One of the primary characteristics of a mother is a mother’s love.

A mother loves her child no matter what they do. If you think about it, right from the beginning, children do nothing to deserve love. When they are in the womb they cause discomfort, morning sickness, and pain during the many months of pregnancy. And then there’s the pain childbirth.

And while they look cute when they come out, all they end up doing is eating, pooping, sleeping, and crying. They require constant attention with feedings every two to three hours, which means sleepless nights.

Yet mothers amazingly love them unconditionally.

How is it that when our kids are screaming, crying, and having temper tantrums a mother can still love them? How is it that when they grow up and make poor decisions, rejecting their parent’s advice and potentially the parents themselves, a mother, with a broken heart, can still love them?

Love like that is illogical; it doesn’t make sense, why would someone love without thought of return when the cost is so high. Where does that love come from? It comes from God; it is a gift from God.

The love a mother is God’s greatest example of the kind of love God has for us.

So powerful is a mother’s example of God’s love, the Apostle Paul uses it to understand how we are to love one another.

“But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us.” (1 Thessalonians 2:7-8)

Other than Jesus’ death on a cross, a mother’s love is the next closest human example of the kind of love God has for us, and the kind of love we are to demonstrate to each other. Mothers are then a glimpse of God’s unconditional love for us.

This Sunday on Mother’s Day we’ll be looking at a mother’s heart. Come join us at our 10 a.m. service.