God in His immeasurable wisdom put something in mothers that makes them bond well with their children. We will be discussing the bond between a mother and her daughter. One of the most important and enriching relationships you can have in life is the relationship between a mother and her children. But specifically, there is an incredible impacting relationship between a mother and daughter. Surely, your mother may drive you crazy or your daughter may be the cause of all things stressful in your life, but there is no denying the power of the mother— daughter bond that exists. Many of us are blessed with a supportive and loving mother– daughter relationship from the start while some of us will never know what that kind of relationship is like. Not every mother– daughter relationship is solid and many of us will have to work hard at developing a strong bond with our mothers or daughters. The dynamics of a mother—daughter relationship changes constantly as each woman enters a different stage or phase of life. But no matter the stage/phase of life the importance of a mother– daughter relationship never diminishes. Let us look at these tips for improving this unique bond between a mother and daughter.
Advice for Daughters
Part of being a nurturing and loving mother is having to be a disciplinarian, but once a daughter becomes an adult and establishes her own independence, a mother– daughter relationship evolves into more of friendship than discipline. Your relationship with your mother matures as you both mature. The older you get and the more life experience you acquire, the more you will be surprised at how your relationship changes.
Involve your mum in your life: Your mum may want to spend more time with you but does not want to feel like she is imposing. She knows you have your own life, but she wants to be a part of it. The advice is you take time to engage in activities that will strengthen your bond with your mum. My relationship with my mum is very rich; we both have respect for each other. As we both mature in age, she began to see me as both her friend and her confidant. She became an important part of my life and my husband is her “blue-eyed” boy, since I do not live in the same country with her, I diverse means of involving her in my affair through regular telephone communication.
Remember that she will always be your mummy: Your mum is the one that raised you, and no matter what age you turn or what decade of life she enters into, she will always be your mummy. Treat her with the respect and dignity she deserves. Ex21:17; Lev20:9 and Pro20:20. Remember to thank her being the great mummy she has been all these years.
Honor your mother and regard her wise counsel: The scriptures taught us to honor our parents Ex20:12 and Eph6:2. No matter what status you have attained in life in terms influence and affluence, you are not permitted by the word of God to dishonor and disrespect your mother.
Irrespective of your mother’s actions or inactions towards you the word of God must be obeyed, and by so doing you will enjoy the benefits of God attached to His words concerning you.
Advice for Mothers
As a mother you have one of the most difficult jobs, but also one of the most rewarding. Your children are your life. There is a good chance your mother– daughter relationship has suffered some few blows as your daughter passes through the adolescent phase of life, but now that you are older and have adult relationship with your daughter, it is time to take some good advice for mothers.
Stop criticizing: The time for being critical has passed. Your daughter is grown up and will usually not respond well to criticism, even though a mother may know best. Keep your criticism to yourself unless she asks you for advice, or you are being critical over something that is dangerous or immoral to herself or her loved ones. Also remember that constant criticism can lead to resentment, which can lead to a much bigger problem later on. When your daughter opens up to you for advice or support, it is because she trusts your motherly instincts and wisdom. Do not abuse that trust by being overly critical of her or her marriage, it can be harmful to your mother– daughter bond.
Give your daughter some space: In other words stop meddling into the affairs of your daughter, especially the running of her home and marriage. She has her own life to live now; her identity seems almost independent of you now, even if you helped shape it. Let her experience her own adventures with you sometimes in the background. Remember your daughter is grown up now, so you can no longer play centre role in her life. My mother understands this very well and she respects my privacy. She knows she cannot interfere in my life and most especially my marriage. Even though she is welcome to my home at anytime, she cannot just leave her house and come visiting without notifying me and my husband. She does not meddle into my affairs, and if I do not seek her opinion over any matter she will not offer it. I enjoy a very wonderful relationship with her and all my friends that come in contact with her enjoy the same motherly love.
Remember your own mother’s lesson: Your relationship with your own mother is an excellent tool for you to learn from to enhance your relationship with your own daughter. With age, you gain great perspective and you learn what you liked or did not like about your mother’s parenting style and what was most effective. Learn from your past to better your future with your daughter. Remember that parts of your own life lessons that you teach your daughter will be passed onto her own children.
Have a wonderful mother– daughter relationship that will be the envy of all.
