Rooted in Faith: A Mother’s Impact 2 Timothy 1:3-18

 

According to a short article from SoFi, a primarily online bank, the average cost of raising a child in the U.S. as of 2024 was approximately $23,000 per year. That means that raising a kid to 18 would cost about $414,000! They considered various expenses such as housing, food, childcare/education, transportation, healthcare, and clothing among other things.

 

That’s a lot of green invested in our kids, but there’s something else that costs nothing to invest in them and has a much greater impact on our kids than any of those things: faith.

 

Today is Mother’s Day, and while everything I have to say about the importance and impact of setting a solid foundation in faith for our kids applies to both mom’s and dad’s, we’re going to focus on mom’s today.

 

            When I say mom, or mother, I am using that title in the broadest sense possible. I’m talking about all kinds of mothers, biological, step, adoptive, and foster moms. I’m talking about married moms, single moms, widowed moms, and expectant mothers. Moms, grandma’s, great grandmas, and mothers-in-law of all kinds.

 

I’m also talking about all those women who have been mothers to those who didn’t have mothers of their own or absent mothers, those who have stepped in and taken up the slack to help a struggling mom, and those who have been spiritual mothers, helping nurture the women around them. Today is your day.

 

Our passage of Scripture is from the first chapter of 2 Timothy. When Paul wrote to Timothy a second time, he was facing his imminent death in Rome. Paul was under house arrest and knew he was going to be executed for his faith. In view of that, he writes to Timothy this second time to encourage him, to build him up, to strengthen him for the work of the ministry, and to point Timothy to the hope that is in Christ.

 

 

Paul begins by describing the roots of Timothy’s faith, which paints a wonderful picture of a mother’s impact on the life of their child, and a mother’s impact on the kingdom of God. Let’s read God’s Word together: 2 Timothy 1:3 – 18.

 

• Transformative Truth – God prepares His children for life and service through faithful mother’s.

 

After his opening greeting, Paul begins this letter to Timothy by telling Timothy that he thanks God regularly as he remembers Timothy in his prayer’s day and night. Paul loved Timothy as if he were his own son, he was Timothy’s “spiritual father” if you will, and he longs to see him.

 

Paul and Timothy weren’t just regular coworkers who tolerated each other, they had a close bond. In Philippians 2:20 Paul writes about Timothy, saying, “For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare.”

 

Pretty much the first half of this letter is Paul giving Timothy loving encouragement to continue strong in the ministry. The foundation for that encouragement is found here in v.5.

 

• Mothers have a unique opportunity to impact their children for Christ.

 

Paul writes in 2 Tim. 5, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.”

 

Paul met Lois and Eunice during his first missionary trip to Lystra. Acts 16 begins with Paul meeting them, and Timothy, who’s father was a Greek, meaning gentile, and unbeliever. But Lois and Eunice were God fearing Jewish women, and the way Paul writes it here in 2 Timothy, they came to believe in Jesus Christ first.

 

Paul got to experience firsthand the faith of Lois and Eunice. He said it dwelt in them; it lived in them. This isn’t merely religiosity. These women didn’t just go to church on Sunday and attend Bible study. Theirs was a faith that was lived out, visibly seen regularly.

 

 

Paul says that the faith that is in Timothy, that first dwelt in his grandmother and mother, is sincere, that is a genuine faith. It was a faith without hypocrisy. There wasn’t a change in attitude or behavior when the preacher wasn’t around. It was not a faith that only showed up for appearances sake, it lived in them whether people were watching or not. They had a faith that was founded in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Both momma and grandma lived a life of faith that had a lasting influence on Timothy.

 

For better or worse mom’s, grandma’s, God moms, adoptive moms, spiritual moms, et. al. you have an influence on the children in your life, even the grown up ones. You have the opportunity to write on their hearts with hands of love. When your life on this side of heaven is over, what message will you leave on their hearts? What will your legacy be? You can leave love, grace, acceptance, discipline, self-control, right relationships, but above all you can instill in them a firm foundation of faith.

 

Paul was certain that the same faith was in Timothy. Salvation is found in Christ alone, there is absolutely nothing we can do to attain it but to accept what Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross. It’s terrifying when we understand that the same is true for our children. They have to accept that same atoning sacrifice of Christ themselves. No matter how much we wish to accept it for them, we can’t.

 

That’s why, mom’s, don’t miss the opportunity to invite your child to a personal faith, to live out the gospel in front of them, daily. Four scholars were arguing over Bible translations. One said he preferred the King James Version because of its beauty and eloquent old English. Another said he liked the New American Standard Bible for its literalism and how it moves the reader from passage to passage with confident feelings of accuracy from the original text. The third scholar was sold on the New Living Translation for its use of contemporary phrases and idioms that capture the meaning of difficult ideas. After being quiet for a moment, the fourth scholar admitted: “I have personally preferred my mother’s translation.” When the other scholars started laughing, he said, “Yes, she translated the Scriptures. My mom translated each page of the Bible into life. It is the most convincing translation I have ever read.”

 

Moms, motherhood is a high calling, but the impact you have on your children’s lives is eternal.

• Mothers have a unique opportunity to inspire their children for Christ.

