The Love of a Mother

As Mother’s Day wound down I found myself having this thought: what if a child could approach her mother with a real understanding of all that’s gone into her life from her mother's perspective? All the sacrifices and prayer and love and pain and joy. And what if she had the wisdom of a mother while yet being a child and could knowledgeably say “thank you”? If one of my kiddos did that to me, I'd respond, “I’d do it all again.” 

That’s the love of a mother. Doesn’t matter what we’ve been through to see you through, we’d do it all again. All. Of. It. Why? Because we love unconditionally. And we wouldn’t want to miss out on you. You’re worth it. You’re our “pride and joy.” We’ve watched you sleep and kissed your forehead. We’ve snuggled you to chase off remnants of a bad dream. We’ve prayed over your fevered body. We’ve nursed and nurtured and cherished you. You’re our child. 

And that’s when it hit me: that’s how God, how Jesus, feels about you and me. If we had the wisdom and understanding and could knowledgeably say “thank You” for all He’s done for us, for the cross, for creation, for new life, for our future and forgiveness and freedom from our pasts, He’d say “I’d do it all again. For you. You’re worth it. You’re precious to Me. You’re the apple of My eye. I adore you. I love you. I’m so glad you’re Mine.” 

When Jesus walked the earth, He likened Himself to a hen gathering her chicks close to protect them. That’s a beautiful picture of mothering. And His willingness to sacrifice for us, the same. It’s the kind of unconditional love people respond to because we were made to. 

And even if we didn’t have mothers (or fathers) who loved us unconditionally, God can fill up that place inside us. He does love us unconditionally. We don’t have to earn it. We’ll never understand it. 

We just have the great privilege of embracing it.