Welcome to the For the Gospel Podcast, where we provide sound doctrine for everyday people. I'm your host, Kosti Hinn, and I've been talking about parenting in this current series and the importance of raising our kids faithfully. Now, fathers play a very pivotal role, and I covered that last time. If you haven't heard that episode, you should go back and listen to it. But I want to talk to you today about the impact of godly mothers. You know, many mothers in the church today might feel like they're overlooked or, you know, the world is having all of the fun and you're just trapped in the home with kids all day. Now, this mentality is exacerbated by sentiments like this one I saw on a t-shirt one time. It said, mom needs her wine, as though, you know, being trapped in the home all day, and for the way that the kids have ruined her body and taken over her life, and she never gets fun. You know, mommy needs her girl's night out to go burn off some steam, down some wine, and, you know, feel like she's still got it kind of idea. You see that a lot in worldly literature, worldly media, all of that. And it all spawns from the lie that you mothers are being held back and you're limited and you can't do this and can't do that because, you know, the old ball and chain of motherhood. I would ask this: could there be any greater lie from hell against women and against mothers? Make you feel like you're not doing the Lord's work, make you feel limited, and you know, see that limitation as something to loathe rather than a high calling the Lord has promised to use, and then demean motherhood. I mean, that seems like a really demonic strategy and a really good one if you're trying to destroy the nuclear family. You know, Susanna Spurgeon knew what it meant to feel limited. She was married to Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers, but for much of her life, her limitation was that she suffered with chronic illness. There were many days where she couldn't travel, she couldn't attend the services, she couldn't be the ministry teammate and helpmate that she desired to be. She couldn't stand beside her husband publicly. And maybe, just maybe, you know, she's just so limited as a woman and as a mother and as her uh her husband's just kind of stay-at-home doormat. But Susanna did not confuse her hiddenness with uselessness. In 1875, Charles publishes Lectures to My Students, still a book that you can read today. It was a book meant to train young ministers, and she read it and longed for poor pastors to have it, pastors who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford or read the book. Many of them could barely provide for their families, let alone fill a bookshelf full of theological resources. And so she tells Charles one day, I wish every minister in England could receive a copy of this book. And his answer to her was, then why not do so? And so Susanna, for all of her limitations, went upstairs, searched a drawer. She found enough money to purchase 100 copies, and that small act actually became the beginning of the book fund, which was a ministry that placed hundreds of thousands of theological books in the hands of needy pastors. And I want you to think about that for a moment. A woman confined by weakness and quote-unquote limited becomes a means of strengthening pulpits all over the world and representing her husband's ministry in a powerful way. And I just want to remind you that's the influence of a godly woman. That's the influence of a faithful mother, that's the influence of a faithful wife who doesn't see her station or her particular situation as some, you know, cross to bear and everyone else is having the fun, but finds ways to bring value and to serve the Lord and to do what he's called her to do, even in simple, hidden ways. You know, the world tells mothers that that behind the scenes faithfulness is small. Scripture argues, really shouts the opposite. The home, the marriage, the children, that quiet stewardship, those unseen sacrifices, those are all seen by God. And they are not your obstacles to impact. It's not getting in the way of your real calling. In the hands of God, those things are the very soil where generational fruit is grown, where that harvest comes from. Mothers are world changers. And so I'm remiss in a parenting series to avoid strong truth and encouraging realities. For you sisters, as long as you see the world through the lens of God's design, you're gonna see all the glory in it that He has for you. And so I want to start there. I want to give you three strong truths to think about in this episode. And if you're a mother, I'd encourage you listening to this with your young daughters, maybe your husband, maybe some of your friends, and just thinking through what God says versus what the world says. The first strong truth I want to put before you is that God defines the role of a mother. God defines the role of a mother. I've got my Bible turned to Titus chapter two. And in verses three through five, there are these words in which Paul is giving clear instructions to the women in the church for how they should operate. And here's what he says: Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage young women to love their husbands, love their children, and be sensible, pure workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, key phrase, so that that's the result, the word of God will not be dishonored. What does this mean? Well, first of all, the world will call that outdated. They'll say, ah, it's cultural. Ah, you know, that that's just there, you know, on Crete, which is the island that, you know, Titus is dealing with and Paul writes in this letter. Listen, that's not outdated. That is not just cultural. This is God's design, a godly mother shaped by the truth, far more than she's shaped by trends in today's world. I mean, a list of priorities that we see here. There's eight of them. Number one, godly character. Number two, a controlled tongue. These are these are priorities in line with God's will. Number three, dignified behavior. Number