Mothers can turn to the Bible for encouragement in the challenging task of raising children. Scripture is filled with a number of verses that compare God's love for his people with the love a mother has for her child. These verses serve to guide and encourage women as they travel through the sometimes-rough terrain of motherhood.
Jesus and the Bible's prophets often used the analogy of a mother's deep care and love for her children to elucidate how God deeply desires to have a relationship with the people he created. The experience of childbirth and child-rearing are mentioned throughout scripture. These Bible verses illustrate how the love of a mother for her children is like the love of Christ for His church and God for his people.
What are Some Key Bible Verses Highlighting a Mother’s Love?
The Bible contains several verses comparing a mother’s experience of raising children to Christ’s building the faith of early Christians. God’s unconditional love is expressed in terms of a mother’s love for her children.
Jesus spoke of motherhood in a lesson for his disciples that took place shortly before His crucifixion. The Gospel passage in John 16:20-21 says, “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” Jesus knew His disciples would suffer and feel lost and sad when He died on the cross, and He compared this transition period before His resurrection to a woman suffering while giving birth to a child. Jesus also knew that the disciples’ anguish would turn to joy after He rose from the dead at His resurrection, just as a mother’s birth pains turn to joy after her baby is born.
In a similar vein, the Apostle Paul wrote to new believers in Galatia, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone because I am perplexed about you. Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?” (Galatians 4:19-21). Paul is perplexed because the beliefs of new Christian converts in Galatia have been corrupted by Judaists who followed Old Testament laws. In this letter meant to renew their faith, Paul encouraged the Galatians to return to the good news of Christ, that “. . . you are no longer a slave, but God’s child” (Galatians 4:7). Children of God need not be slaves to Old Testament laws, Paul is saying. He describes his yearning to renew their faith as being like a mother, “again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” This is an allegory that parents will understand. The challenge of raising children begins with birth pains and continues with a constant need to renew the faith of their children when they go astray.
Paul writes to the Galatians for further enlightenment that “. . . the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:26). Commentary in a Bible Study Tools article explains that the “Jerusalem that is above” is a spiritual city for all Christians; it represents the Christian church, of which every Christian is a member. Paul goes on to say that Jerusalem is a mother, freely loving her children. Christians do not earn God’s love by following the law of Moses, just as a loving mother forgives her children when they do not follow the letter of the law and encourages them to do better.
The Gospel of John and Paul’s letter to the Galatians use images of a mother’s love to represent the very core of Christianity to new Christians. These Bible verses may also guide modern women to receive the blessing of God’s love for us. Christians are God’s children, purchased at great price (1 Corinthians 6:20)—by a mother’s pain in childbirth and, more fundamentally, by Jesus’ death on the cross.
How is a Mother’s Love a Reflection of God’s Love?
A Bible passage in Matthew 23:37 describes Jesus’s unconditional love, using the analogy of a mother hen with her chicks. Jesus says, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” In this verse, Jesus addresses His people (Jerusalem) for whom he has the affection of a mother hen, though the ancient Israelites have killed God’s prophets. Jesus’ words draw a sharp contrast between the Israelites’ acts of violence and His love for them. A gentle, clucking hen protects her chicks and gathers them under her wings, as Jesus desires to pull all of His children together with love.
More of the attributes of a good mother are found in Isaiah 66:13, which says, “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Isaiah’s prophecies in chapter 66 speak of the Lord sustaining the Israelites while they are living as captives in idol-worshipping Babylon. God is patient with the Israelites when they slip into worshipping false gods, like a loving mother offering comfort rather than scorn for her children when they go astray. Though they sin, God continually forgives and watches over his people.
In the same chapter of Isaiah, God takes on the persona of a mother with a baby “carried on her hip and bounced upon her knees” (Isaiah 66:12) with an “abundance of glory” (Isaiah 66:11). Referencing the deep love of a mother for her baby is a convincing way for the prophet Isaiah to tell people how much they are loved by God.
Earlier in the book of Isaiah, he prophesies, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or have no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these mothers may forget; but as for me, I’ll never forget you!” (Isaiah 49:15). Though the Jewish people wandered across ancient lands and forgot the God who continually rescued them, God’s love and care for them is everlasting and even more permanent than a mother’s love for her children.
Lessons for Christians from a Mother’s Love in Scripture
Many stories of mothers from Bible history also highlight a mother’s love for her children as well as God's love and care for mothers.
Moses’ mother, Jochebed, saves his life when she hides him in Nile bullrushes after hearing Pharaoh's order to kill all baby boys. Pharaoh’s daughter finds Moses and adopts him. Later, he becomes a great leader who frees the Israelites from bondage in Egypt, receives the Ten Commandments from God, and leads the Israelites toward the Promised Land (Exodus 2:1-10 and Exodus 3:1-22). This story of a mother’s love and determination is evidence that God greatly values the role of a mother and will honor her commitment to care for and protect her children.
Perhaps the greatest evidence of a mother’s love and devotion is revealed in the life of Jesus’ mother Mary. She receives the monumental news that she will bear God’s Son. Mary and Joseph raise Jesus in Nazareth to avoid Jesus’ being killed by agents of King Herod (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-6; Matthew 2). Mary continues to travel with Jesus in His earthly ministry. She stands with other mothers at the cross when Jesus is crucified—a faithful and loving mother to the end.
Mothers in these Bible stories play a covert yet powerful role in God’s plan for the world. Their loving actions with their children affect the course of Christianity.
Encouragement for Mothers from Scripture
The love of a mother for her child is reciprocated when Jesus says to his mother, Mary, from the cross, “Mother, behold your son” (John 19:25-27) and then appoints John, the apostle whom Jesus loved, to care for Mary after His death. Mary’s husband, Joseph, is no longer present, and Jesus knew Mary would need physical protection and financial assistance from a male as a widow in ancient Jerusalem. Jesus' concern and care for His mother demonstrates part of God's nature as a nurturer, caregiver, and protector--traits that mothers often embody.
This detail in the Gospels of Jesus’ providing for His mother from the cross speaks to how highly God values the role of mothers. Proverbs 31:28 also emphasizes God's high regard for the role of a mother. "Her children rise and call her blessed, and her husband praises her," says this verse, reflecting the deep value God places on a mother’s nurturing, wisdom, and dedication. This verse shows that God honors the selfless love and tireless work that mothers invest in their families, showing that, even when these efforts are not recognized by others, they are not overlooked by God. It reminds Christians of the sacred and impactful role mothers play in shaping lives and fostering Godly homes from Bible times through today. Whether you are a mother with biological children, foster children, or your primary role is as a spiritual and motherly mentor, may these stories and verses from scripture encourage you to keep "fighting the good fight (2 Tim. 4:7).
Further Reading
29 Beautiful Bible Verses about Mothers That Will Honor Mothers in Your Life
Bible Verses about Mothers: The Biblical Importance of Motherhood
The Top 10 Most Influential Mothers of the Bible
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Betty Dunn hopes her writing leads you to holding hands with God. A former high school English teacher, editor, and nonprofit agency writer, she now works on writing projects from her home in West Michigan, where she enjoys woods, water, pets and family. Check out her blog at Betty by Elizabeth Dunning and her website, www.elizabethdunning-wix.com.