Wednesday, March 8, 2017

The Influence of a Wife and Mother


As Christian women, we have a great influence in the lives of our husbands and children.  We must never forget the importance of our job here at home.  Those around us may try to persuade us that our position of wife and mother is measly, piddly, and of no significance.  However, this is not truly the case at all.  While society's mindset, and even the mindset of much of the church, has changed, we must keep the mind of our Heavenly Father, who values motherhood and the raising of children, and also our role of supporting our husbands in the home. 

Let us be reminded of the former mindset of our Christian predecessors by these quotes from J.R. Miller.  J.R. Miller was a Christian author and pastor who lived from 1840-1912.

"A true wife makes a man's life nobler, stronger, grander, by the omnipotence of her love 'turning all the forces of manhood upward and heavenward.' While she clings to him in holy confidence and loving dependence she brings out in him whatever is noblest and richest in his being. She inspires him with her courage and earnestness. She beautifies his life. She softens whatever is rude and harsh in his habits or his spirit. She clothes him with the gentler graces of refined and cultured manhood. While she yields to him and never disregards his lightest wish, she is really his queen, ruling his whole life and leading him onward and upward in every proper path."
"Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained! Could she have but one glimpse into the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny,--she would see that in all God's world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others hands the sacred and holy trust given to her."
You can purchase J.R. Miller's excellent book on the family here.

This article was published in issue #133 of The Christian Home Magazine

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8 comments:

  1. Hello, I never tire of reading things such as this article. Yet the world is screaming that this calling is over and done. May it never be!
    Blessings, From my home to yours!

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    1. Yes, may it never be. So thankful for other bloggers, you included, Roxy, that encourage women in their role as keepers at home.
      Blessings to you ♥

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  2. Beautiful thoughts, thank you! I've got one of his books---Homemaking, I think. I need to read it!

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    1. Yes, that's what The Family was called before. I need to read all of mine too! I have another book of his too, but I forget what it's called.

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  3. That quote does not encompass marriages where the husband is determined to persecute the wife for being a Christian. This quote would harm a woman in a marriage like that. I suppose you weren't directing this post to that kind of marriage. I believe a woman can influence her husband and children so long as they aren't determined to persecute her. She is not responsible to save them she's only an ambassador.

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    1. The only one responsible for a husband's salvation is God. I absolutely do not believe a wife is responsible for her husband's salvation, but still, a wife is responsible for her own behavior. If a wife is in such a marriage, being persecuted for being a Christian, she should get help if she is in any danger.

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  4. Mary Jean:

    I have read many of JR Miller's writings and I love all he has to say about family and each of our God given roles.

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