four, truth speaking. You see that, teaching what is good. Number five, love for husband. Number six, love for children. Number seven, uh, a worker or care for the home. And then number eight, order under God's authority. Where am I getting that from? Well, it says, so that the word of God will not be dishonored. She's subject to her husband. This is a woman who is excelling at life. This is a woman of great character. She's a woman of dignity. She has control over her mouth. She's not a malicious gossip. She's not enslaved to much wine. Mommy doesn't need her wine. She doesn't go need to let loose and burn off steam because she's been stuck in the home all day with the kids. It doesn't mean mom doesn't need a break. Not saying mom don't need a uh getting her nails done, a little manny petty once in a while. I'm not saying mom don't need a walk and, you know, you just ain't letting her out of the house, you know. It's not some chauvinistic, crazy old school, you know, chain her up. It's just simple. Mom is fulfilling a God-given, glorious calling. And she needs to be supported in that and in that also celebrated. I think that might be one of the issues as well. Many women perhaps not feeling celebrated in their role. They feel like they're told more often you're wasting your time. Would you get a college degree for? Oh, yeah, you're just having babies all day. Wow, you'd just be old ball and chain. Oh, he's just got you in there. Oh, well, it seems like this. And and they never hear, hey, what a world changer you are. Hey, what a godly woman you are. What a generational changer you are. How different are our children because you're giving them so much time and attention. Look at my life because of you. Look at how much better I am at what I do because of you. Thank you, sweetheart. Thank you so much for the way that you back me. Thank you so much for the way that you're my helpmate. Thank you for fulfilling exactly what God intended. When he gave Eve to Adam, I feel like he gave you to me. You're just a gift of all gifts. You celebrate what she does and who she is. The home in this text is her primary stewardship. It's not a secondary afterthought. It's not like, oh, I wish I had a career. You know, I used to be something. Now I'm just a stay-at-home mom. Now I'm just a wife. Now I'm just slaving around. No. Then the world is the one that has flipped that and told women the home is small. You know, your husband, you know, that's just some chauvinist. What are you listening to him for? Your children, oh, they've they've destroyed your body. Wait till I get my body back. We need to take our bodies back. All of this stuff. That's what the world says to women. Everything then that God says is primary, the world says, no, no, that's just secondary, even tertiary. The real found value, the real value is found out there somewhere else. But Scripture says that the home is ground zero for high impact. Scripture says husband, children, and home are three areas of world-changing impact that you mothers have been given by God to have. Now, it leads me to the second strong truth that I want to put before you, and it is the world pulls mothers away from what matters most. We just got to be honest about what's happening in our society. There's a constant pull on mothers to chase identity outside the home, to chase and measure their worth by productivity and recognition and a career, to have their life under some boss, some CEO, rather than under husband and home and the covering God has given them. This isn't some chauvinistic patriarchy. That's the other thing. You talk about this stuff and people say, oh, here we go with the patriarchy. Here we go with the doormat theology. No, no one is demeaning women. In fact, that is one of the devil's most sinister lies because he hates our children. Make our wives feel like a less than. Make you mothers feel like the real success is out there when the real success is right before you, pouring into your son, your daughter, your children, your husband, an ordered home and all of what God intended is thriving because of you. Oh, the devil hates that. And so turn off the noise, the voice of the world. One day you'll look back. And when you listen to the voice of God through his word, you'll look back and you'll laugh at darkness. You'll laugh at the mockery of this world. You'll laugh at the devil's demonic schemes because you prioritized what God called you to, and you get all the results and all the fruit and you get all the joy. That sacrifice is worth it. We need mothers who are strong, not strong enough to go build a career. Ladies, we already know you can do that. We need you to use your strength to strengthen what God will use in the next generation to impact your home for the glory of Christ. And behind that pole of the culture, don't ever forget that it's spiritual. If the enemy can weaken the home, he weakens everything. If the enemy can assault your children through your absence or lack of intentionality, he'll destroy a generation. Worldviews are shaped in the home. Faith is modeled and molded in the home. So what better strategy than to distract and exhaust and torture women into thinking while they need to be out there? God has designed you to nurture and to shape and to influence in those early years like never before. You know, as a pastor with normal people in my church, I navigate sensitive situations all the time. And whether it's a single mother grinding away at two jobs, or it's a woman who's got her Etsy store, or, you know, someone does a night shift as a nurse once in a while while her husband is trying to get a promotion at work, or, you know, he's going to go get a second job to make ends meet. Women like my own wife who join me in authoring children's books. You know, women will do a lot of things. There are women who are savvy and they earn income or they're able to add to the provision of the home. There's also women who are navigating complex situations. None of this negates that, but those are going to be many of the exceptions, not the norm. And by the way, the