A Ministry to Christ

1. View your ministry to your family as a ministry to Christ.

When you serve your family, you are serving Christ. As you cook for your family, you cook for Jesus. As you clean up a child's mess, you do it first for Jesus. As you care for the needs of your child's father you do it for Jesus. We do it all for HIM.

2. God's inexhaustible reservoir of love is the resource for your ministry of motherhood.

It is God's love that gives you the grace that is sufficient to every challenge of mothering. You need God's love and grace to live sacrificially for your children and point them to Jesus.

3. You must rely on God's wisdom and understanding for the ministry of training your children.

Rest in Christ your teacher for the wisdom you need to guide and direct your children.

4. You must carry out your ministry in the authority of Christ.

By definition, a minister is someone who gives aid or service. The ministry of motherhood is a ministry of service you carry out for Christ as you serve your children. Your authority goes beyond giving birth and physically protecting them. You have the authority under God to raise your children to be servants of God.

5. Your ministry is to be a servant, not a slave.

There is a big difference. To serve is to render aid or help. Jesus said, "Whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant" (Mark 10:43). If you want to be a great mother, render service to your children by training them in the way they should go.

A servant makes sacrifices, offering something precious to God. We make sacrifices, suffer personal losses, and give up things that are valuable to us on behalf of the children we serve. Our sacrifice is patterned after the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, who served our deepest needs by giving His life. As mothers we learn to lay down our lives for our kids on a daily basis, not because our children are in charge, but because we have a vision and a goal of helping them understand the importance of serving Christ.
~Donna Otto, The Stay-at Home Mom