How to Be a Spiritually Healthy Mother
Becoming a spiritually healthy mother will have a lasting impact on your children. Learn the top 10 ways to be a spiritually healthy mom.
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Spiritually Healthy Motherhood
Are you melting down, mom raging out at your children? Are you going through the motions, being obedient to God in what you’re supposed to do, but ultimately resenting Him and cursing Him under your breath? Are you new to motherhood? New to knowing Jesus? And unsure of how to become a better wife and mom? Are you simply searching for how to better love your children as a mother found in Christ? If any of the above, then this is the post for you!
What is Spiritually Healthy Motherhood?
The basis of being a spiritually healthy mother is to have a right relationship with God. If you do not yet know, Jesus, this post can still be helpful for you.
God created us to be with Him, but when we sinned, we separated ourselves from God. Our sin has earned us death, because we have chosen to do evil over loving God. But Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God, came down to earth as a Man and lived a perfect, sinless life. When He died on the cross, He did it in our place, as a willing sacrifice for our sins. When Jesus rose again he defeated sin and death. When we put our faith in Jesus, that He died and rose again for the forgiveness of sins, we will be saved. His blood will cover the cost of our sins and we will have a right relationship with God.
When our faith is in Jesus and we have the power of the living God, dwelling within us, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us as moms. A spiritually healthy mom can defeat mom rage, learn to age gracefully as a godly young woman, remember why being a toddler mom is the absolute best, and encourage herself with the Word of God.
Check out my favorite journalling Bible here!
How to Be a Spiritually Healthy Mother
Here are the top ten habits of a spiritually healthy mother:
1. Ask for Forgiveness
A spiritually healthy mom is not hindered by pride but is able to ask her children for forgiveness. In other words, a spiritually healthy mom repents.
According to 1 John, one can not have a right relationship with God if they are in discord with another person. Consequently, in order to have a right vertical relationship (an upward relationship with God), a spiritually healthy mom needs to have right horizontal relationships (relationships with people). This includes her children, first and foremost.
Therefore, in order to be spiritually healthy, when you mess up, miss the mark, or flat out sin against your children, go and confess to them. Ask for their forgiveness and get your relationship in order with them.
This will also help your children understand what true Christianity is. Instead of thinking it’s a set of rules that must be followed, you will show them that God cares about the heart. He knows we will mess up and just wants us to turn from those ways and come back to Him. Christ is not calling us to be perfect, but to come to the throne of grace with a humble and contrite heart, confessing our sins so He can cleanse us. Jesus can redeem you as a mother.
By confessing your sins against your children you are giving them the ultimate lesson of Christianity, keeping yourself spiritually healthy, and releasing your children from bitterness and resentment that may grow in them against you.
2. Forgive
Similarly, a spiritually healthy mother forgives her children. When her children wrong her, she forgives them and casts their sin as far as the east is from the west. This will also demonstrate a true relationship with God to your children in a more powerful way than you can ever explain. This will show a relationship with the God who forgives. You as the mother, act as an ambassador of God to your children. Therefore, when you totally forgive your children for their sins, it will set them up with the expectation that God will completely and utterly forgive them too.
3. Love Unconditionally
In addition to absolute forgiveness, a spiritually healthy mother loves unconditionally. The characteristics of unconditional love are:
- Unconditional love is other centered rather than self centered.
- Unconditional love has no expectations; meaning it loves freely and regardless of how the other person responds.
- Unconditional love is sacrificial.
Love is what drives everything. Without love everything is meaningless. The Bible says, “Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a fatted calf with hatred” (Prov 15:17). Love is what makes the feast, love is the bond of perfection.
You need to treat your children the same way that God treats you. Not only for your own spiritual health, but for your children. The Bible says that “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Meaning, because God loved us first, we fell in love with Him. You will want to do the same thing for your children. You want your love to be so irresistible, so true, so unending, that your children can’t help but love you back. This is turn will give them a true taste of God’s love for them, which will help orient their hearts toward Jesus. Which is the ultimate goal of a spiritually healthy mother.
4. Retreat
Jesus often retreated to go and be with His Father. In order to be spiritually healthy, you must spend time with God.
Every season of motherhood is different and allows for varying amounts of time we can devote to quiet time with God. And easy way to start out is with a short morning prayer for moms. While it is difficult to find time to spend with God, it is crucial. It is a command. You can make time for God, especially since He’s the one who gives you time! Make sure you are giving God the first fruits of your time and making time for Him above all else.
Be comforted that God sees you and knows your heart. Even if it’s only fifteen minutes a day, if you are putting God first in your heart, He will see that and He will honor that.
5. Nourish
Just as a healthy and fit mom exercises and nourishes herself, so a spiritually healthy mom must nourish herself. how do you feed yourself spiritually? By reading the Bible, praying daily, submitting to God’s Word and His ultimate truth, staying in fellowship with other moms, going to church, etc. In order to be spiritually healthy, you must nourish yourself regularly!
6. Equip
Equip yourself with the Word of God by memorizing Scripture. That way you will always have it handy and at the ready whenever you need it. You will be able to talk about it with your children, pray using Bible verses, encourage yourself in the Lord, and meditate on the Word day and night without having to use a physical Bible. Storing up God’s Word in your heart is like storing up treasure in your heart. It will be full of beauty and wisdom and will keep you abiding in Christ. Meaning, you will remain spiritually healthy,
7. Give Us This Day
Being a spiritually healthy mom is a matter of discipline and endurance. There is no end goal other than heaven and the race will not be finished until you get there. In order to run the race God has marked out for you, you need to fix your eyes on Jesus. God’s given you a plethora of promises in Scripture that He will provide whatever you need. All He needs is for you to be a willing participant on a daily basis.
So if you have given Jesus your life in faith and are saved, continue to do that as you walk with Him. Lay your life down everyday for Him. Submit to His Word on a daily basis. Trust Him in faith on a daily basis. Take it one day at a time just as Jesus teaches in the Lord’s prayer, to give us just this day our daily bread.
8. Listen
Listen closely for God’s still small voice in your life. Be constantly seeking Him with your whole heart and you will find Him.
You have the Holy Spirit, the perfect Counselor, dwelling in you. So whenever you need help, whenever you need wisdom from God, just ask and He will give it to you. Just listen. God uses a rod and a staff to gently guide His sheep. Wait for those nudges and follow that guide. Ask God to give you eyes to see and ears to hear what He’s trying to tell you. The more you practice daily repentance and forgiveness, the easier this will all be.
9. Flee from Sin
It is hopefully painfully obvious but in order to be spiritually healthy, you must resist sin. God promises that when we resist the devil he will flee from us and that, while God allows us to be tempted, He always provides a way out of that temptation.
In order to flee from sin we must run toward God. You can not just “white knuckle” your way out of a sin that is desiring to overcome you. In contrast, you must replace it with a good thing. The way out of sin is to draw near to God. Do this by confessing, repenting, forgiving, and loving God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Get in close communion with Jesus and fall more in love with Him all the time.
10. Cast Your Burdens Down
Jesus tells us that His burden is easy and His yoke is light. You might question the validity of this statement sometimes as an overwhelmed, over encumbered mom. However, because Jesus said it, we must submit to it that it is true
If you are feeling like the burden God is placing you is too heavy, then cast your burden down on Him. Lean your shoulder down so Jesus can come alongside you. A yoke is the apparatus that holds to ox together so they can plow together in tandem. God wants to walk with you. He will do the heavy lifting on His end of that yoke if you will let Him. But you still need to walk.
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How do you practice spiritually healthy motherhood?
