The cultural cry and assault upon womanhood and motherhood have resounded as a loud drumbeat throughout the nation in recent years. One of the nation's largest family entertainment companies, Disney, is busily deconstructing what family means. Parents' rights are sidelined as educators indoctrinate children with the LGBTQ agenda and gender fluidity. In healthcare, hospital birth certificates provide the gender option "unknown" to allow children to choose one of over 69 genders (which soon will be a hundred) when they "feel" ready. Regarding motherhood, healthcare, and "women's rights," infanticide is up for a vote in California, and abortion is the leading cause of death in the United States. Biological women are taking second place in sports to men who wish to identify as women. And a newly appointed Supreme Court Justice declared it takes a biologist to define what a woman is. We have gone beyond confusion! Consider how baffling it is that a man wants to identify as a woman but can't even identify what a woman is!
Many attempting to remove any moral boundaries in raising this next generation would do well to recall a failed education experiment conducted years ago that removed fences from an elementary school playground. Hoping to discover children would feel more unrestrained and thus be more creative by removing the fence, they found the opposite effect—children in playgrounds with no fences dared not explore near the edges. They stayed far from the borders, with young children clinging to their teacher, fearful of leaving her sight. The designated boundary gave the children confidence to explore the entire space—and moral boundaries also provide security and protection.
It is no small wonder the increase of anxiety, depression, and even suicide among our youth has risen to such high levels, given the casting away of all moral restraint provided by our Creator God. He has told us who we are in His Word, and we find much more joyful freedom in discovering life while respecting His clear direction and distinctions found in the Bible. Rejecting His life-giving constraints comes at a high cost—even the most apparent and typically most robust connections of the mother-child bond are in danger of collapsing without a clear boundary.
Isaiah 29:15 says, "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you."
Can a woman forget? Can a mother forget who she is and who she is called to be? How is it even possible that a mother may forget her nursing child?
Can a godless society wear and erode that maternal bond away?
The constant propaganda of a godless society has led to a declining marriage rate and increasing divorce rate, leaving many more single moms forced to provide for children alone. Morality is absent regarding sex, sexuality, commitment, and family values. Consider also the impertinence of "experts" ridiculing instruction from the Bible, leading to the steady increase of narcissism. Stay-at-home mothers have been looked down upon and belittled for far too long!
Have we forgotten how profound an impact a mother truly has? Has she lost her value and her elevated place in society? Are many women now convinced their role as mom is nothing compared to career and business success despite the volumes of books and studies that extoll motherhood?
Countless biographies of great men and women attribute their success to their mothers. Thomas Edison, labeled as unteachable in school, said, "My mother was the making of me." Because she believed in him and homeschooled him, he excelled despite his dyslexia. Mothers have a massive influence acting as proxies for God's tender care in the home. Much better outcomes occur in families who uphold respect for a biblical framework for their children's identity, training, and nurturing in the ways of God.
What a great responsibility we have and owe to the next generation. When my daughter decided to homeschool her children, she remarked, "I didn't want to deprive them of the great experience you gave me homeschooling." Other parents sacrifice by placing their children in private or Christian schools, seeking to protect them from politically-motivated notions poisoning the wells of one-time great public schools. What powerful influence and hope for our nation when all mothers—single, married, grandmothers, step-mothers, adoptive mothers, foster mothers, mothers of children living and gone, spiritual mothers, and all other mothers—are once again celebrated and supported. We need to dispel the progressive nonsense of those who seek to remove the ancient borders of God's design and definition of womanhood and motherhood. Let's put the fence back up! We owe the next generation the kind of stability and security we received before the confusing tower of Babel in education walked us away from common sense.
Women can be anything, but only women can be mothers—and a mother is a beautiful representation of God's great care for you in sending His own Son to love and care for you sacrificially. He gave His life for you on Calvary's Cross!
By Pastor Lloyd Pulley, Calvary Chapel Old Bridge, NJ
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