The Mother in the Service of God

The legitimate affections of a mother for her children can enter into conflict with the will of God.

Marcelo Díaz

One of the most sublime functions of the soul is affectivity. The emotions in man's life are very important. They are like the different colors that compose the light spectrum, which allows us to appreciate the diversity of the physical reality in all its wealth. A walk through fields offers us an infinite variety of colors and shades. It is the same with human affectivity. The variety of emotions that we experience throughout a lifetime makes it, in some cases, attractive and, in others, disastrous.

From a young age we begin to relate with others, and to know our emotions through our interaction with others. Just like a baby, during the first days of its life, instinctively attaches itself to the maternal breast to extract, not only the milk necessary for physical growth, but also the affection required to develop emotions. The first feelings and emotions are memorized in this maternal bond (and in some cases, of nannies or close family friends who act as the mother's substitute). It is in this relationship where the human affection of the inner soul is gestated. The mother gives the baby all her fondness, dedication, affection and love; and the baby, needful of everything, receives the purest affections that the mother can offer.

Due to its origin, we can say that one of the strongest relationships in human life is that of a mother and her child. A mother's soul attaches itself to that of her child with all its strength. The Scriptures show us the strength of this mother-child bond, to exemplify the intense love of God, when it tells us: "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee." (Is. 49:15).

The mother-child relationship is powerful and vital, and many processes within the child's life will depend on its success: basic trust, knowledge of himself/herself, individualization, identification, etc. So therefore loving one's children is fundamental and necessary for growth. For that reason Paul warns us that in the last days, men will be lovers of themselves "... without natural affection" (Lit. "without love in their relationship").1

The affections of a mother can be opposed to the will of God

This relationship, being so strong and so wonderful, so potent and so necessary, it is necessary to say, can equally end up being a tragedy in connection with divine purposes. Why a tragedy? Because the soul always seeks its own good and clings steadfast to whatever it feels belongs to it. And a mother, unconsciously, feels that children are her property. Since they grew within her, the perception of a mother is to feel that that child is an extension of herself. The psychology of a woman is to contain, to retain, to shelter and to hoard and always within her interior; her soul. So it is not strange that her soul attaches itself to that of her child's; containing it, retaining it, sheltering it and hoarding it. We all know what a mother is capable of doing for her child, but this doesn't always agree with the will of God.

The sentimental bonds and especially those of a mother toward her child, are tremendously strong and powerful, even for fighting against the Kingdom of God. The Lord taught us about this when telling us: "If any man cometh after me and hateth not his own father and mother... he cannot be my disciple" (Luke.14:26). Thus, a mother or a father can come to feel such a powerful affective weight in their heart as to hinder, to annul, and, in effect, to completely control their son's behavior.

A sword would pierce her soul

Mary, like all woman, lived the period of her first son's pregnancy, Jesus, intensely. She kept each divine intervention that was presented in her life in her heart (Luke 2:19; 51), pondering what it meant regarding her son. Like all women, she attached her soul to that of her boy's and her affections began to grow as the boy developed in her womb. Her yearnings, her desires and her plans were becoming increasingly strong within her soul. All her being, slowly, began wrapping itself round this yearned-for boy. Mary's soul attached itself to that of her son Jesus.

Because of this, the Holy Spirit intervened in this inspiring scene with Simeon, a godly old man who awaited the Messiah's coming. At the moment of the boy's presentation in the temple, he blessed the mother, saying: "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel; and for a sign which is spoken against; yea and a sword shall pierce through thine own soul", Luke 2:34, 35).

This expression "a sword will pierce through thine own soul", was incomprehensible in those moments for Mary, and is a word for all parents, especially for all mothers. The affections of the soul can end up being truly deceiving, and, as a result, block divine purposes. Mary's soul had to be treated so as to not hinder the supreme purpose. For this reason, the word penetrates like a sword, in the life of the soul (Heb. 4: 12), putting an end to the power of the natural life, so that starting from that moment, we walk exclusively by the power of God.

The soul will always seek its own in children, and not what belongs to Christ. A mother's will never want their child to go to the cross, and will demand her rights to be heard-like Mary (Matt. 12:46)-, until having her desires obeyed. She will use all that she has to avoid her son "dying." For that reason the soul must be treated by the word that will always take us to the cross. The word, like a sword of two edges will penetrate it, cutting, dismantling and smashing it until nothing more of the natural life remains.

The operation of the cross

However, we should point out that God doesn't look for the annihilation of the soul. Emotions, the mind and the will of the soul are not extinguished when going to the cross through the word. Rather, they give up their natural life in the death of the Lord, in order to pass to a resurrection life.

Emotions, before being treated by the cross, are very inclined to follow their own whim, and for this reason, they frequently fail in being instruments of the Spirit-by whose intermission the will of God is expressed. But, once it has been treated by the sword of God, they are qualified to serve as a means of expression of the Spirit so that the inner man can manifest his life emotionally. Let us observe Mary's example, when she exalts the Lord saying: "My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior." (Luke 1:46). But let us fix our attention in the verb tense: the spirit, in the past tense, has rejoiced (jumped with joy) 2, and, the soul, in the present tense, joins with the spirit in magnifying its Lord.

The word of the Cross operates gradually, in the measure that each son of God voluntarily deepens in intimacy with Christ and goes on being liberated of himself in order to express the divine will.
For this reason, God intervened in Mary's life, and He will do the same in every one of the Lord's daughters who have given birth, operating in the depths of their emotions and feelings so that God's plans are completed in each child that has been born.

Only in this way will a mother be able to truly express God's feelings, no longer attaching her soul to that of her son's, but rather, allowing that they be an instrument to manifest the divine desire.

The spiritual life doesn't deny affection

On the other hand, many Christians, when understanding that they should no longer live by their feelings and by the affections of the soul, have become insensitive in their walk, not only in their relationship with the Lord, but also in their social relationships. Frankly, they have turned the spiritual life into a denial of the affections. Those who are harmed are the children who live in that repressed, controlled and legalistic atmosphere. This is a misunderstanding. The spirit needs the affections of the soul to be expressed. The spiritual man is the most sensitive, tender, loving, generous and merciful person. Therefore, a mother, having been treated by the Lord, has the capacity to express the divine desire with a whole range of affections that exist toward her children.

The scene of Mary next to the cross, speaks to us of a woman who, tried in the affections of the soul, there, next to her bloodstained Son, is attentive to the voice of her Lord. So deep was God's treatment of Mary that she separated the affections of a mother to receive that same son as her blessed Lord.

A sword will pass over your soul. A sword that will create a space for the Spirit; it will separate the characteristics of the life of the soul and that which is of the Holy Spirit, discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart, to leave them exposed and open to the eyes of Him to whom we have to give account.

1 Astorgos ( stergo is the relationship of love, especially from parents to their children and from the children to the parents).
2 New Testament Greek-Spanish Interlineal, Francisco Lacueva