Bible speaks to this. And in many cultures, provision was always a family affair. Many women worked their farms, helped manage the gathering of vegetables and food sources, and they labored. So you got to understand and with maturity, think through this. Nobody is saying that a woman just sits at home all day and bakes sourdough bread. Although we're very thankful when you ladies bake your sourdough bread. My wife is kind of become the sourdough queen in our parts, you know, in our home. And I just love it. And that's great. But it's not all the woman does. Proverbs 31 speaks to a woman who's industrious, who contributes in many ways. You think about women, I got friends who own farms, and their wives are out there dealing with chickens and eggs and cows and things, and the children are as well. Provision has always been a family affair. So turn off all the noise in kind of the modern era where these guys get on their little podcast or something and they pop off about how your wife should just be at home doing her thing, cooking all day. And you know, that's real manhood. And then somebody else is out there going, hey, buddy, we're poor uh or we have a farm, and my wife is out there right now at the chicken coop. Like we, we, we're all in this together. So you got to look at that. I was talking to a brother one day, his name was Alex Montoya, call him El Jefe. Dr. Montoya is a pastor in Whittier, California. And one time I asked him, I was at this conference, we were talking about family and stay-at-home wives, and I was on this panel with him. I'll never forget it as long as I live. And I made kind of the young guy, uh, patriarchal pop-off comment, was like, yeah, but Dr. Montoya, obviously, like, you know, women should not be working, right? Like women, they should be in the home with the babies, you know, like that. I was very young. It was like cage stage, and it was like everything had to be dogmatic, black and white. Like a woman, if she has an Etsy store, she's in sin. You know, that's where I was at, just mentally. And uh, and he was like, Well, listen, costume, we have to remember, my friend. And he had this deep, like still does, this deep, just Hispanic voice, just he's the godfather. And he says, Yeah, provision has been a family affair for many generations. This model, I have people in my church, both both spouses work, they work hard. Men get two jobs, women are trying to do what they can. You know, children hit a certain age and they go work and serve at a restaurant. Provision is a family affair. But yes, to your point, this isn't, you know, mom and dad going out to both make six figures so we can get a boat, a third car, and our fourth rental property, you know, and and the the children are abandoned. That absolutely. And he affirmed very graciously as an older man, he affirmed what the principle I was trying to get at, but he did it in such a uh fatherly way and a pastoral way, understanding the nuance and the balance. And I know some of you don't like the word nuance. You're like, oh, here we go with the third way stuff. No, you got to understand something, okay? There are a lot of people working hard trying to make ends meet. And there's some people, this goes back to my wife and I, we spent about two and a half years rerouting or and reordering our home to get her home with the children. And I got two jobs to make it work, but she worked for about a year and a half into that because we had to reorder the home. We couldn't just pull the plug cold turkey. Some people can, some people can't. But here's my point in all these things. The world does not want to talk about all this. They they put you in this box. Yeah, well, what are you gonna do about money? You're like, we're gonna trust the Lord. Well, well, so what? The guy's just go out and get two jobs to support his wife now because all the babies? Yeah, maybe. It's okay. Or, you know, I'm a single mother, so you're saying I'm in sin? Absolutely not. Single mothers need the support of the church. Single mothers have very unique circumstances. And and people will always get extreme with all of this. Here's what I want to encourage you: maturity requires wisdom. And so navigate all this with wisdom. Maybe in your home right now, as we're going through this study, you're going, oh, there are things out of order, and I just want to be done now. I this is you're right. Costi, well, the Bible's right. I'm just the mouthpiece here. Listen, talk with your husband. Think through the process. Maybe it's going to be seven months, maybe it's a year, maybe it's two months, maybe it's tomorrow, maybe you're putting your two weeks right now. But here's what I want you to fully embrace. The world is calling you away more and more, away from your husband, away from your children, away from your home. God calls a mother back to her husband, back to her children, back to her home, never to neglect it. So even if you're one of those people who are working hard just to make ends meet, when you are there, when you are looking at what matters, provision, well, that's just part of what you're grinding for right now. But your priority, your priority is your husband, your children, and your home. And so take inventory. Do you fit the small demographic of nuance? Okay. Uh do you not? Well, then it's time to start taking steps to reprioritize your home. There, there's no nuance needed there. The world is calling mothers away from their home. I have a really good friend who, for a while, they had dual income and they were enjoying it and it was awesome, and everything was comfortable, and they started feeling really convicted about these things. And I'll never forget it. We had this conversation, and it was a leap of faith, you might say. Now, some people might laugh and say, a leap of faith, I'd I'd kill for those two salaries. That's not a leap of faith at all. I'd kill for the one they still had. But for them it was, and a lot of people it is. And you say, all right, we're gonna cut this money off. We're not gonna have that. That's a lot of money we could