Earlier this week, the big news was about the nation celebrating Mother’s Day Weekend. Mother’s Day is a unique holiday celebrated worldwide to emphasize the need for and sacrifice of mothers.
Typically, consumer spending usually rises over the holiday weekend. But this year in the United States consumer spending was down 14% in the United States due to the economy. Mother’s Day is normally a time when families get together with loved ones to celebrate the mother of the family.
The holiday originated in the United States nearly 120 years ago to honor mothers and their importance to the family unit. Honoring our mothers and parents is a basic teaching of both Judaism and Christianity. Christianity emphasizes the role and place of motherhood (Titus 2:4-5):
- Blessing
- Responsibilities
- Teaching
- Nurturing
Mothers play an important part in raising children. They help nurture children physically and spiritually, and often are the spiritual leaders in the home. Mothers have a special bond with their children that transcends the physical.
Throughout nature, we can see mothers nurturing, disciplining, and teaching babies and offspring to help them survive life.
What is Teaching
Listening to and obeying teaching is how we grow and mature or regress, depending on what we do with what we learn. Teaching is a crucial aspect of life; that’s why we spend the first few decades of our lives getting trained and educated in one form or another.
A teaching is defined as “something taught; doctrine.” We don’t simply learn to have the knowledge, education is meant to be used and applied to our lives. Teaching isn’t always a comforting or happy experience. Sometimes we have to learn lessons the hard way.
Good parents don’t always give children what they want or strive to make them happy. It’s the parents’ responsibility to teach their children basic life skills and necessities. These teachings are instilled in children years before they ever enter an educational system, public or private.
Because we all have a sinful nature, we must be taught the difference between right and wrong. A brother’s men’s ministry once shared,” No one has to teach their children to be bad, that comes naturally; the hard part is teaching our children to be good.”
There is so much spiritual truth in that because, like Adam and Eve, we ignore the teaching and warnings of God and listen to our sinful hearts (Genesis 3:1-7). As sinful humans, we must be taught and disciplined to do what is right, instead of following our sinful hearts and doing wrong (Romans 7:15-25).
That is why the Bible has a lot to say about teaching, discipline, and parenthood. God’s people have to be trained and taught to be more like God and less like the world (Romans 12:1-4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 4:23-24, Colossians 3:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Peter 1:14). The apostles remembered their Jewish education about teaching and instructions.
Tôrâ
The ancient world followed the ways of the poisoned heart and flesh. It entertained the sinful nature of man. God called His people out of the darkness and set them apart for Himself (Exodus 19:5-6, Deuteronomy 7:6, Isaiah 43:20-21).
Like a parent, God had to teach His people to be different from the corrupt and fallen world. God’s people had to be taught to do what is right also (Psalm 25:9-10, Proverbs 21:3). The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for teaching is tôrâ and it can also mean, “Law, instruction, custom, or manner,” depending on the context it is used in.
I have already shared in a previous post how Judaism emphasizes education to help God’s people learn the ways in teachings of God. Our 10 Commandments are the basic Jewish teachings of Judaism that are meant to change how God’s people live and treat others:
- I am the Lord thy God who brought you out of Egypt
- You shall have no other gods besides God, do not make any graven image.
- Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.
- Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
- Honor your mother and father.
- You shouldn’t murder.
- Don’t commit adultery.
- Thou shall not steal.
- Do not lie.
- Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor.
Since Jesus was a Jewish Rabbi, He often reminded His Disciples and followers of the basic teachings of Judaism (Matthew 19:16-19, Luke 18:20). Jesus emphasized the need to be like children so that we can be taught and understand the teachings and ways of God (Matthew 18:1-35, Mark 10:13-16).
He taught that the Kingdom of God belongs to those who can be taught like children (Luke 18:15-17, John 3:1-36). Jesus emphasized the need to honor our parents and obey our Heavenly Father (Matthew 15:4, John 14:15).
The Menendez Brothers
This week, there was finally big news about the Menendez brothers, who killed their parents 36 years ago. They have been resentenced so that they will be eligible for parole at some point.
The brothers are notorious for killing their father and mother in the late 80s and then going on a spending spree wasting and enjoying their parent’s money after they died. I remember first hearing about this in the news when I was in school and thinking, boy we really are living in the last days (Matthew 10:21, Mark 13:12).
I am not attempting to judge or protect the brothers here, but to use them as an example. My issues are more with their parents who failed them by not doing basic things for their children:
- Loving
- Protecting
- Providing
- Teaching
As an older adult without children of my own, I cannot speak from experience, but from a basic understanding of the concept of parenthood. As a child of God, I don’t have all of the answers; I depend on God for His teaching and wisdom.
Like everyone else need His love, discipline, and forgiveness. All too often, God’s people become puffed up and think we have all of the answers or know better than others, just because we claim to follow God. In our pride, we have forgotten God’s basic tôrâ!
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