IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE
Part 3

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,
but rather REPROVE them”
(Ephesians 5:11).

Why do many mothers feel depressed after having a baby? I continue sharing the last three reasons.

7. THEY ARE PROPAGANDIZED TO DENY MOTHERHOOD

Liberal teachers and professors teach the students of this generation to despise motherhood. They direct them toward alternative lifestyles and that to murder the unborn babe is accepted behavior. Many states even sanction murdering the baby after it is born! They are leading them down a path of destruction. To get back to normality their brains must be reprogrammed again in God’s infallible truth.

8. THEY ARE NOT PREPARED FINANCIALLY

Rather than not have enough income, many young mothers entering motherhood may already be receiving a big paycheck. They are used to their own independent financial security. They are not mentally prepared to rely on their husband, to learn to economize, make ends meet, and be “content with such things they have” (Hebrews 13:5, 6). They expect to go into a home with all the things their parents have taken years to accumulate.

Young people have not been taught to start little and gradually build their lives together. They want it all at once. They haven’t learned to do without, to sacrifice, to cook from scratch, plant a garden, and start with a tiny house. They don’t need a huge home when they first begin their marriage. That comes with time as the Lord adds more blessings to their family.

9. THEY ARE ISOLATED

Another reason many young mothers feel depressed is because they are isolated. They don’t know many other mothers living around them. Their own mother is often working and not available. Or, even if she is, it is so long since she had babies that the is not confident herself. They were brought up pin the two-child family syndrome and there are no younger sisters or brothers to be willing babysitters and help with the baby.

Why do we have this scenario? Because mothering is not accepted as an important career in our society. I believe that when motherhood becomes the norm in society that depression will disappear (except for the genuine clinical PPD).

Mothers need one another. It is fun to have babies when family members, friends, and neighbors have babies at the same time. This is how God intends it to be. We are not meant to live isolated lives. God created us to want fellowship and company. That’s why the current mask wearing and social distancing is causing havoc. More suicides than ever. It is not the way God intended mankind to live!

When I was raising our children, I always had a Ladies’ Bible Study in my home. Every week, mothers, babies, and children filled my home. The children broke things and messed up my home, but we had great fellowship together. It was what kept us going through the difficult times. We could laugh and cry together.

I would encourage every young mother to find an encouraging Ladies’ Bible Study group where she can learn more about motherhood and find strength from being with other mothers. Make sure you find a group that encourages biblical mothering and not the opposite which is counter-productive!

Go to: http://bit.ly/PowertOfMotherhoodUS and order the manual, THE POWER OF MOTHERHOOD. Every mother in the world needs this manual which takes you into the Bible to see what God says about you as a mother. It is a great manual to use at Ladies’ Bible Study Groups to share and discuss together.

Many blessings from NANCY CAMPBELL * www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, I thank You that You created me to be a mother. I embrace it with all my heart. Please help me to not only rejoice in this great career You have given to me, but to encourage every other mother I know. Help me to always be a proclaimer of You ways. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am lifting up the status of motherhood wherever I go!

PICTURE:
Painting by Sharon Forbes
https://www.macys.com/shop/product/sharon-forbes-mother-child-canvas-art-18-x-24?ID=9048095&item_group_id=PG_781143427

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE
Part 2

“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it;
but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's,
the same shall save it”
(Mark 8:35).

We continue to talk about reasons why many mothers feel depressed after having a baby.

5. THEY ARE NOT PREPARED FOR RESPONSIBILITY

It is true that motherhood is not easy. It is not for wimps. It is a life of selflessness rather than selfishness. Most young people today grow up with an entitlement attitude. They think everything revolves around them and nothing should get in the way of their plans. A baby arrives. Suddenly, they can no longer live their own life. Or do what they want when they want to. They must sacrifice for another person. They can’t even have a full night’s sleep. Help! A little baby arrives to change their life forever.

But no matter what we do in life, nothing will always be perfect. Everyone who wants to do something great will face challenges, hardship, and sacrifice. A businessman has setbacks, trials, and disappointments. But he doesn’t give up and go into depression. He faces them head on, understanding they are part of life.

A missionary often faces hardship and persecution. Does he or she get into depression because life is not a bed of roses? No. They face the battles head on because they’re doing a great work.

It’s the same with motherhood. It is the most important career in the world. It is the highest career God gave to women. He equates it with joy. But every mother will face challenges. She will face laying down her own life for her baby. Sacrifice . . . yes. Selfless love . . . yes. But isn’t this what grows us into maturity? It takes us from the selfish and ugly to beauty and joy?

6.    THEY ARE NOT PREPARED BIBLICALLY

Most young women have no idea of God’s plan for them as a woman. They don’t know what God’s Word says. Even young mothers in the church are often as ignorant as those in the secular world. Where are the older women who teach the younger women about being a wife and mother (Titus 2:3-5)? They are often nonexistent in our churches today. Will they be responsible for a nation of mothers who have no idea of God’s plan for motherhood?

I am saddened when I hear older women saying, “I don’t need to hear about motherhood anymore. I’m well past that time of life.” I beg your pardon. We are never “past that time of life.” When the time comes that we can physically have no more children, we don’t abdicate motherhood. We were created to be mothers and nurturers until our life ends. We begin enjoying grandbabies. And then we move into the responsibility of teaching the young mothers of the next generation how God wants them to mother. How can we do that if we say that “we are past that kind of thing”? I think many older mothers desperately need to hear God’s truth for mothers so they can pass on the truth to the next generation, rather than leading them astray. 

Our humanistic society puts mothering at the bottom of the list. When God gives a description of the attributes of a godly woman in 1 Timothy 5:10 He puts mothering at the top of the list!

