The Best Thing A Mother Can Do For Her Child

By: Gary L. Hutchens

​   What’s the best thing a mother can do for her child?  Certainly, one of the strongest desires in the heart of a mother is for the welfare and well being of her child.  Typically speaking, little compares with the devotion of a mother to her child.  Motherly love is one of the greatest examples of compassion in the human experience.  There is little a mother would not do to save or protect her child, even to the point of giving her own life.  So, what’s the best thing a mother can do for her child?

​   Many noble sounding suggestions could be offered.  Make sure her child has a roof over his head.  Make sure her child has plenty of good, nutritious food to eat on a regular basis.  Make sure her child receives proper and consistent medical care, including needed vaccinations and medications.  Make sure her child has adequate clothing for all seasons of the year.  Make sure her child has a proper education to prepare him to be successful in life.  Make sure her child is well schooled in the social graces.  Make sure her child knows, without a doubt, that he is loved.
   All of these are good suggestions, and many more could be offered.  A loving, thoughtful mother would not focus on only one of these needs to the exclusion of the others.  Her desire would be to try to provide all of these for her child.  She would recognize his need to be provided for in many ways, for his needs are many.  It might even be suggested that the best thing a mother could do for her child would be to provide for him in all of these ways, and even more.
   However, a child’s single most important need is not on that list.  Even if a child had all of those things provided for him, he still would not have what he needs most of all.  The best thing, the most important thing a mother can do for her child is to teach him about God and lead him to salvation in Jesus Christ.  All of the rest is secondary by comparison.  If a child is loved, has all the basic necessities and beyond, but his life is not centered in the Lord, he is living a life that will end in utter despair.  He has no ultimate direction or eternal hope.  He does not have the only thing that really matters.  He is, in the truest sense, a lost soul!
   If a mother really wants to do her best for her child, she’ll first look to her own spiritual life, doing her best to make sure she’s walking with God faithfully.  Then she’ll diligently teach her child of the Savior’s love for him.  She’ll teach him to love and obediently follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Her greatest goal for her child will be his eternal salvation.  Her most profound peace of mind concerning her child will be in knowing that he’s saved in the Lord.
   Leading her child to salvation in Christ is the very best thing a mother can do for her child (Eph. 6:1-4)…