But first we must understand our responsibility to pass on this language from mother to daughter. For while God clearly calls all older women to school the younger women in the art of biblical womanhood (Titus 2:3-5), one of the most important teacher-student relationships is between a mother and her daughter. We have an exciting task, an assignment from God Himself to transfer these feminine attributes from one generation to the next. This is our mother-daughter purpose. Our mission.
I was reminded of our mission when my mother sold her house. Because of my father’s failing health, my parents recently moved from Florida to Maryland to live with my sister and her family. At my mom’s request, my brothers, sisters, and I sorted through all their belongings.
I brought several items home for my daughters: some old books for Nicole, a crystal bowl for Kristin, and my grandma’s handmade quilt for Janelle. For myself I kept a solitary piece of china, one of the few remaining plates from the set my grandfather bought my mother for her wedding.
I can still remember the set in better days serving many a guest on a Sunday afternoon. But its comrades have all been broken or have disappeared, and this plate is all I have. It is delicate and faded — you can no longer read the pattern name printed on the back. But it hangs in my dining room as a pleasant reminder of my aging mother’s once vivacious hospitality.
My brothers and sisters each took home small items of sentimental value, but don’t expect to see us on "Antiques Roadshow" anytime soon. My parents were frugal, modest people who gave away more than they collected. In keeping with her Mennonite background, my mother owned no jewelry except a watch. She never even wore a wedding ring.
Although I have not received costly earthly treasures from my mom, she has given me a gift of priceless value, for she was faithful to pass on to me a legacy of biblical womanhood. Through her teaching and her example she taught me to aspire to these qualities that commend the gospel.
I don’t expect to have much of significant monetary value to leave my daughters either. (Maybe one of them can have Mom’s china plate if it survives.) But like my mother before me, I want to faithfully impress the qualities of biblical womanhood upon the hearts of my daughters. I want to be found worthy of God’s calling to me as their mother, and I want them to live for His glory.
The Need for Strong Relationships
In order for any of us to do this effectively, our mother-daughter relationships must be strong. This transfer can’t be made through a wall of bitterness, amidst yelling and screaming, nor in silence — now can it? In order to pass on the language of biblical womanhood, our relationships must be founded on the Word of God.
As you may have noticed, biblical womanhood isn’t exactly popular these days. The language our culture speaks is hardly one of selflessness, purity, submission, or faith. Instead, it demeans these attributes and the gospel they commend. Our culture speaks a "live for the moment, live for yourself" language that misses out on the beauty of biblical womanhood.
