Helping Good Mothers to Become Better Mothers

Introduction
God commanded us to honour our fathers and mothers: that our days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God given us (Exodus 20:12). However, the book of Proverb chapter 31 specifically admonished us to honour virtuous women, good wives, and good mothers. That chapter also gave us a very good description of a good wife and a good mother. A good mother does something more than giving birth to babies. The Bible contains a classic description of the great woman who is also a good mother. The good wife who is to be a good mother is declared to be the most precious possession a man can have (Prov. 31:10). However, we can all help the good mother to become a better mother. This we shall see soon.

I) The Proverb 31 woman/mother
A. She is trustworthy (Prov. 31:11). She is reliable and responsible.
B. She is benevolent (Prov. 31:12). The good mother is good to her husband and good to her children. She knows how to spell the word "love" with the letters G-I-V-E. She knows how to spell the word "love" with the letters H-E-L-P.
C. She is industrious (Prov. 31:31). The wise man describes the great woman and the good mother as one who was not completely domesticated and confined to the household (cf. 31:16,18,24). She is described as one whose work continues from sun till sun (Prov. 31:27).
D. She has a good self-image (Prov. 31:25).
E. She is compassionate (Prov. 31:20).
1. Toward her husband.
2. Toward her children.
3. Attitude which extends beyond the family circle.
F. She makes constructive use of her tongue (Prov. 3 1:26).

II) How can we help the good mothers to become better mothers?
A. Good mother must help herself to be a better mother.
1. Make yourself a good gift of God to your husband. The wise man said the gifts of God are always good. God wants to help you be one of His best gifts to your husband (see Prov. 18:22).
2. Be the real gift of God to your children. Every child deserves the right to be wanted, accepted, and appreciated. Love them irrespective of their individual inadequacies.

B. The husband has much to contribute toward helping his wife become a better and great mother.
1. Accept your wife as a precious gift from God. She needs your help, your support, your encouragement, your partnership.
2. Love your wife as Christ loved the church so sacrificially that He was willing to give Himself for it upon the cross (Eph. 5:25-27). There must be sacrificial love toward each other if you both want to become better parents.
3. Love your wife as you love your own body (Eph. 5:28-33). The biblical concept of marriage is a unity or a one flesh relationship. The husband and wife are seen as a union of two personalities into a union of completion.
4. Be grateful for your wife (Prov. 31:28). We have a healthy and wholesome opinion of ourselves when we see respect in the eyes of others and hear words of appreciation from their lips.
5. Men dwell with your wife with understanding for your own good and her own sanity – 1 Peter 3:7-9. A lot depends on this factor. Treat your wife with reverence, respect, and courtesy (1 Peter 3:7). Peter declares that a man is responsible to God for the manner in which he relates himself to his wife. If he mistreats her, he will disrupt his fellowship with God and will be unable to have his prayers answered. The apostle declares that a man is responsible for helping his wife be a good wife and a better mother.
6. Pray for your wife. She needs your help. She needs the Lord's help. Lift her up before God's throne of grace and ask Him to help her with all her problems and with all her needs.
C. The children have much to contribute toward helping their mother become a better and great mother.
1. Be thoughtful toward your mother. Do not take her for granted.
2. Become someone that your mother can be proud of and grateful for. Guard against ever conducting yourself in such a manner as to embarrass your mother.
3. Be grateful for your mother. Do not hesitate to express appreciation and praise to your mother.
4. Be helpful to your mother. She has many responsibilities and duties, and you can be helpful to her by doing all you can to take care of yourself and your own things.

CONCLUSION
It is not easy being a mother if it were easy, fathers would carry pregnant for 9 months, breast feed and nurture the babies for 3-5 years. Mothers will never stop being mothers, even when their children are grown. Let’s celebrate them, they deserve to be honoured, we are commanded in Proverbs 31:31 to honour them. No wonder the Mother’s Day is the 3rd most celebrated holiday, just after Christmas and Easter. Let’s support them to become a better version of themselves. Happy Mother’s day.