Mother’s Day – Why Moms are Special
Why Moms are Special
Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-7 “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Most believe this letter was the last letters that Paul wrote that we have record of. Many believe it was penned in the winter of 68, just prior to his execution. Ever since Rome had burned in July of A.D. 64 and Nero blamed the Christians, it was dangerous to be a Christian. It was also dangerous to have contact with leaders of the church such as Paul. Consequently many believers, including some of Paul’s coworkers, had chosen to seek a much lower profile and became less aggressive in their ministries. Timothy may have faced the temptation to do the same. But Paul wrote this epistle to urge him to remain faithful to his calling and loyal to his father in the faith. It is a more personal letter written to encourage Timothy in his difficult tasks and at the end of the letter Paul asks him to come to Rome to be with him.
This is 2nd letter we know that Paul sent to him. Within the text that was just read, we learn a few things about this young man; primarily, that he had been greatly influenced by the women in his life, namely, his grandmother, Lois, and his mom, Eunice.
Being Mother’s Day, I would like to share my thoughts with you on why and how a woman is so very special; how God designed you ladies different than us men and that is why we need you all so very much.
To begin with, physically, almost every cell in a man’s body is different than those in a woman’s body. So that makes millions of differences right away. The chemicals flowing through our bodies are different. Our muscle structure is different. There are a lot of differences that go beyond what we can see.
Where men have X and a Y chromosomes, ladies have a 2 X chromosome makeup. You have a better immune system. In many ways you are actually stronger than us men are right from conception. Actually fewer little girls die before and after birth than little boys. Women actually get fewer diseases because you have a stronger immune system than we do. You live longer than we do and women actually do better in extreme conditions like in concentration camps than us men because of this strength and because you are more resistant to sickness and diseases.
Another difference is that men on an average day have a lot more red blood cells in every drop of blood than you do as women. So on a given day men can normally physically out work you when it comes to hard physical labor.Why because we have more energy than you do because we have more blood flowing through our bodies. We have about a gallon and a half of blood flowing through our body and you have about 4/5’s of a gallon flowing through your body. About 40% of our body weight is muscle and you have about 20% muscle.
You have a layer of insulating cells over your whole body, that we don’t have, that’s what makes you prettier, and much softer to the touch. This also makes it much easier for you to gain weight and also makes it much harder for you to loose weight. Those cells are really important in case of a famine because they will extend your life.
As men, our skin is thicker, our bones are heavier, our skull is even thicker than yours.
But here is one of the most fascinating differences between men and women that make you very, very special. Just after conception both men and women look quite the same. But then a few days later something miraculous happens, mom releases a chemical, it hits the little girl and nothing happens. When it hits a little boy it stimulates the growth of testosterone. Testosterone has a tremendous effect on us males. It makes us more aggressive, it drives us sexually, and it does a number of other things to us. It changes our bodies, it starts going through our bodies and we start moving our arms and legs more as a little boy.
The most significant thing that happens to the boy is when this hormone hits the little male brain and washes over it, it literally causes brain damage. Not that this damage done to the brain is a negative thing, it works out to be a very positive thing, but it does make us different than you, in how we think and how our brains work, even when it comes to how we feel things.
Because of this brain damage, when males grow older we are more lateral brained, that is we use one side of the brain at a time, whereas women are bi-lateral. You have more connecting fibers between the two halves of your brain; you not only have larger connective fibers, you have more of them. That means that there is more communication going back and forth between the two halves of your brain giving you more intuition, and it helps you take in more information than we can at any given moment.
You see more, you hear more. If we flashed up messages real fast on the wall, subliminal messages, real and then asked everyone to write down what you saw, the women would be writing stuff down and the guys would be scratching their heads. The reason why most women are so much more alert than we are is because your brain is wired differently than our brain. This effect other things as well.
Now most men favor the left side of the brain which is a bit colder, more factual and analytical, lecturey, logical, into hunting & conquering. Women are more in touch with both sides of their brain but tend to favor the right side and therefore they are more in touch with their feelings.
The right side of the brain is where we feel, that is why girls cry easier, it’s because you feel things deeper than we do. The right side of the brain is also where we sing a song, write a poem, its where we hug somebody, its where we relate to another in a close intimate way.
The left side of the brain is more factual, get things done, it motivates us to achieve, those kind of things. …(Mind you not all men and women are like this all the time. It is about 80% true of all men and about 20 % true of all women, and things can switch around now and then.
Since males tend to favor the left side of the brain, and women are more bi-lateral, that can cause of problems in household if these differences aren’t understood. In fact, even as we grow up the differences can be seen. Little boys are usually less talkative than little girls. I mentioned that male infants move their arms and legs around more, do you know what movers more significantly on a girl right after birth, her lip muscles. Now I am not trying to put down women, rather this is one thing that makes you very special. The average male speaks about 12000 words a day where the avg. woman speaks about 25000 words a day (more than twice that of males.
