By REV. ADREN BIVINS 

Laymen Brotherhood Second Chance Outreach

Blessed is the mother who gives birth, raises and nurtures a child. On Sunday, we will honor all mothers of the world. This is a special day set aside to honor, pay tribute, to love and respect them for their sacrifice and dedication. This event that is dedicated once a year for a special Sunday is called “Mother’s Day.” Many times the father will walk away and leave the family, but the mother will remain there and endure, sacrifice, suffer and sometimes give up her life for her child.

The late gospel singer, Willie Neal Johnson, and the Gospel Keynotes of Tyler, Texas, sing a song titled, “Does Anybody Have a Good Mother Like Me.” The lyrics in the song say, “A good mother will pray all night long for her child, a good mother would cry all night long for her child. A good mother will give up the right for the wrong for her child.” Then he asks the question, “Does anybody have a good mother like me?”

I am so glad to say that I have a good mother. When my late father, Abraham Bivins, died and went to be with the Lord, I was only 9 years old. There was also my older sisters, Corene, age 13, and Jessie Mae, age 11, and my two younger brothers, Daniel, age 7, and Abraham Jr., age 5, but my mother, Hazel Sapp Bivins, stayed right there and raised us. She never left us nor did she forsake us.

She worked in the fields during the day and worked in a factory at night. She continued to help us with our homework in the place of our father. Also, she continued to take us to Sunday School and church and she continued to pray with us like our father. She visited the schools, and most of all she continued to love and discipline us. We loved her and always respected her. We never went hungry or were neglected for anything. That is a good mother! I know that there are a lot of good mothers out there today also.

To be a good mother, you have to be a good wife. I will never forget that, on my father’s death bed, my mother was right there. She held his head in her arms while he took his last breath, while we all were standing by his bedside. That is a good mother. So, I am asking the question, does anybody have a good mother like me? All mothers are not good mothers, but if they repent and follow Jesus, they will be. On this special day of honor, it is appropriate to say Happy Mother’s Day to the godly mothers.

Each and every Sunday before going to church, I call my mother. Each time she answers the telephone I always ask, “How are you doing?” Her response will be, “I have a few aches and pains but I am doing just fine.” She is not only a good mother to her family, but she is a good mother to the entire community. She still cooks her Sunday dinners on Saturday night and attends church when she can at Mt. Olive A. M. E. Church. She also still has a strong prayer life and knows that God is the reason why she is here. She always quotes the 14th chapter of St. John about the heavenly mansions and she knows where she is going. She also loves to read the Book of Psalms.

To describe a mother, it is a female parent who carries, nurtures, gives birth and or raises a child. In some cases, a good mother does not always have to give birth to the child. In the Bible, a wife and a mother has two equally important roles; to love, support, and provide companionship for her husband and to bear and rear children. The Bible refers to every aspect of motherhood. The fact that God would use a human mother to bring his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, into the world has bestowed upon motherhood his greatest honor. Jesus set an example for all to follow by the provision he made; John 19:25-27.

Jesus made it plain, however that devotion to God must take precedence to that of a mother; Matthew 12:46-50. Even the Old Testament (Genesis 2:24) indicated that a man’s devotion to his wife supersedes that to his mother. That is why the Bible says, that when two people are married, they need to leave their parents and cleave to each other. In Galatians 4:19, the Apostle Paul compares his ministry to a mother in labor. In 2 Samuel 20:19, the judge and prophetess Deborah was compared as a mother for Israel, but she was also married to a prophet. A good mother and a good wife go hand and hand. I notice my wife of 28 years often talks about her mother, Mrs. Annie B. Jefferson, who raised all nine of them without a father when he died. She worked and made an honest living and they were never neglected. My wife is also a good mother to our two sons, Abraham and Daniel.

As we prepare for this special day, we all need to remember that God has a special place in his heart for his mothers and everyone in his family. We must thank all mothers of the world.

Prayer: “Dear Lord thank you for all mothers everywhere. Keep them strong while they continue to love and nurture their family. Keep them in your care at all times. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

The Rev. Adren Bivins Sr., a clergyman, is the founder of Laymen Brotherhood Second Chance Outreach Center Inc., a non-profit Bainbridge organization. He can be reached by calling (229) 726-8946 or (229) 416-0884.