Related articles
- Mother’s Day (rubylane.com)
- Tara Brooke on Mother-Daughter Relationships (familyfocusblog.com)
- Top 10 Famous Mothers and their Daughters (listverse.com)
Pro 14:1 “Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands” (AMP). 
Pro 12:4 “A virtuous and worthy wife (earnest and strong in character) is a crowning joy to her husband….” (AMP) For you to excel in life and in the family as a homemaker, you need wisdom.
Pro 4:7-9, admonishes us to befriend wisdom, for she will give to our heads a wreath of gracefulness, a crown of beauty and glory will she deliver to us, if we allow her to direct us, she will bring to us profiting in all our endeavors including homemaking.
What is a Home?
A home is a dwelling place, but not every dwelling place is a home. A home is a place where you live, especially with your family. It is your haven; a place you go to for comfort, peace and tranquility. A place of safety, where the hostility happening outside cannot reach you. The difference between a house and a home is the presence of a wise woman. A wise woman transforms her house into a home by her actions; she is the one according to the scriptures that builds the house, transforming it into a home, which becomes a safe place for herself, her loved ones and everyone who comes her way. She turns the mortar and bricks of the house into a home, where love, joy, peace and hospitality can be felt. A woman who allows the wisdom of God to direct her affairs in life is the heartthrob of her husband. She is the Virtuous woman of Proverb 31:10-31. The kingdom of God is a kingdom of choices, God will only advice you, but whatever is your choice, you will receive the reward. The choice is yours, either to be a wise builder or a destroyer Deut30:15-20. In fact, you are a product of the choices you made yesterday. I can hear the Spirit say, choose well today so that you can have a better tomorrow.
How do you build a house and transform it into a home as a wise woman?
Pro24:3-4 “Through skillful and godly wisdom is a house (a life, a home, a family) built and by understanding it is established (on a sound and good foundation). And by knowledge shall all its chambers (of every area) be filled with all precious and pleasant riches” (AMP).
Pro 9:1 “Wisdom has built her house she has hewn out and set her seven (perfect number of) pillars” (AMP).
Let us look at the seven vital pillars for transforming the house into a home.
A. Qualitative Walk with God. Matt 6:33. God desires that you develop your spiritual life in order to be a wise homebuilder. You are to examine your heart condition towards God. If your relationship with your Maker is in order it will reflect in your relationship with your family, that is your husband and children. Without Christ, your life is like a super car without key, you cannot get it started, make it work or use it. You cannot go anywhere with it. A relationship with God is the key to all life situations, including your marriage. God alone possesses the instruction manual for your marriage and that wonderful home you dream of. The first pillar in building that wonderful home you desire and deserve is seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. As you do this diligently, shunning all distractions from within and without, Jesus Himself will see to it that your house is transformed into a home. Decide today to put God first every day of your life, and your life and marriage will never be the same again.
B. Be a Supportive Teammate. Eccl 4:9-12. Your house can only be transformed into a home, if you accept your role as a supportive teammate with your husband. You are to compliment his efforts and not to order him around. You have an important part to play in making your house a safe haven for your loved ones. We women, tend to forget that the success of the marriage depends on us as much as it depends on the man. If we refuse to play out our role in the marriage, what we will have at the end of the day is a “madhouse” where everything is in chaos instead of the blissful home we desired and deserved.
Let us quickly remind ourselves of the roles of husbands and wives:
Husband
He is the head, so he is to lead in the marriage and family, before the fall, the man and his wife were doing their things their own way; but after the fall a new order was set in place Gen3:16; Eph5:22-24 and Col3:18. In the same way you submit to the Lord, you are to willingly follow your husband’s leadership. He is to work and provide for his wife and children 1Tim5:8. He is to love his wife as Christ loved the Church Eph5:25.
