The world may teach us that behind every successful man is a woman, but the Bible says that there is a praying mother behind a successful person.
Timothy was a young evangelist and leader in the New Testament and was among the personal favorites of the Apostle Paul, who even called him his son.
But behind the success of Timothy’s life, and his desire to be a follower of God and have a godly character, we see his mother, Eunice, and his grandmother, Lois.
1. Christian mothers should have a godly character
“Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium.” Acts 16:1-2.
Timothy was a son of a Hebrew woman and Greek father, the Old Testament Jews were forbidden and discouraged to marry gentiles. We really don’t know how Eunice, a Christian married a Greek person, but this passage gives us hope for believers who have married unbelievers.
Through her life, we know that it is possible to raise godly and God-fearing children in spite of your marital situation. Even though fathers have been charged to lead in disciplining a child, mothers can make a bigger influence on their child too.
2. Christian Mothers must have genuine faith
2 Timothy 1:5 says, “I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”
Eunice and Lois had genuine faith and were able to raise Timothy into a God-fearing and obedient young man. As mothers and fathers, we must have genuine faith, that can stand the test of fire and the test of time. Parents should not be fighting at home in front of their kids and when they step inside the church they put on a smiling face. That is not genuine faith.
3. Teach the children about God’s word early in life
2 Timothy 3:14-15, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
Christian mothers must start teaching their children about the Holy Scripture when they are really young. Eunice and Lois did their best to teach Timothy Biblical principles. He did not learn the Bible from Biblical scholars but it was taught to him by his mother and grandmother.