This has been on my mind lately. Just what makes a godly wife or mother? Someone who prays regularly? Reads the Bible to her children daily? Makes everyone do memory verses? Someone who attends church regularly? Someone who attends/leads Bible Study classes? All of the above? None of the above? Then comes the more thought provoking question – am I a godly wife and mother?
Definition
The 1828 Webster’s Dictionary defines godly as:
- Pious; reverencing God, and his character and laws.
Living in obedience to God’s commands, from a principle of love to him and reverence of his character and precepts; religious; righteous; as a godly person. - Pious; conformed to God’s law; as a godly life
So someone who is godly is like God, reflects His glory and His character. Like Jesus did when He was on earth. And like my husband says – being godly is genderless.
Characteristics of a Godly Wife and Mother
Therefore a godly wife and mother is one who is :
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Conformed to the image of Christ,
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Walks in obedience to His call and way, and
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Seeks His face
How does this work out in the practical day-to-day living? If I am a godly wife and mother, whatever and all that I do should reflect that I am a person who is increasingly being conformed to the image of Christ, walking in obedience to His call on my life and seeking His face daily.
In other words, if I am ignoring my husband’s needs, shouting at the children or choosing to laze around while a mountain of laundry is staring at me, I am not being a godly wife or mother.
If God has called me to stay home and raise the children He has blessed me with and I choose to work out of the home or be home but gripe about being stuck at home, I am not being a godly wife.
A godly wife and mother will perform her roles and duties with joy and gladness, confident and secure in where God has placed her. Because she is in close communion with God and walking in obedience, her attitude will reflect that.
How to Be a Godly Wife and Mother?
All that sounds good, but how exactly do we achieve that?
One very simple key – We need to spend time with God (see The Necessity of Quiet Time, Falling Off the QT Wagon, and Why Use A Devotional?). Then only can we be close to Him and tap into His power (John 15, abiding in the vine, remember?) and then we will be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Roman 12:2). How else can we know what God wants for us to do unless we spend time with Him? How else can we be changed unless we are reading His Word?
There is just no other way. And there are no short-cuts either! Believe me, I have tried!
What Else Does a Godly Wife and Mother Do?
I did not grow up in a Christian home and did not know what it meant to be a godly wife or mother. It was hard enough learning to be a good wife and mother, period! Adding godly to the description made it even more challenging.
But I have been so blessed. God led me to various websites and email discussion groups that have helped me to grow in leaps and bounds in knowing the Lord even as I could not attend sermons on a regular basis (mostly I was with my baby or toddler in the Cradle Roll).
That coupled with personal devotion time with the Lord led me to realise that there are certain things I needed to do as part of my walk as a godly wife and mother.
Submission
Like submission for instance…. Ah! This is a hot potato, isn’t it?
No one wants to talk about it. Women look upon that word with disdain and men look sheepish when admitting that they would like their wives to be submissive.
Submissiveness has become a dirty word, implying that only a wimp would submit. Hey! We are equals! A man must be a male chauvinistic pig if he so mentions that word. But the Bible teaches clearly that a woman is to submit to her husband even as he submits to Christ. There is a hierarchy of order that God has put in place. See Ephesians 5:21 – 24.
There are other roles and duties we take on as we walk with God to become conformed to His image. I will touch upon this in the next article – The Roles and Duties of a Godly Wife and Mother.
But I would like stress that just doing the duties on a list does not make us godly! Anyone can do it. Remember what it means to be godly – to be like God. If we perform our roles and duties out of a “have-to” attitude or in a mechanical or grudging way, then we are not being godly but being legalistic and missing the whole point altogether!
Related Post
The Roles and Duties of A Godly Wife and Mother.
11 Comments on What Is A Godly Wife? A Godly Mother?
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I love this documentary. I am looking for issues that a godly wife is to be involved that they may bring a godly change in the world around them, I being one of them.
thanks for taking time to talk to moms. sometimes looking for godly advice in this time an age can be daunting.It came at right time. thaks and God bless
Glad to be of help Naomi!
Thank you for this blog. It was encouraging to me, as I am a new mom. I am having difficulty balancing being a mom, being a wife, and being a servant of God. Unfortunately I’ve found that being a wife is easiest to put in the back seat. I believe that’s backwards, but it’s difficult to figure out how to appropriately balance it all… servant, wife, and then mom. I firmly believe that’s how God instructs us to order our priorities. Of course, my 11-week-old baby needs to take priority when he’s hungry, but over all, i think the order is supposed to be God-husband-children. Other thoughts?
Absolutely love it! I strongly feel God leading me to become a better godly wife and mother in this season of my life. This post has helped me & the 2 Scriptures mentioned here have confirmed the things that Jesus spoke to me. Thank you so much for your transparency & realness! I needed to hear it that way! God bless you in your ministry. – Courtnaye
I wish I knew how to have a relationship with God. I mean to make time for him, one on one. I love your article. I want a deep relationship with God, but where do I start. I have been in church for 10+ years, a mother of 3 children (3, 10, & 15) and I have a wonderful husband but he doesn’t serve God. Therefore I need some guidelines to help with this relationship with God.
Be a Godly mother or wife is not easy but I found this book very interested and helpful it has different topics but it helps me a lot how to submit to my husband.The name of the book is “Warrior Women Arise” by: Amanda Goransson
My mother was all – pious, bible reading, prayerful but what she taught us about the Bible and what she did made no absolute sense. I am in my 40s; she wanted her way no matter what, stubborn and self righteous in her ways. She had been living with me for the past 12 years – has made my life a living hell many a times and I struggle through these thoughts. Is being prayerful and God fearing everything? What about understanding another’s pain and feelings. It has become a daily struggle for me. I continue to pray but cannot wipe away some hurtful and painful thoughts.
Sophia
I am sorry that your mother’s behaviour has made you miserable and not joyful. I think most of us struggle, to some extent, in our relationship with our parents. Especially if they are professing Christians. And sadly there are many Christians who say one thing and do another. It is just hard when it is your loved one doing it to you. I can only pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to see her through the loving eyes of Jesus. Someone who truly needs a Saviour.
This is a very heart touching sermon and very impressive, which would surely be written with the movement of holy ghost for the mothers to be Godly people and spend special time with God almighty.
it is very nice for me as well as a father of my children.
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words!