So many women long to be mothers, dreaming of birthing their own children and offering a loving home to a little one. I cannot begin to feel that pain, even though I have dear friends who have endured the heartache and grief in the loss of children they have only known in their hearts.
Many Christians would like to suggest that spiritual motherhood is the answer to their loss. It is not. Deep pain is not comforted by a second best. Only the Lord can heal that wound, in His own timing and way.
However, I do believe that all women are called to spiritual motherhood — simply put, to answer the call of Titus 2 by mentoring, loving, and training the next generation of women, and even young men in the appropriate ways a mother ought to teach their son. Unfortunately, most of us feel inadequate in this department. We pigeon-hole the Titus 2 woman, expecting her to be a silver-haired, season gal, seeking to teach us how to become a Godly woman. The reality is that the Scriptures do not call us to look for an older woman. No, the Scriptures instruct us clearly…
Titus 2:3-5
Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they
live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be
self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to
their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
Be reverent in the way we live.
Don’t slander.
Don’t be addicted to wine.
Teach what is good.
Train the younger women to love their husbands and children.
Train them to be self-controlled and pure.
Train them to be busy at home.
Train them to be kind.
Train them to be subject to their husbands.
It really isn’t that complicated. We just need to not bring our emotional baggage to bear on these instructions, and we need to assume that God’s best is inherent in them (even when we don’t understand why). We need to live this out in our family, with our children, and with all the younger women God has put in our lives. That may simply be our neighbor who is only a year younger than us, but just a babe in the Lord, or a young teen gal, who has loved the Lord since birth, but needs other women aside from her mother to speak into her life.
Susan Hunt in Spiritual Mothering: The Titus 2 Model for Women Mentoring Women, has done a wonderful job compiling a book that illustrates living out the Titus 2 instruction within the church. It is rich with Scripture, encouragement, challenging application, and poignant illustrations, appropiate for women of all ages. I have found myself inspired in unexpected ways, sharpening my perspective on motherhood, in ministry, and in all the ways I have daily contact with God’s girls. This particular book could be used in so many ways, from a Bible study to a leadership training guide. I’ve enjoyed leisurely reading a chapter a week, soaking in all the wisdom Hunt has compiled in one fantastic book.
I am so grateful to Crossway publishers for the opportunity to review Spiritual Mothering: The Titus 2 Model for Women Mentoring Women. I highly recommend you pick up your copy today!
Because of Him,
Lisa is passionate about her vocation as wife to Stephen and mother to Leah (9), Abby (7), Luke (3), and Kaitlyn (3). She also considers it a privilege to share about God’s extravagant grace, especially with her children, as well as women and teenage girls, through relationships, writing/speaking, her website, www.extravagantgrace.net and ministry, Women with a Mission – http://wowam.blogspot.com.
Great teaching ladies!
I was very touched that you would acknowledge the heartache of so many women who have been affected by infertility and loss. And without diminishing the pain of their experiences, still put out a call for spiritual mothering. Your sensitivity touched my heart. God bless.
Awesome review.
Excellent review. Thank you for sharing your insights with it and encouraging others to pick it up.