Mother's Day
Mother’s Day is just around the corner. I hope you can take some time to express your gratitude to your mom in some tangible ways. This is not to say that her love is perfect, or the way she shows her love is always right, or she always knows the correct thing to do. By now, you may see many flaws in your mom’s love. I’m sure your mom, too, is painfully aware of the many mistakes she has made in raising you. But I hope you see that love can be genuine without being perfect.
Every modern family may be dysfunctional in some way. Even so, the word “family” communicates a deep feeling of love and intimacy:
“All that is beautiful in human relationship, or tender in human affection, or gentle in human intercourse; all that is lovable and precious in the movements of a human heart from its lowest depth to its uppermost surface--all these are wrapt up in the one word: family. For close-knit bonds, for steadfast faithfulness in love, for depth of sympathy, for endurance in trial and danger--where shall we find anything that can be compared with the story of earth’s family circles? Conjugal love, parental love, filial love, brotherly love, sisterly love--all are here. The many streams of human affection empty themselves into it, or flow out of it, for the fertility and gladness of the earth” (Horatius Bonar).
We must say that mother’s love is the queen of all human loves in its strength, tenacity, longevity, and sacrifice. Conjugal love may be the most intimate form of human love. But when couples fall out of love, they can turn into mortal enemies. Not so with mother’s love: “A child may outgrow his mother’s lap, but he will never outgrow her love”: “A woman cannot do what a mother can do.”
The Bible affirms and honors the power of maternal love. It is used as the supreme expression of human love to describe God’s surpassing love: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands...” (Isaiah 49:15-16). We know how even mothers can forget their children when dementia sets in. But God will never forget. Dementia may cause us to forget even who we are, but God will never forget those who are His; He will never let go of them.
We would not be who we are without the love and care of our parents and many others, who have taken an interest in us and contributed to our formation in a myriad of ways. We should be grateful for each of them. But the sad reality is that they come and go. They might have forgotten about us as we have forgotten about them. Some may even hate us now. Their love for us is limited and imperfect just as our love is for them. Even in loving one another, we cannot help but disappoint and hurt one another in the process.
If we forget this reality and seek someone else to satisfy our thirst for love, we are bound to be disappointed. We should appreciate our mothers’ love, but we are keenly aware of its limitations, too. Their love may be genuine, but it is far from perfect. As a parent, I often find myself stuck between my intense love for my children and the painful awareness of my helplessness to do anything about it.
Human love is but a faint reflection of divine love. We are capable of love because God, who is love (1 John 4:8), made us in His image and first loved us. Our love is not only limited and imperfect but also tainted by sin. So, we can hurt even the ones we love the most. God wants to redeem our love by saving us. To that end, God showed us His perfect and redeeming love in Jesus Christ: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). This surpassing love alone can satisfy us and, in doing so, purify our love. We invite you to receive this love that redeems, satisfies, and purifies us by trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.