Wife
She is to help her husband, as wives we are God’s solution to our husbands’ need for a helper and companion. We are to submit to our husbands, this is a non negotiable commandment to wives from God. We must adapt ourselves to our husbands’ leadership and their way of leading. You are expected to respect your husband as a Christian wife, you are to reverence, respect, praise and honor your husband; failure to do this, is a sin in the eyes of God. If you have a good relationship with God carrying out this commandment will be cheap and easy for you. You are to love your husband that is be affectionate, treat your husband in a loving manner, cherish him and enjoy him as your best friend. To build a priceless home, you must follow God’s plan for your life and marriage. Do not postpone your obedience to your roles as a wife or make it conditional to your husband’s fulfillment of his assignment. Do not wait for your husband to change before you perform your roles. Instead of rating our husbands, let us check ourselves and prayerfully ask God to help us make amend where we are lacking in carrying out our roles. No matter who our husbands are, and their spiritual condition our roles still remains: Help; Follow; Respect and Love Your husband’s failures and shortcoming in discharging his duties does not give you the right to sin.
C. A Quality Prayer Life. Lk 18:1-8. Jesus admonished us that we ought to pray and not to faint. How is your prayer life? Most of us leave the praying to our husbands, agreed that they are our spiritual heads, but as their help meet it is also part of our assignment from God to pray for our family. In fact, we are to pray without ceasing 1Thess 5:17. You are the spiritual watchman of that home. The biblical positions of the “watchman” are: on the way of the city; walking about in the city and on the hills and mountain tops. You are to observe closely the activities going on within the house; make your family ready to accept the Lord and be obedient to His word, that is prepare them for eternity; to recognize and confront disorderly or unruly behavior within the home; to report all disobedience to the Spiritual High Priest of your home. Also you are to patrol the borders of your home, watching out for any encroachment of the enemy long before any attack is launched against your home. You can only carry out your duties as a watchman of your home by effective fervent prayer. As a watchman you must be able to hear from the Lord and warn the family Ezk3:17. To put it bluntly, your husband is where he is today by virtue of the amount of time you spent praying for him; the same goes for the state of affairs in your marriage. You cannot enjoy a blissful home standing straight, your knees must be bent in prayers always; because the devil does not like you as long as you do not belong to him, and you can only fight him on your knees. Whether you are engaged in prayers of thanksgiving; praise/worship; supplication; request or petition, your knees must be in a bent position. Let me tell you one secret why you must engage in meaningful prayer time; no matter how difficult your husband is, your prayers to God everyday concerning him, will change him to the kind of man you desire and deserve; and he will find himself doing things for you he never thought he could do. Friends, prayer works faster than nagging, try it and you will not regret it. To raise godly children we need prayers, because our children are likely to mix with some other children with questionable backgrounds in their schools and work places; it is our duty as mothers to pray and our prayers will help mold them in the way of the Lord Gen18:19; 2Tim3:15.
D. A Meaningful Intimacy Song of Sol. 7:1-12. It is God’s idea that sexual intimacy be a holy and confined blessing in marriage; however temporary the excitement of sexual expression may be, its abuse will bring enormous heart break and suffering. Sexual union is reserved for marriage alone Ex 20:14; Pr5:15-20. The bible teaches that sexual intimacy is to be enjoyed regularly so that the couple may avoid temptations 1Cor7:3-5. Sexual intercourse is an intimate expression of affection between husband and wife. In fact the bible says it is a duty the husband and wife own to each other, they are to be available to each other and not to deprive one another except by mutual agreement and only for a short period of time least satan tempts them for lack of self control. Christian couple should never engage in sexual selfishness, and as a Christian wife never use your body as a means of exploiting your husband, whether directly or indirectly. It is a sin, if you practice this shameful act you are not better than the harlot on the street who sells her body for what she can gain from men Pro7:10-21. There are better ways of getting your husband to do things for you than using your body. May the Lord give us understanding.
E. Hospitality Proverbs 31:20. As a Christian wife you must be hospitable. Remember your husband came out of a family. He was raised in a family that includes parents, siblings and other extended relations. You are to show love to them, the fact that the bible says a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, does not mean you are to neglect your parents in law and not respect and show them love. Remember the bible says honor your father and mother. Once you marry, your husband’s parents become your parents, so you must extend to them the same honor and respect you have for your parents. The scriptures tell us that whatsoever you sow you will reap Gal6:7, one day you will become a mother in law and the same treatment you gave to your mother in law will be given to you; I hope you enjoy it when the time comes. Eph5:1-2 advices us to be imitators of God and walk in love; pay evil deeds with good deeds and the Lord will reward you with the desire of your heart which is a blissful marriage and a happy home. Take example from Ruth in the bible Ruth 1:16-17, she respected her mother in law, she was loyal to her; she was a humble and teachable daughter in law. She served her mother in law from her heart and the Lord rewarded her by putting her name in the Book of the genealogy of His Son Jesus Christ Matt1:5. Write your name in gold in the heart of your loved ones by being a daughter in law and a mother in law after God’s Heart.
