The other night, as my wife and I sat in our daughters’ room, doing our nightly devotions with our girls, my eye caught the many magnets on my daughter’s metal bunk bed, that I had collected for them over time. Years ago I started the habit of bringing them something tangible and permanent whenever I traveled to a new city or country, with refrigerator magnets being the economical and logical choice. Yes, at times I’ll couple the magnets with something temporary and consumable, like a unique candy from a far-off land, but I recognize that while those are nice, I want to bestow upon them something of permanence and lasting value.

This past week as we celebrated Mother’s Day, I was reminded of Paul’s words to his disciple Timothy, regarding the lasting value of the spiritual impact of his mother and grandmother,

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (2 Tim. 1:5)

I have no doubt that Paul’s mother and grandmother demonstrated their love for him in a variety of ways over the years, many meeting an immediate, short-term, temporary need. However, the most urgent and permanent need for any Christian parent is to exemplify a sincere faith, as Lois and Eunice did for Paul. Serving as personal chauffer, chef, fashion consultant, tutor and career counselor are all valuable and selfless acts; however, in the eternal spiritual scheme of things they are temporary and minor, in comparison to faithfully nurturing, in partnership with the Holy Spirit, a sincere faith in Christ in our children.

In the end, nothing is of more lasting significance, as Hebrews 9:27-28 reminds us,

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

And Paul notes an ingredient of vital importance to leaving a lasting spiritual legacy on children, when he states, “your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice.”

In short, we, as parents, cannot impart what we do not possess.  Paul’s faith was birthed in him to a large degree because it lived in influential people in his life.

So while I’m certain many a sermon was preached this past Sunday encouraging mothers of the sacrificial nature of motherhood, in the end, God’s Word indicates, wherever we parent, as believers around the globe, our top priority must be to emulate Paul’s words to the Ephesians elders in Acts 20:28,

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.”