One of the greatest things that women give us is awareness, and a greater ability to communicate intimately. So that’s why it important for her to develop this skill right from the beginning.
Women are less aggressive, men a more aggressive. We start more fights. We have more violent dreams than women do, you have more romantic dreams. (Women like Chick Flicks & Romance novels more than men because they deal more with relationships, emotions and feelings)
As men, on the average we are much more difficult to teach, we are more argumentative, we boast more, we stutter more, we have more problems reading, we are more sickly, and men just don’t feel like you do .
Where men want to discover and express facts, women tend to express intuition, their feelings and their emotions.
Men are about solutions, getting things done – Women love to give sympathy. Kids usually go to mom for sympathy. Why? because dads have a tendency to lecture and give advice. Men can compartmentalize their life, women are more like a river, one part of her life flows into the next.
Men we can separate who we are from our surroundings. For women, everything is part of her. It is part of her Identity. Men tend to generalize things, where women tend to think in more detail.
Men are more objective and impersonal, women are more relational and personal. I think that why we see more women in churches than we do men. Church is not about following a bunch of rules, rather, it’s all about relationships, having an intimate relationship with God, and with the people of God.
Women can usually remember more of what they were doing 10 years ago than men. Why? Because women go through life experiencing things on both sides of their brain, left and right. And because you experience things on the right side of your brain it touches your feelings. The more things we experience with our feelings, the easier it is for us to remember them.
Men are great at following maps schedules and plans, because they want to achieve.
Now because women are more in touch with the right side of their brain, they can actually help men by showing them things they don’t see or feel.Women can actually help us get more in touch with the right side of our brain and help us to feel what they and others are feeling. I don’t know how many times my wife has said, “I can’t believe you did not help that person, or why you didn’t pray with them right then and there. Are you blind? Couldn’t you see that they were hurting?” “No” Sometimes I’m just buried to deep in my left brain.
A woman can help a man become a better person, one that is more sensitive to the things that are going on around us. Ladies, God has really blessed you with a unique ability. That’s why I constantly say that Nancy is my better half.
In the text we read today we can see the effect these two ladies had on Timothy. Many times we don’t realize that the way we are parented and the models we have to follow when we are young, make us who we are and effect our futures.
In 2 Timothy 3:14-15 Paul wrote to Timothy, 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Where did he learn the Holy Scriptures? From Lois, his grandmother and from Eunice, his mother. Despite those hard times these women not only remained faithful to our Lord and continued to study the scripture, they also raised this young man and shared their faith with him. From all the verses that speak about Timothy, we learn that he is a young, sensitive, gifted minister that Paul and everyone else cared much about.
Paul liked him so much he entrusted him with some great tasks, including, appointing elders and ministering at one of the most important Churches that Paul helped establish in Asia Minor, that is the church in Ephesus.
Tradition tells us that Timothy served many years there until one day he was dragged off and stoned to death by idol worshippers. But while he lived, I wonder how many lives he touch? How many did he teach about Jesus. How many of their of their children, and then their children’s children became believers because of Timothy and his service to the Lord in that place. We’ll never know, but I believe it all stated with Lois, & then Eunice, godly women, who shared their faith with him when he was young.
As a woman, you not only have the ability to plant seeds of faith in someone else, God has given you the where-by-means to nurture that faith in others because of who you are, because of how God wired you.It’s not to say that a man can’t do the same, I just believe God has given you a special gift that every child needs, whether it is our sons or daughters, or a child of God.
Timothy not only knew the sacred scriptures, a faith had been planted and nurture within him. By the time Paul had met him, Timothy already had a reputation that others spoke about. He not only talked the talk, he also walked the walk. He learned more from his grandma and his mom than he’d ever learn from church or Sunday school. It was a way of life in his home.
In Proverb chapter 6, Solomon also wrote:
“20 My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. 22 When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. 23 For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life”
I can’t help but believe that we need to make an assumption concerning these instructions about honoring our mothers and heeding their advice. I would assume God is instructing us to heed the wisdom and good advice of a wholesome mother, (not one that is evil and abusive) rather one that loves us, and especially so if she is a believer and loves God.
Ladies, you are special. God has made you special.
Recognize those unique traits and abilities. They are not weaknesses, they are gifts. Don’t try to be something that you are not. Nurture your abilities, your relationships, especially your relationship with God, and with Jesus, and with His Spirit, who is in you. Pray for His wisdom that He will give you the peace that passes all understanding.
Read and learn from the good women of faith in the Bible; women like Sarah, and Hannah, and Rahab, Deborah, Ruth, Abigail, Mary the mother of Jesus and so many more. Learn from their good examples to help you. And please continue to nurture us and help us to grow along with you.
For more lessons click on the following link: http://granvillenychurchofchrist.org/?page_id=566
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