F. Good Money Management Proverbs 27:23-27. Money management is a sensitive issue in most marriages, but with the wisdom of God, the nightmare surrounding money management in marriage can be turned to a thing of joy. Managing money is an act that only the Holy Spirit can teach. You either manage money or it will manage you. In the book of Proverbs, the Holy Spirit showed us five keys to good money management. As a Christian wife, you are the Chief Accountant of your home, so you must be a skilled money manager in order for your husband to trust you with his money. The reason most husbands are not open to their wives about their true financial position is lack of trust. They do not trust their wives with money; so in order not to go bankrupt they remain close as a clam on money matters; this is not right, there should be absolute openness in marriage. My husband is completely and absolutely open with me concerning his financial position, because he knows that I am for him and not against him; he does not have to hide his cheque book from me, why? Because financially he trust me. If your husband is not opened to you financially, check yourself and the foundation upon which you built your marriage.
Let us consider these five nuggets of good money management from the Scriptures:
(1) Good Accounting System Pr 27:23: How good is your record keeping? Keep a good track of what you own, owe, earn and spend.
(2) Planning Pr 21:5: Have a budget; planning how we spend money is essential to good stewardship. Planned spending brings satisfaction while “impulse buying” can have devastating consequences.
(3) Saving Pr 21:20: If you plan well and spend wisely you should be able to save for the rainy day.
(4) Contentment Pr 15:16: More money is equal to joy and peace of mind. To have plenty of money to spend is very good no doubt, but it is the contentment we have with whatever is in our hands today that brings enjoyment and joy in the Holy Ghost Phil 4:11.
(5) Giving Pr 3:9-10: Honour God with whatever income or resources you have. As a good money manager, you can always squeeze out something from a very tight budget to give to the Lord; it is not in the quantity but in the quality. As you do this, you allow the Lord to reign in your life and begin a divine cycle of blessing for you.
G. Kingdom Service Col3:23-24. Every Christian is to serve the Lord. You are saved to serve, and not to be served. Your service is unto God and not unto man, this is the truth that brings dignity to service, in whatever capacity you are called to serve do it as unto the Lord. As a Christian wife interested in transforming her house to a home, bear the following in mind as you pursue your kingdom service:
Serve those at home first. Never give to others, what you have not first given to those in your home. Your first service is to your husband and children. Jesus speaking in Acts 1:8: we are to be witnesses to Him first in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria before the end of the earth. Your family is your Jerusalem so that is the first place to start your kingdom service.
Serve with your husband’s blessing and support. Before you go into ministry or volunteer to help in any way at the Church ask your husband first. Submit that vision you have to your husband, he is your spiritual head. To go off with the vision without his blessing is to be running around town without a head. If the vision is genuinely from God your husband will support it wholeheartedly, for God is not the Author of confusion, He will defend whatever He authors. When I told my husband about the vision the Lord gave me concerning Family Life and the Newsletter publication; he supported me wholeheartedly and gave me his blessing. In fact he is my Editor in Chief; I do the writing but he still find time from his busy schedule to edit every issue of the newsletter published by us. Because I have the support of my spiritual head it will be difficult for the devil to kill the vision or use the vision to destroy my marriage.
Serve in whatever capacity you can. You are to serve with a grateful heart to the Lord. No service is too menial for you to do for the Lord. You can sweep, sing, evangelise, etc. Whatever your hands and heart leads to do, do as unto the Lord. The Master needs the open hands, the willing feet and the praying heart.
As we put these seven perfect pillars together in their proper place, may the Lord transform our houses into homes where all the Christian graces are available in abundance Gal 5:22-23 May our homes become city of refuge to our loved ones and a place of comfort for all the Lord will bring our way in Jesus Name. Amen.
Related articles
- Can You Have A Good Marriage Without God’s Wisdom? (yourgodmoments.wordpress.com)
- Homemaking in the 1950s and Now (littleowlski.wordpress.com)
The Lighthouse 