 

Paul goes on to exhort Timothy, to remind him to fan into flame the gift of God. Paul moves into his encouragement of Timothy by saying, “for this reason…” Because of the faith Timothy has, modeled and instilled in him by his grandmother and mother, Paul encourages Timothy to remain on fire for the Lord, because God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and self-control.

 

Paul was encouraging Timothy to not be ashamed of the gospel. Too often today we allow ourselves to be ashamed of our faith, but our passage is clear, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord.” This recurs not just throughout this letter, but throughout the NT.

 

In Mark 8:38, Jesus says, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” In Romans 1:16, Paul says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

 

And notice how Paul follows up his exhortation to not be ashamed of the gospel in our main passage today, he adds that Timothy shouldn’t be ashamed of Paul’s testimony about Jesus either despite being a prisoner for the Lord, and he calls on Timothy to share in suffering for the gospel.

 

It’s not enough for ourselves to just not be ashamed of the gospel, but we must be prepared to suffer for it. And it’s hard to want to inspire our babies to also be prepared to suffer for the gospel, but just look at the entirety of the NT, it is a privilege to suffer for the gospel, something the early church understood and embraced, and so should we.

 

Moms encourage your kids to not be ashamed of the gospel, of the work, name, and person of Jesus Christ. No matter how the world tries desperately to twist and distort who Jesus is, who God is and what He stands for, we must all stand strong in our faith.

 

Don’t be ashamed of the power of God in the gospel. Inspire, encourage your children to faith, and to proudly share the power of God at work in their lives because as Paul adds in v.9, God saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because we earned it, but because of his grace in J.C.

Inspire your children to seek out God’s calling in their lives. First and foremost, God calls us all to be in relationship to Him. We are to love God and love others. But that isn’t always easy, it’s part of suffering for the gospel because we live in a fallen world.

 

Moms, you have an opportunity to inspire and encourage your children to hear and listen to God’s voice and to respond in faith, love, service, and sacrifice for His great glory.

 

• Mothers have a unique opportunity to instill God’s truth in their children.

 

Paul goes on to further illustrate faithfulness by using himself as an example, and by contrasting those who have abandoned him and the faith (all in Asia, Phygelus and Hermogenes) and those who have stood by him (the household of Onesiphorus).

 

But in the middle of those examples, Paul sandwiches an exhortation. He encourages Timothy in v.13 to “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.” Paul again appeals to Timothy’s faith, that was in his mother and grandmother first. A faith they helped instill in Timothy.

 

Surely they visibly lived out that faith, but there must be some practical aspect to this. There is, later in his letter Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:14 – 15, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

 

What follows is Paul’s observation in 2 Timothy 3:16 – 17 that, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

 

It was Timothy’s mother and grandmother (and Paul) who taught him the Scriptures that Paul says are God breathed. In fact, Jewish parents typically began teaching their kids the Scriptures when they were about five years old. It was having the holy Word of God taught to him by mom and grandma that instilled God’s truth in Timothy.

 

Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Only take care, and keep you soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children—” And Solomon wrote in Proverbs 22:6, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

 

It is so important to instill in your children the truth of God’s Word from an early age because it gives you wisdom that leads to salvation. Even simple Bible stories can express this truth. You don’t have to be a scholar, you don’t need a PhD, Bible degree, or even training to teach your children the truth about Jesus Christ.

 

Moms, instill in your children the genuine faith that you have developed from a life walking with God, instill in your children God’s truth that’s found in His holy Word. Remember that children will not become what you tell them to become, but rather what you show them to become. Show them from an early age a genuine love for God and His Word.

 

If your relationship with Christ is genuine, then you will be a walking example of Christ. That is what Paul saw when he spent time with Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Lois and Eunice were living examples of Christ, teaching Timothy the truth and practicality of following Jesus.

 

That’s why Paul was able to confidently encourage and exhort Timothy back in chapter 1, verse 14, “By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.”

 

Timothy’s faith was deeply rooted in Christ because of his grandmother and mother, and because of that Paul was able to entrust the message of the gospel to Timothy, to trust that Timothy would faithfully live out and spread the gospel. And Paul reminds Timothy, and mothers, and all of us that all of this is by the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

• Transformative Point – Mothers, you have an eternal impact on the world through your children, root their faith in Jesus by actively living out your own faith in Christ.

 

 

In the Bible, Timothy became a great leader in the early church, but it was his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice who instilled in him the knowledge and faith of Jesus. Their faith nurtured Timothy, showing us that a mother’s love and guidance can not only shape a life, but shape the kingdom of God on earth. Just as a plant needs nurturing to grow, our faith thrives when it's tended by those who love and believe, creating a lasting impact that resonates through generations.

 

A wonderful story from church history tells of Susanna Wesley, who had 19 children, yet found time to kneel in prayer daily. One day, her son John asked her why she prayed so passionately. She responded, 'I pray because it changes me and those around me.' Her dedication to her faith not only shaped her children but impacted millions.

 

John Wesley and his brother Charles were well known evangelists in 18^th century and led a movement that eventually became the Methodist church. It’s a reminder that the faithfulness of one mother can alter the course of history in profound ways.

 

Mothers, you have a unique role in shaping the faith of your children. You have the opportunity to form and shape and encourage your children by showing them a deep, personal, abiding relationship with the Living God. Your impact is eternal.