Proverbs 6:20-23 A Mother’s Teaching

Proverbs 6:20-23 A Mother’s Teaching

Dan Baber honored his mother by posting an auction on eBay titled “Best Mother in the World.” The winning bidder would receive an email from his mom, Sue Hamilton, that would “make you feel like you are the most special person on the earth.” During the auction’s seven-day run, 42,711 people—enough to fill most major league baseball stadiums—took a look. Ninety-two offered a bid, pushing the price from a $1 opening to a $610 closing. Isn’t it interesting how people will pay for something most mothers give for free?1

Today is Mother’s Day. We spend time today to honor mothers and their contribution in our lives. Parents are given the responsibility of instruction in the home. While a father commands, a mother teaches. The Bible shares an important truth about the role of mothers. They teach. The purpose of teaching is the same as the commandments of the father:

“For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.” (Proverbs 6:23, HCSB)

A parent’s job is to show the child the way of life. God has appointed parents with this high honor and responsibility. Today, we honor the mother’s contribution. Let me share with you five different teaching methods of moms. They teach the family in different ways.

“When you walk here and there, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you. For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.” (Proverbs 6:22–23, HCSB)

FIVE DIFFERENT TEACHING METHODS OF MOMS

1. TIME

“When you walk here and there….” (Proverbs 6:22, HCSB)

The first teaching method of a mom is to spend time with them. They spend the first nine months with a child, and then after birth, they spend more time with them. Children need time with their moms. In order to teach someone you have to spend time with them. As a mom, you have the greatest opportunity to mentor your children if you spend time with them. Yes, you have other commitments and in today’s world you may have to provide for the family financially. However, your first commitment to your children is the time you spend with them.

2. EXAMPLE

“When you walk here and there, they will guide you…” (Proverbs 6:22, HCSB)

When you spend time with your mother, she guides you. This leads to the second teaching method. You set an example for your children. When you walk here and there, your children are going to follow you where you go. They will do whatever you do, say whatever you say. The eventually become what kind of person you want them to be when you share your time with them. Spending time with your children sets an example. Not spending time with your children also sets an example with your children. The most positive thing you can do for your children is walk and talk with them.

3. PRAYER

“When you lie down, they will watch over you;” (Proverbs 6:22, HCSB)

The third teaching method of a mother is an unseen one. It is prayer. You can spend time with them. You can set an example for them. However, there will be times when all you can do is pray for your children. You can only watch over your children and let God guide them.

4. INSTRUCTION

“When you wake up, they will talk to you. For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.” (Proverbs 6:22–23, HCSB)

The fourth teaching method of a mother is instruction. I don’t know about you, but usually when I woke up as a child, the way mom talked to me was like this:

“Get out of bed. It’s time to go to school.” Then I would hear it again. “Get out of bed.” If I heard it a third time, there was cold water coming. So when a mom talks to you, it can be a conversation, but many times it is a teaching moment. Notice that the Bible compares teaching to a light. Light gives direction. It leads you somewhere. That’s the point of a mom’s instruction: She is trying to lead you somewhere – to the way of life.

5. OBEDIENCE

“When you walk here and there, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you. For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light, and corrective discipline is the way to life.” (Proverbs 6:22–23, HCSB)

The fifth and final teaching method of a mom is obedience. Moms teach because they also obey. Notice that the father commands. The command is the lamp, which gives the light. So a mom teaches her children by her submission to the husband. She teaches obedience.

This is not to insult, degrade, or take away from single-parents. Because they have to do both roles at the same time. That’s hard. Its much easier to let someone else make some of the leadership decisions in the home. You don’t have all the responsibility.

Yet we live in a society that needs to know that the way of life. A mom’s submission to dad, points to her ultimate submission to Jesus Christ. Just as a mom obeys dad, she should also obey Her Lord and Master Jesus Christ. Parents point their children to life here on Earth. Jesus points people to the Way to Eternal Life.

“Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6, HCSB)

To end, let me share with you this poem from John Killinger’s book Lost in Wonder, Love, and Praise, which includes the following affirmation:

I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God,

who was born of the promise to a virgin named Mary.

I believe in the love Mary gave her Son,

that caused her to follow him in his ministry

and stand by his cross as he died.

I believe in the love of all mothers,

and its importance in the lives of the children they bear.

It is stronger than steel, softer than down,

and more resilient than a green sapling on the hillside.

It closes wounds, melts disappointments,

and enables the weakest child to stand tall

and straight in the fields of adversity.

I believe that this love, even at its best,

is only a shadow of the love of God,

a dark reflection of all that we can expect of him,

both in this life and the next.

And I believe that one of the most beautiful sights

in the world is a mother who lets this greater love

flow through her to her child,

blessing the world with the tenderness of her touch

and the tears of her joy.2

1 Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 289. Originally shared in “A Mother’s Touch,” Focus on the Family Citizen (July 2002).