I have had many mothers of faith in my life. Amongst these women my actual Mum is first. She has had maximum care and influence over my life. Of course I honour her first. But my sense of family is extended by other key women who have been my mothers of faith.

There was Aunty Pauline, my mum’s closest friend. Pauline knew me all my life. She loved me as a son, and could bring me into line, like a son. She taught me prayer and how to hear God’s voice. There is Aunty Dot. She has a love for song, a big heart for people, and love for God. She has firm loving strength for her very large family. She ‘taught’ me to play any song by listening carefully. She gave me my strong sense of family connection to the Ngarrindjeri people. There is Aunty Mary, Aunty Anne, Aunty Margie, Aunty Hazel…and more. So many mothers of faith!

Church can be our extended family of faith. Timothy was encouraged by Paul:

“Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.” (1 Tim 5:1-2)

Generally, our society has separated our generations and families. We are individualised and nuclear. This sense of wider family is almost lost. Has this carried into church? Are children in church growing up with an extended family of faith? I know I love being loved by my many mothers of faith. Do our children know this extended family love? Something to ponder. Something to address? Hopefully something you can thank God for: your mother, and your mothers.

In Him,

Jason

Photo by Xavier Mouton Photographie on Unsplash