What will we do without grandmothers?
Grandmothers who are strong in the Christian faith and pass what they know down to their children and grandchildren are incredibly important.
Every weekend, there are grandmothers who gather up their grandchildren and bring them to their house on Saturday night. Not for a party, but to get them ready to go to church the next Sunday morning.
They make sure the children have breakfast, are dressed in clean clothes for Sunday school, have some money for the offering and take them with them to church. They don’t just send the children, they go and participate in worship with them.
They sit with them in the church service and teach them how to sit and listen to the Bible teaching and preaching.
Grandmothers help their grands find the number for the hymn in the songbook and trace the lines with their finger helping them follow and learn the patterns for reading.
They encourage their grandchildren to go forward to listen to the children’s sermon and take part in learning Bible stories and truth.
Grandmothers guide little hands to place their coins in the offering plate, teaching the children to give back to God from what He has blessed them with.
In some families, the children’s parents, or parent, fill this role and accompany their children to church and teach them about worship, giving and Christianity.
Sometimes an aunt or older sibling brings the children to church.
But many times, the grandmother makes sure the children have spiritual experiences and guidance.
In the Bible, we see that a Godly grandmother had a great influence on Timothy. Timothy was an early Christian who had a Greek father and a Jewish mother. Paul met him after he became a Christian, and Timothy joined him in his missionary journey to spread the Gospel of Christ.
In 2 Timothy 1:3-5, we read that Paul wrote to Timothy saying: “Thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.”
What a wonderful legacy! A woman who found Jesus Christ as her Messiah and Savior and perhaps led her daughter to faith.
In any case, both women were believers. Then they passed their knowledge and understanding of Jesus Christ and salvation to Timothy, Lois’s grandson and Eunice’s son.
Timothy went on to become a companion and missionary with Paul, who was responsible for spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles as well as his fellow Jews.
What will we do if there are no more faithful, believing grandmothers in the future?
