For when you do, you will have taken the first step toward one day being able to say, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” 3 John :4.