have. And all of a sudden, God in their faithfulness and obedience to reorder their priorities, begin to bless them in remarkable ways, to where one income was earning way more than the two incomes ever could. Is that some prosperity gospel story, like, oh, quit your job, ladies, and your husband will have to work, but don't worry, God will make you rich. No, but I'll tell you this, I have never, and I mean this, in 13 years of ministry, and I know I've got a lot more to go, but I asked the older guys the same thing, the dudes that have been ministry for 40, 50 years, they say the same thing. I've never seen God not meet a couple in the midst of their desire for faithfulness and do abundantly and exceedingly more than they could ever ask or think. I've never seen God fail to meet a couple in their effort to put more priority on the home and keep a wife able to focus on that and not have to play provider. And so it's time perhaps for some of you to take steps to re-prioritizing your home. Uh, maybe for some of you, your behavior is undignified and it's lacking in godliness. And Titus chapter two actually speaks to that. You know, maybe do you view motherhood as a trap? Take inventory of your situation. Maybe you're in the small demographic, maybe you need to take steps to reprioritize, maybe it's time to confess sin and get serious about undignified behavior and lacking in godliness. Maybe it's time to stop calling motherhood a trap. Maybe it's time to stop burning off steam, which is just revealing your character, which needs to mature. Maybe it's time to admit that the world has stuck its talons in your thinking. But, sister, here's the deal: God has called you to freedom and he's called you to walk in truth. You can gain everything the world offers and still lose what matters most. Now, obviously, two strong truths, that one in particular, going hard on because I think it's really important that we think through these things. Now, I want to encourage you. Strong truth number three. Godly mothers shape generations. Godly mothers shape generations. Proverbs 31. The passage that every church says we need, we need Proverbs 31 women. We need P31 women. Every ministry names, you know, their women's ministry, P31. And that's great, as we should. We want Proverbs 31 women. I love, in particular, verse 28. Her children rise up and they bless her. Her husband also praises her, saying, Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. The idea is exceed. Why do the children and the husband say that? Because she's godly, wise, industrious. She's invested in her household. This woman brought income into the home. This woman considered a field and bought it. This woman builds up the reputation of her husband, her children, and her home. She feared the Lord, lived with intentionality. Her life was anchored in something greater than herself. This is a sacrificial, strong woman. But she didn't go use all of her strength to advance some worldly agenda or build the revenue stream for some CEO. She used her strength and her gifts to impact her home while it was the season. Her investment in many ways would have been unseen early on, but never insignificant. What happens in the end? Her home is blessed. Her husband praises her good works, and her children, they rise and they say, Mom, thank you. Mom, you're the best. Mom, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be where I am today. Every moment of teaching, every act of care, every dirty diaper, every moment of correction and discipline, every prayer, every tear, every exhausted morning where you forgot if you brushed your teeth or not, and you definitely didn't blow dry your hair or put makeup on. It is shaping souls. And that's essential work. That is Christian work. That is world-changing work. You are a divine employee. God has you on his divine payroll. He will reward it. You're working for the King of Kings, doing the greatest work that anyone could ever be called to. It was Elizabeth Elliot who once said, The fact that I'm a woman doesn't make me a different kind of Christian. But the fact that I am a Christian makes me a different kind of woman. That's it right there. Forget the cultural arguments, forget all the noise, forget the opinions of others. Your goal and my prayer for you is that you remember as a Christian, you're a different kind of woman. Your goal is to be faithful to Christ. Godly mothers are formed by the truth. And when you embrace God's design, homes are strengthened, husbands are supported, children are shaped, and generations are changed forever. Thanks for listening. I hope this episode encouraged you. I hope maybe in some ways it challenged your thinking. Maybe you're not all the way there yet. Maybe there's some things I said you go, I don't know, Costi, that's a little strong, or that's a little outside of what I'm comfortable with. Hey, I want to encourage you to think through these things. That's the whole point. Maybe for some of you, you feel deeply convicted and it's time to make a change. Heed the voice of God through his word and the conviction of the Spirit and take that next step of faith and obedience. Yeah, you're gonna have to trust God, not knowing all of the outcomes. That's what faith is all about. Next episode, I want to talk about why why gentle parenting is a total failure and it will fail you every time. And how the Bible teaches loving, calm, consistent discipline is best for our children as we raise them up according to God's design. Thanks as always for listening. Thanks for watching, and thanks to those of you who are giving to for the gospel. We are 100% donor supported. We're reaching millions of people every month around the world in multiple languages, all because of faithful friends like you. So, above all else, thank you so much for giving and for praying. We know prayer is the power source behind the ministry. To learn more about for the gospel or to partner with us financially, you can go to for thegospel.org, click give. I'll be back next Monday with another episode. Keep on living for the gospel.