05/11/2026
Happy Mother's Day! This is the lesson I presented at Gray's Point Christian Church yesterday. I hope everyone reads it and gets some encouragement from it, whether you are a mother or not, whether you had a great mother, or a broken one. [sorry about the weird formatting when I copied and pasted it.]
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Sermon Title: “Spiritual Motherhood: Raising People in the Faith”
Mother’s Day Sermon
by Tim Capehart
Introduction
Good morning, Family.
Today is Mother’s Day, a day of joy for many, nostalgia for some, but also a day that can carry pain for others. Some of you had wonderful mothers who loved you well. But nobody’s truly perfect. Still, many mothers strive for and succeed at being wonderful.
But others had mothers who were absent, hurtful, jealous, clueless, vengeful and vindictive, or simply unable to give what you needed.
Some women have never had children of their own...yet. And some have lost children.
Wherever you are today, I want you to hear this clearly: God sees you. And on this Mother’s Day, He wants to speak to every woman here, and to every man, about something beautiful called spiritual motherhood.
The Biblical Call to Spiritual Motherhood
The Bible shows us that motherhood is far bigger than biology. While physical motherhood is a high and holy calling, God also calls His people, especially the women of the church, to spiritual motherhood.
Look with me at Titus 2:3-5 (NIrV):
“3 In the same way, teach the older women to lead a holy life. They must not tell lies about others. They must not let wine control them. Instead, they must teach what is good. 4 Then they can advise the younger women to love their husbands and children. 5 The younger women must control themselves and be pure. They must take good care of their homes. They must be kind. They must follow the lead of their husbands. Then no one will be able to speak evil things against God’s word.”
Paul is not just talking about teaching women how to cook or keep house. He’s talking about older women pouring Godly wisdom into younger women — spiritually mothering them in the faith.
We see this throughout Scripture:
• Naomi spiritually mothered Ruth.
• Elizabeth encouraged Mary, and affirmed for her what a blessing it was for each of them to be pregnant, a gift from God.
• Lois and Eunice raised Timothy in the faith (2 Timothy 1:5 “I remember your honest and true faith. It was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice. And I am certain that it is now alive in you also.”).
Spiritual motherhood is the calling of every mature Christian woman to pour love, wisdom, prayer, and truth into the next generation — whether they are related by blood or not.
What “Godmother” Originally Meant
I remember, many times, a few decades ago when I was of a similar age, hearing someone, usually a very young mother, telling how some also very young woman was their baby’s “godmother”. Ironically, this was usually people with no contact or presence in any church, little awareness or respect for Christianity or Christian behavior. It was simply an honorary title, a trendy thing to do because everyone else was doing it merely to honor their “BFF”, with no understanding of the significance.
But did you know the term “godmother” originally had deep spiritual meaning? They didn’t. In the earlier practice among Christians, when someone was baptized, they would often be assigned a godmother or godfather, This was not primarily to buy birthday gifts, but to take responsibility for their spiritual growth.
A godmother was a woman who promised before God and the church to help raise that child (or new believer) in the faith, to pray for them, teach them, model Christ for them, and be there when their biological mother could not. That’s a powerful picture!
The Heart of a Spiritual Mother: Hospitality
At the core of spiritual motherhood is hospitality. Not just inviting people into your home, but inviting them into your heart.
A spiritual mother creates space for people to belong before they believe. She listens. She remembers names. (Obviously, I could not be a godmother under this rule!) She notices the quiet ones. She makes room at the table for the awkward, the broken, the annoying, the new, and the struggling. I think of a friend whose nickname was “Mama Cat” because of her maternal instinct toward her peers, even before she had a child of her own.
Even if your own earthly mother was lacking, distant, critical, a control freak, narcissistic and self-absorbed, overwhelming or overwhelmed, intrusive and meddling, a world-class chismosa, or absent, God has not left you without a pattern. He gives us beautiful examples in Scripture of what spiritual motherhood looks like:
• The tenderness of Naomi.
• The courage and faith of Jochebed (Moses’ mother).
• The quiet strength and dignity of Mary.
And most of all, He gives us Himself. God is the perfect Parent. Where earthly mothers fell short, our Heavenly Father never will. In Isaiah 66:13, God says He will comfort us with tenderness as a mother comforts her child. And this is while leading us with a father’s strength.
Selflessness versus Selfishness
So, yesterday I saw two videos online, one of a man who took great pride in being manly. He seemed rather vain and pathetic, like he was trying to compensate for inner inadequacies. The other was of a… how should I say it? “Former woman”? Or so she wants us to believe...who took great pride in being ...manly? Also pathetic and pitiable. Also compensating for inner inadequacies. These two converged in the revelation that both were all about “self”.
And how about those people who have told women (and men), for many years, that motherhood (and fatherhood) is either unimportant, or horrendously awful and worth killing innocent children to avoid?
Service of “the self” is paramount to these people.
The statement, “You will not disrespect me!” comes from the heart of someone who doesn’t really respect themselves, or others, because they don’t respect God’s instruction on how to treat others.
Reference the Oprah-inspired self-idolatry, “I’ve taken care of others. Now I am just about me. I am taking care of my inner child.” Really??? Apparently, ‘inner children’ are the slowest to mature.
Galatians 6:8 (NIrV) says, “Some people plant to please their desires controlled by sin. From these desires they will harvest death. Others plant to please the Holy Spirit. From the Spirit they will harvest eternal life.”
No one, mother, father, grandparent, brother, sister, or child, can serve themselves above others, and reap happiness and life. It is almost as if the Golden Rule was a good idea, isn’t it? Quoting Giles of Assisi from the 13th century,
“Blessed is he who loves and does not desire to be loved;
Blessed is he who fears and does not desire to be feared;
Blessed is he who serves and does not desire to be served;
Blessed is he who behaves well toward others and does not desire that others behave well toward him;
And because these are great things, the foolish do not rise to them.”
This was probably the inspiration for the Peace Prayer mis-attributed to Francis of Assisi but which didn’t appear anywhere until 1912.
The Call Today
So here is the question for every Christian woman in the world today, regardless of your age or life stage:
Will you be a spiritual mother in the church and community?
You don’t need to have given birth. You don’t need to be perfect. You simply need to be available. You can:
• Share a coffee or tea with a younger woman, listen and advise without lecturing.
• Pray consistently for a specific child or teenager.
• Invite someone who feels alone to sit with you on Sunday.
• Read a Bible story to a child, and teach the meaning that God is conveying.
• Offer wisdom and encouragement to a tired young mom.
Men, you are called to spiritual fatherhood in the same way. But today we especially honor and call forth the women to embrace this high calling.
Conclusion
Spiritual motherhood is one of the most powerful ways the gospel spreads, from one heart to another, from one generation to the next.
So whether you had a wonderful mother, a broken mother, or no mother at all, God is inviting you into His family and asking some of you to become spiritual mothers in His house.
Let’s pray.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You for every woman in the world today. Thank you for the women in your church, and the wisdom they are tapped into, which they can share. Thank You for those who have poured out their lives in physical and spiritual motherhood.
Heal every wound caused by imperfect mothers. Fill every empty place in our hearts with your Holy Spirit.
Raise up a generation of spiritual mothers in the church, women who create space, who love fiercely, who speak truth with kindness, and who point people to Jesus and the salvation He brought to us.
Make us a family where no one has to walk alone. In the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and as You told us in the Letter to the Romans, our perfect firstborn Brother, we pray. Amen.
Benediction:
“Go now as sons and daughters of the King, and as spiritual mothers and fathers, making room for others in the family of God. Amen.”
