Alright, so I read this article and it inspired me. You can read the article here but I'll summarize. The author was speaking to laying down our lives for our children just as Christ did for us. We as Mothers, do for our children. Always. Just as Christ did for us. Pretty basic stuff but in truth, I had never really thought about it before reading this article.
So a few things I took away from this-
#1- This is perhaps the very first time I've ever thought of Christ as a Mother figure. I think it's safe to say, that we all see Him as a Father figure, right? All knowing, all powerful. A strong male.
Suddenly this concept of Christ laying down His life for His children as it compares to a Mother laying down her life for her children, just made sense. A little unorthodox sure, but it made sense nonetheless.
I know, right?
#2- Our role as women is to lay down our lives for others. The Bible tells us so.
We are constantly picking up, cleaning, feeding, schlepping, organizing, driving, doing, going....we are always in motion for our children and our spouse. We are the nurturers and caregivers of our family. We give and give and give simply for the happiness and well being of others.
#3- There is strength in laying down your life.
Who is stronger than Christ? Umm....exactly.
When people try to tell me that I'm weak or that there must somehow be something terribly wrong with me simply because I lay down my life for others, I can now be reminded that Christ laid down His life for me. There is a quiet strength in giving and doing for others.
Disclaimer- because, well...I know some of you will probably have a few things to say about this.
I am in no way saying that we should give and give and give without expecting anything in return. Did Christ lay down His life without expectations for His children? Of course not. There's a big difference between laying down your life for your loved ones and being a doormat.
There are of course checks and balances in this system. For example, we teach our children how to do for themselves, do we not? Of course, I spend my fair share of time picking up after my child, what Mother doesn't? However, at the same time, I am also teaching my child how to do this for himself. Gently reminding him that dirty socks do not belong under the kitchen bar stools. Showing him where to put his laundry, explaining to him how to operate the washing machine, how to properly fold his clean clothes, etc.
Laying down your life does not mean that you do everything for everyone all the time. I'm sorry- it doesn't. This is not the message here.
What it means is that you give of yourself freely to those you love. Can we just stop for a moment and think on that? To give the gift of yourself, of your love- freely. Now that's a beautiful thing. There is nothing weak in doing this, in fact- I believe it takes a truly strong woman to lay down her life for others.
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