Imago Dei in Motherhood - Love
how mothers bear the image of God by loving their kids
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It begins the moment a mother delivers her child, and every single cell within her is reaching out right alongside her outstretched arms, crying out: “Give me my baby!” She uses up the last of her abdominal muscles, trying to do that awkward crunch from the hospital bed, all of her being focused on her baby.
In this, I see Jesus on the cross, arms outstretched to bring us into new life and into Himself. I hear how gently he called Mary’s name in the garden (John 20). I feel how tenderly he touched the leper (Matthew 8). I can imagine Him cradling us in His arms, overcome with love for us.
I knew I fell for each of my children the second they were placed on my chest, but the weight of mother-love hit me like a ton of bricks a few days after I got home from the hospital with my oldest. I was, like most of you, a hormonal wreck in the days after delivering my oldest child. I was a hot mess of blood and milk and sweat and tears. And shortly after bursting into tears because the pizza we’d ordered came with some unrequested mushrooms, my husband and mom exchanged looks they thought I didn’t see and gently suggested I go take a bath.
I remember sliding into the hot water, closing my eyes, and picturing my newborn son’s tiny features - his big, fierce eyes, his absurdly long, dark hair, the way his tiny ears and fingers and toes looked, the softness of his skin. I began weeping as I realized that I never wanted him to experience pain. I felt overcome with worry of all I could not protect him from.
And it suddenly dawned on me….the intensity of my love for this tiny baby was nothing compared to the measureless, everlasting love God has for me. He too longs to keep His children from harm (Psalm 91:11); He too desires only good for us (Jeremiah 29:11-12).
In that moment, my fear for my son was swallowed up, like tears in a bathtub, as I realized that I was surrounded by such remarkable Divine love like so much hot water.
Mamas, with every single act of love you perform towards your children - every labor contraction as you work to bring them into this world, every sleepless night, every dinner left cold while you feed the baby, every diaper changed, every band-aid applied, every drop of cough medicine bought, every game of Candy Land played together, every conversation, every book read, every ride to soccer, every picture taken on your phone to pour over after they’re asleep, every play date you arrange for them, every hour of research you put into what to do for their schooling, every hug given, every kleenex you instruct them to blow into, every winter wardrobe exchanged for summer, in each and every moment of care and love you give - in this, we can bear God’s image and begin to know just a mere fraction of the enormity of love and care that God has for us (Eph. 3:17-18).
It’s this beautiful symbiosis that God has arranged for us as mothers. As we work and sacrifice to love our children well, we introduce them to Divine love. We set the table for them to begin to taste the feast of love that God has for them.
But at the same time, when we love our children, we learn more about the love God has for us. As mothers, we don’t only get a place at the table, we get to go behind the scenes into the kitchen, to see how the feast is prepared, and in that, we learn even more of the great intentionality, the great sacrifice of God’s lavish love for us (I John 3:1).
As you greet your children tomorrow morning, know the lavish love of God for you. As you cut their chicken for dinner, know the lavish love God has for you. As you fold the laundry, know the lavish love God has for you. As you feel their tiny hand in yours, know the lavish love God has for you..
Let yourself revel in the lavish love God has for you.
As you head into this week, take this breath prayer with you, especially for the moments when it feels like your kids’ needs far outweigh your capacity.
A perennial favorite, but this version of “Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” by Audrey Assad & Fernando Ortega is so beautiful.