Category Archives: Mother’s & Father’s Day

On Father’s Day we honor the fathers among us. Scripture clearly teaches that the role of fathers goes beyond mere providers and protectors. Notice how Ephesians 6:2-4 reminds us of their responsibility beginning with how not to do it. — Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Three Points About What Father’s Day Is …

You’ll find the following three key reminders for Father’s Day in the Holiday Reflections Discipleship Guides resource, along with additional subpoints, Scripture, and some questions to reflect on. Father’s Day is one of fourteen holidays covered in this resource which can be used for personal benefit, in a small group, or distributed to your entire church.

1. Father’s Day is a time to remind fathers to bring up their children “in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

2. It’s a time to remind children that to honor and obey their fathers isn’t just for the benefit of the parent but also for their own good “so that it may go well with” them (Eph. 6:1-3).

3. And, Father’s Day is a time to remember God as the Greatest Father, “a father to the fatherless” (Ps. 68:5) which would include those whose father is no longer alive and those whose father wasn’t there for them as they should have been. Check out this post: God as Our Father

Before getting into what Mother’s Day is, we should look at what this holiday is not.

This Holiday Celebrating Motherhood is Not in the Bible.

We can find verses where mothers are recognized. Proverbs 31 states that the children of a godly woman will “arise and call her blessed.” The Apostle Paul called attention to the contribution of Timothy’s mother and grandmother in his life (2 Tim. 1:5). And, we can find verses in the Bible about honoring our parents which goes beyond verbal recognition and certainly extends beyond what is done on one special day (Ex. 20:12; Matt. 15:4-6; Eph. 6:1-3).

But, Scripture does not command us, or even suggest, that we set aside a special day, like Mother’s Day, to do so. Consequently, this is a holiday about which we must develop personal convictions for celebrating it and we must also respect others for their opinions about it. Let’s apply Romans 14:5-8 to Mother’s Day.

What Mother’s Day is . . .

We can look at this holiday in the following ways:

Mother’s Day is a day to celebrate motherhood.

 It’s a time to make moms feel special.

Mother’s Day is merely one day to honor our mothers.

It’s a day to remember mothers who are no longer with us.

And, Mother’s Day is also a time to be sensitive toward those who want to be moms but can’t, those whose mom is no longer alive, and those who didn’t have a good mother.

While we might want to use this holiday to celebrate motherhood in the church, let’s do it in a way that is respectful and encouraging to all.

You can use the discipleship guide in the Holiday Reflections resource to help people think through the above points. It includes brief input on each of the points along with Scripture and some questions. (Mother’s Day is one of fourteen guides included in this resource.)

Also See: Mother’s Day Resources

The scene repeats itself at churches across the land.  It’s Mother’s Day or Father’s Day and the service revolves around this parent.  Certainly we do well to honor or celebrate mothers and fathers but let’s be sensitive.

Sitting among your congregation will be men and women who:

never had children

can’t have children and ache because of it

lost a child to death

hope to yet have children

Sitting among your congregation will be people, young and old, who grieve or struggle because they:

lost their mother or father to death, some even recently

never knew their mother or father

were abused or neglected by a mother or father

are estranged from a mother or father

I know of many people who stay home on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day because of the way the church handles this holiday.  It’s too painful.  It isn’t relevant.  — How sad that they don’t feel like they’ll get anything out of gathering with the Body that day.  How sad that they don’t trust us to be sensitive enough to their situations.  How sad that they don’t seek comfort on this hurtful day among the Body of Christ but rather feel the need to retreat.

How to be Sensitive on Mother’s and Father’s Day

We can start by thinking through:

1. how much emphasis is placed on it
2. how things are worded
3. how we single out people … careful not to make one look superior to the other
4. how gifts are distributed
5. how obvious we make it that some in your midst are not mothers or fathers

We need to be careful at the same time that we are not being fake in our representation or obvious in our inclusion of people in these different situations.

The way to avoid that is to have a year-round environment … 

where people in all statuses and situations of life feel accepted and like they belong. 

where individuals’ life stages are acknowledged and needs are met but yet they are not segregated from the whole. 

It’s called body life … unity  … true fellowship … where we can meet with all of our differences and be better because of it.

In this kind of environment you will have more of a tendency to simply be sensitive and not have to guard yourself on holidays like Mother’s and Father’s Day.  You will come across genuine because you are.  If this kind of environment isn’t built throughout the year, special emphasis on certain segments can make others feel like they aren’t important or that their pain will be ignored.