Those of us who were blessed to have good mothers know that Mama is your first true friend. No one will defend you like a mother who loves you. She never stops believing in you and never lets anyone bully you without consequences. Anyone who comes after you immediately becomes her mortal enemy. There is nothing you can do to make a good mother stop loving you, believing in you, and sticking up for you.
My mom has stood up for me since the day I was born. To this day, she calls me her “sweet boy,” even though I’m now a 44-year old man.
There are some blind spots when it comes to a mother’s love. When you love like a mother, you’re liable to get hurt. You’ll be taken advantage of or taken for granted. But if you ever learn to love another person with a mother’s love, you’ll also be that much closer to understanding the love of God.
We should never make the mistake of sentimentalizing or trivializing God’s love. It’s not the stuff of fairy tales. God’s love is gritty and tireless and tough. When you’re in trouble or under attack, God’s love is ferocious and protective. When others mean to harm you, God’s love burns hot with anger. The Bible analogizes God’s love to the love of a mother.
I will attack them like a mother bear, robbed of her cubs.
– Hosea 13:8
– Hosea 13:8
Can a woman forget her nursing child…even if these forget…I will never forget you.
– Isaiah 49:15
Jesus also revealed something about the maternal heart of God just before he rode into Jerusalem, where he knew he would be arrested and crucified, and he said,
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often have I desired to gather you under my wings as a mother hen gathers her chicks under her wings.”
– Matthew 23:37
– Matthew 23:37
Time and time again, the Bible compares God’s love for us to the way a good mother loves her babies. A mother’s love can never be deterred by your sins or your mistakes, and neither can the love of God. A mother’s love will always stand up for you, defend you, and protect you, in life and, if necessary, in death. And so will the love of God.
I don’t think we really grasp it. I’m not sure we internalize how loved we are by God. I look around at The Story, or at people in my city, or on social media, or just in the mirror at myself, and it’s clear that we’re all living like we have something to prove. We work and dress and shop and compete like it’s up to us to win the approval of others. We have a God who has promised to love us with a mother’s heart, but we choose to live desperately, as if we’re orphans on our own.
This Mother’s Day weekend, whether or not you have an earthly mother to celebrate, and whether or not you have kids of your own, I hope we all will take a moment to celebrate the unconditional, unstoppable, eternal love of God. And when we’re tempted to prove ourselves, may we instead choose to remember that God has already proven His love for us, and there is nothing left to prove.
Be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can anyone do to me?”
– Hebrews 13:5-6
– Hebrews 13:5-6
