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Tag Archives: Mother’s Day

Matthew 18:15-17

10 May

15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.

Matthew 18:15-17

This is an interesting verse of the day for Mother’s Day. It’s what Bible Gateway gave us, and I’m intrigued to know the decision behind it. Did the person who chose it have some forgiveness issues in their life?

There are a number of adult children right now who are not speaking to their parents. I’m not sure what has happened in this generation that changed things. I suspect that some of the parenting methods that were softer and gentler likely produced less respect for parents. But I am sure there are a number of parents who would welcome their children to follow Jesus’s counsel in verse 15. If an adult child has a problem with their parent, it would be better if they valued the relationship, used their words, and confronted the parent. Give the parent a chance to apologize. Give the parent a chance to explain. And give the parent grace and mercy for being a flawed person who loves them.

Father, I pray for the mothers today who miss their children. And the children who miss their mothers. Perhaps they miss them through death. Perhaps they miss them through physical distance. Perhaps they miss them through estrangement. Whatever the case may be, if there are those who mourn, I pray that you will bless and comfort them. If there are those who are poor in Spirit, I pray that they might know you and your kingdom. And for the children and/or parents who have walked away from relationship because of hurt, I pray for personal healing. Grow them into the men and women you’ve called them to be. Oh, and while I’m here, I know a mom whose son is deployed in the Navy off the coast of Iran. Protect her son. Comfort her. Let this be over soon.

I pray all of this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 10, 2026 in Matthew

 

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Genesis 4:25

08 May

25 Adam had sexual relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, “God has granted me another son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 

Genesis 4:25

Dear God, I don’t think we spend enough time with Even and Adam and the impact the Cain and Abel story had on them as individuals and as a couple. Now, I understand that Adam and Eve might be representative of the first people. I’m not going to argue any of that here. I’m going to work with what the author of Genesis gives me–what you give me–and you gave me this story to consider.

Parenting involves a lot of pain and disappointment. I think of the parents I know who are struggling with their adult children. Drug addiction. Suicide. Estrangement. Imprisonment. Mental illness. Drug overdose. And then I think back to when their child was born and them holding that baby. How happy they were. How everyone celebrated. Even in the poorest of circumstances, there is joy. And then life sometimes happens. Parents fail and make mistakes. The child is sometimes exposed to things over which the parents have no control. Then there’s just free will. Personality. Temptations. Illness. Addiction. Life really is this huge gamble, and none of us has any idea of how it will turn out.

In the case of Eve and Adam, their first-born killed their second-born. What kind of pain did this cause? Well, there’s no way I can imagine the pain. We know it was there. We know that there must have been some level at which they blamed themselves. Maybe they blamed each other. But there was pain.

Thankfully, Seth seems to have turned out okay. In fact, it says in the next verse that is was during his lifetime that people began to worship you by name. What an interesting thing to say.

Father, I know there will be a lot of women in pain over the next few days. Fathers too. And then there will be children who are in pain because of a lost mother or a mother that hurt or abandoned them in some way. I know some of these moms. I know some of these children. I pray that you will use all these instances of pain to help us to dig into you. Lean into you for comfort. Take your comfort and carry it to others. Learn how to worship you and love others better.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

 
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Posted by on May 8, 2026 in Genesis

 

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