When John, the Apostle of love, penned his letter to an unnamed, but esteemed lady in the Body of Christ, he paid her one of the highest compliments a mother can receive:
“I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth…” (2 John 4). To have an elder statesman, and the last survivor of the 12 disciples of Jesus, take note of the way a woman raised her children in the truth, and the godly example she provided, is truly a commendation to be coveted by all Christian mothers.
In his third letter, written to Gaius, a beloved friend in Christ, John rejoiced “greatly” in a personal way as a father in the Lord, when he received testimony from the brethren that Gaius was walking in the truth. He said, and I wholeheartedly concur:
“I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 4). This echoes Proverbs 23:24-25:”The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.”
I believe I can hear the “Amens” of many godly moms and grandmoms. This is the greatest gift we could ever receive from our children. We want them to succeed in life and to prosper in all they do, but most of all, we want them to walk in truth!
And in order for them to walk in truth and in the faith of Jesus Christ, in integrity and honesty, in compassion and mercy, in generosity and love, in perseverance and grace, they have had to be able to see us walk in these.
I recently heard this account from a TV Bible teacher who read it in the autobiography of the late Gilda Radnor. It is heartwarming, amazing, and even humorous, and it illustrates this principle in an unforgettable way:
A family had a beloved pet dog who was pregnant with pups when she got too close to the lawn mower while the grass was being mowed, and both of her back legs were amputated. The rushed her to the vet, desperate to save her pups. Thinking they had to put the dog down, they asked the vet if there was any way to save the puppies. The vet answered:
“No, we can’t save the puppies unless we keep the mother alive. What we can do is sew her up, and she will survive this injury and recover. She will even teach herself how to walk again.”
They agreed, the dog survived, and her pregnancy was normal. Just as the vet said, she even taught herself to walk on her front legs and to scoot herself forward on her backside. When her puppies were born, they were healthy and perfect. And when they started to walk, they walked just like her! Everyone of them walked on their front legs and scooted forward on their cute little butts!
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