You have reason for hope as parents who desire to see your children have faith. The hope is in the power of the gospel. The gospel is suited to the human condition. The gospel is attractive. God has already shown great mercy to your children. He has given them a place of rich privilege. He has placed them in a home where they have heard His truth. They have seen the transforming power of grace in the lives of His people. Your prayer and expectation is that the gospel will overcome their resistance as it has yours.4

The gospel message should provide us with tremendous heart-strengthening, soul-encouraging hope: Jesus Christ is "mighty to save" (Isa. 63:1). This should kindle zeal to share the truth of the gospel with our daughters.

Perhaps your home is a place of peace and tranquility, your fears as insignificant as gnats to swat away. Or maybe trials are washing over you like relentless waves. Your anxieties are consuming and overwhelming. They rob you of sleep and plague your waking hours. But no matter the size or the shape of your fears, may I encourage you to take them to the foot of the cross? The gospel isn’t an out-of-date message; it is the good news of a saving God who is "a very present help in trouble" (Ps. 46:1). So repent from worry and put your trust in the glorious gospel.

My husband has a Charles Spurgeon quotation as his screensaver, which we would do well to have running across the screen of our minds: "As for His failing you, never dream of it—hate the thought. The God who has been sufficient until now, should be trusted to the end."5 So let our mothering forecast be one of victory and not of defeat. We have the hope of the gospel in our souls.

 1. Elisabeth Elliot, The Shaping of a Christian Family (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Fleming H. Revell, a division of Baker Book House, 1992), 180-181.

 2. Tedd Tripp, Shepherding a Child’s Heart (Wapwallopen, Pa.: Shepherd Press, 1995), 200.

 3. Eric W. Hayden, Highlights in the Life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, chapter 52 from the C. H. Spurgeon Collection, version 2.0 (Rio, Wis.: AGES Software, 2001), quoted in Steve Miller, C. H. Spurgeon on Spiritual Leadership (Chicag Moody Publishers, 2003), 38.

 4. Tripp, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, 200.

 5. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, Morning and Evening (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), 128.

This column is part of an ongoing series on Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhood. Click here for last month's installment.

Carolyn Mahaney is a wife, mother, homemaker, and the author of Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother, and Girl Talk: Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhood. During her more than 30 years as a pastor’s wife, Carolyn has spoken to women in many churches and conferences, including those of Sovereign Grace Ministries, which her husband, C.J., leads. C.J. and Carolyn have three married daughters and one twelve-year-old son, Chad.

Nicole Mahaney Whitacre is the oldest daughter of C.J. and Carolyn Mahaney, as well as a wife, mother, and homemaker. She assisted her mother with Feminine Appeal, and is the co-author of Girl Talk. Nicole and her husband, Steve, have one son, Jack.

Carolyn and her three daughters keep a  weblog for women in all seasons of life, also entitled "Girl Talk."

This column was adapted for Crosswalk from Girl Talk: Mother-Daughter Conversations on Biblical Womanhood (Crossway 2005) by Carolyn Mahaney and Nicole Mahaney Whitacre © 2005 (Used by permission of Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL 60187,  http://www.gnpcb.org.)