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1 Corinthians 13:4-7 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

It is in the embrace of our mothers where most of us initially learn the reality and essentialness of love.  Motherhood is the divinely designed relationship where we often find the greatest picture of love outside of the cross of Christ.

Although the above passage from 1 Corinthians 13 can and has been used in many aspects, especially when describing love between men and women in marriage, there is an essential definition of love that is prevalent in almost every mother you meet.  Mothers indeed love, and this kind of love is so often sacrificial.

I would go so far as to replace the word love with the name of my own mother, my wife, my mother in law, my sister and thousands of other mothers I have known, as they epitomize the example of what true, holy and Godly love looks like.  The love between a mother and her children are one of the true human examples of God’s love for us.

Motherhood is not something that comes to every woman, but every woman has the opportunity to show and embody the description of true love.  With that, not every person has had a great and loving experience with their mother, nor has everyone found their mother to be all they wanted them to be.  In either case, there is still an opportunity for love to be sown into a life and that love allowed to grow into a love able to be passed on to someone else.

I want to take this opportunity to say a special thank you to one particular mother.  I am astonished every day as I watch my wife do the amazing job of being mom to our kids.  She is the very example of this passage and she does it without considering the cost to herself.  Thank you, Emily, for showing holy, Godly love to our kids.  You have and continue to be the example of Christ in the home our children must have to understand, know and love God and others.

I would like to encourage all of us to find ways to show our support and encouragement and especially love, not just one Sunday a year, but all of the time.  Our moms need to know that we see them and they need to know that they are loved and appreciated!

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV  That is Good News!

Rev. Brad McKenzie is Lead Pastor at Orange First Church of the Nazarene, 3810 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Orange.