This morning, as with all mornings, I prayed for God to give me wisdom that I might read and be able to apply His Word. As I continue to study the word “mother” I was brought to another passage in Proverbs that does not seem that much different from the last, only this one focuses on me a little more.

“²⁰A wise son makes a glad father,

but a foolish man despises his mother.”

— Proverbs 15:20 (ESV)

I know, the last passage I studied was about the foolish son being a sorrow to his mother, so yes, it did involve me. But, here I see that it is my thoughts and feelings that are the focus. I have a mother that I love and she loves me. It is difficult for me to feel any other way, or at least think of feeling any other way.

There are those out there that may not have the same relationship with their mothers and I do not expect that everyone would. I know those who have a very close relationship with their mothers whereas mine is not one where we talk every week. My oldest son in fact is one that speaks to Lori at least once if not multiple times each week, and that is great for them. The thing is that the relationship is there as is the love.

We do not have to have relationships like everyone else with our mothers. But, we do have to be wise enough to love them. It is the action of love that I am talking about, not the emotion of love. We show them that we love them as opposed to telling them. Words are that, just words. Remember the saying of old, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”. Well, words won’t hurt us, and they may not make us feel better, either. And sticks and stones, they may break bones, but they will also demonstrate healing.

Show mothers that we love them, if not for their sake, but for our own. Do not despise mothers, love them through our actions so that they can “see” them and will attribute those actions to the love we have for them.

What love do you have for your mother? Are you working through words and hoping that will do the trick? What if you showed love through action to demonstrate your love for them to see?