3 Bible Moms You Won’t Find in the Bible

You might be thinking that there’s a pretty major problem with the title of this post, but nope! The 3 moms I’m thinking of were (probably) the some of the greatest Bible moms. We’re talking serious #momgoals here, but these mamas have no words written about them in the scriptures. We don’t know their names or much about their circumstances.

However, we do know that

a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. -Luke 43-44a.

These Bible moms produced the kind of fruit that they could be really proud of, and I think discipleship parents can learn a lot from them, even today.

The moms:

The “Young Girl’s” Mom 

I don’t know the daughter’s name, but she’s definitely a hero. She was kidnapped from her home in Israel by Syrians, and served in the household of Syria’s army commander. But, when he was stricken with leprosy, she came to the rescue, telling him where he could find healing. That’s loving your enemy, if anything ever was. And, what’s more, this powerful man listens to her. He hops in his chariot, and goes off to find the man she recommended. To me, this is a powerful testament to the way she must have conducted herself. Her captor felt she was trustworthy and reliable enough to go out on a limb on her word. This girl was faithful and kind, even to her enemy. Just think about this girl’s mama for a second! She must have really taught her daughter to be a true disciple of God, even when separated from her family and other believers. Find the whole story in 2 Kings 5.

The “Lad’s” Mom

Again, an unnamed child is our hero. This one is hungry. He’s been listening to Jesus speak all day (presumably without his parents around). But, when he finds out that Jesus is looking for food to feed to the crowd, he offers up his little lunch. I don’t know about you, but I was excited when my son offered me a cucumber stick from his plate this afternoon. I find it difficult to imagine a scenario in which he’d willingly forego his entire lunch, not knowing when he’ll get his next meal. But, it seems that the Lad in this story (found in John 6) was faithful and generous. His mom had probably put in plenty of time helping him push aside his selfishness until it had become a habit for him.

Daniel’s Mom

Last, but not least, we have a character who starts as a child and remains heroic throughout his adult life. He starts out by declining fancy food and asking his captors for healthy cuisine, instead (Daniel 1). That, in itself, is a parenting victory for Daniel’s mom. He goes on to even bigger and better things, including remaining brave and faithful to God as he’s literally thrown to the lions (Daniel 6).  Daniel, at least in the beginning of his story, has the benefit of friends who are also making godly choices. Daniel’s mom gets my respect for teaching him to honor his body, surrounding him with positive peer influences, and giving him the foundation for his lifelong dependence on prayer.

The takeaways:

• Focus on discipleship from day 1: we don’t know how long we have to deeply instill spiritual values in our kids.
• We can (and should) teach our kids to love their neighbors and their enemies.
• Teaching our kids to be unselfish is not an exercise in futility.
• We should not underestimate the importance of teaching our children the principals of health.
• Parents should carefully consider the influences surrounding their kids, right from the beginning.
• Prayer is key to discipleship parenting. We need to teach it, model it, and experience it personally in order to be successful Christian moms.

Sadly, two of these Bible moms never knew for sure how their careful parenting had influenced their children. I imagine that each of them spent long hours in prayer for their kids for the rest of their lives. These ladies didn’t get much recognition for their labors of love (that’s just how momming usually goes, right?). But when I see them in Heaven I’m going to be sure to thank them for the positive influences that their parenting had on me and my kids.

Want to keep reading? Check out this post on teaching by example!

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