God did not create haphazardly. He created each female with a womb to conceive life and breasts to nurture life. He reminds us we will be preserved through embracing motherhood. Many scientific studies now reveal that the more children a mother has and the more babies she nurses at the breast the more protection she has against female cancers.

1 Timothy 2:15 (NASB) says: “But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

The Greek word for “saved” or “preserved” is sozo, pronounced sode’-zo. It is a powerful, multi-encompassing word meaning “to save, deliver, protect, heal, cure, preserve, keep safe, and make whole.” That means that through embracing motherhood a woman is saved, delivered, protected, preserved, healed, and made whole--physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. You can’t beat that!

The reason many young mothers (and older mothers) feel depressed and confused is because they have not embraced their role of motherhood. They love their baby. They love their children. But they don’t love the career of motherhood because they think it interferes with their life.

The true joy of motherhood comes when a mother not only loves her baby but loves and embraces her role of motherhood. A mother who embraces mothering WILL NOT BE DEPRESSED. She experiences the joy, delight, and glory of motherhood that God intends for her.

Nancy Campbell
www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, please help me to understand that I save my life by losing my life. Help me to teach this biblical principle to my children as I prepare them for life. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

How can I be depressed when I am walking in the perfect will of God?

IT’S TIME FOR CHANGE
Part 1

“And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living”
(Genesis 3:20).

How far have we degenerated from God’s original plan?

Recently a new mother mentioned to me that before her post-partum checkup, the hospital called to check if she was suffering from depression.

“Why would they ask you this question? I asked.

“Oh, don’t you know it’s a standard question?” she replied. “Most mothers have depression after a baby. Didn’t you hear about the new mother who recently committed suicide because she was so depressed because of her new baby?”

I was appalled. What is their purpose? To get them started on anti-depressants? Make them victims? Give them a pill to counteract our deceived society?

Yes, I concede that there are some mothers who suffer severe hormonal PPD, but this is not normal motherhood. This is not what God intended.

Again, I can see how many young mothers today feel depressed as they begin motherhood. But a pill is not the answer. The reason is that we live in an environment where motherhood, originated by God, is not the vogue. Most mothers having their first baby are not conditioned for this role.

It’s time to come back to God’s original plan. It’s time for change. Let’s think about some of the reasons:

1.    THEY ARE NOT PREPARED EXPERIENTIALLY

Many young mothers grow up in two-child families. They don’t grow up in homes where new babies keep arriving, the joy and delight of the home. As they grow older, they don’t have the opportunity to care for a baby, to see their mother nursing the baby as a natural part of life, or to experience the responsibilities of daily motherhood.

Friends and family don’t have babies in their homes either. Some never hold a baby until they hold their own baby in their arms. No wonder they feel overwhelmed. Their depression is not due to a clinical state, but because they don’t know what to do. They feel inadequate! Unprepared!

2.    THEY ARE NOT PREPARED EDUCATIONALLY

Most young women today are not educated for motherhood. In fact, they are educated against motherhood. They’re educated and trained for whatever career they want to pursue in this world. Anything except motherhood.

They are brainwashed to think motherhood is an inferior career. Even when they prepare for marriage, counselors (even Christian counselors) tell them to delay motherhood and continue pursuing their career. Motherhood is always delegated to the lowest item on the list.

3.    THEY ARE NOT PREPARED EMOTIONALLY

They are not encouraged toward motherhood. Because they don’t live in an environment of motherhood, it is unfamiliar to them. They don’t feel comfortable with being at home, cooking meals, or looking after a baby.

4.    THEY ARE NOT PREPARED PSYCHOLOGICALLY

When the new baby comes along, they feel it is an interference to their career, college, or their plans for life. Although they love their baby because it is their own flesh and blood, they are thrown into confusion. This baby is a “wrench in the machinery.” How do they fit this baby into their lifestyle or well laid-out plans? No wonder they feel depressed.

We will share more reasons next devotion. But you can see how far we have degenerated from God’s original plan. How can we turn the tide? It begins with older women understanding truth and passing it on to the next generation.

Let’s get started.

Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Oh God, there is a young generation of mothers who do not know Your plan for them. Please raise up older mothers to be teachers to the young mothers. Please help me to embrace motherhood with joy and delight and to be a testimony to the other mothers around me. Help me to show them that motherhood is the glory You have given to us as women. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am shining the joy of motherhood everywhere I go.

PAY UP!

“But if any man provide not for his own,
and especially for those of his own house,
he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel”
(1 Timothy 5:8).

We are living in an entitlement society where many people want everything for nothing, especially young people who are currently educated in our colleges. They are consistently brainwashed in socialism where they think they should get everything free without working for it. They want free education, free housing, free health care etc. They don’t even use their brains to think where the money would come from.

I believe we should live with an attitude of expectation that God is going to do good things. That’s the meaning of hope and hope is a godly attitude. But when things cost money, we should always be prepared to pay our share of it. This is a biblical principle .

When the children of Israel passed through the land of Seir, God told them to make sure they paid for anything they ate or drank.

Deuteronomy 2:6: “Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.”

The same happened when they passed through the land of the Moabites. When they came to the land of Sihon, Moses told King Heshbon: “Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money that I may drink” (Deuteronomy 2:28). They were ready to take responsibility for what they used.

God gives us a biblical principle for everything in life. We should always seek to pay for what we need, for what we eat and drank, and for what we use. If we break something that belongs to someone else, we should replace it. If we lose something that belongs to someone else, we should replace it.

If we are invited to eat with a family for dinner, we should bring something toward the meal. If the hostess says not to bring anything, we can purchase a little gift such as flowers, or make a little home gift, or write a card etc.

Let’s not be those who take everything for granted. Away with entitlement mentality.

Paul, the great apostle, worked hard at what was considered at that time a low-grade job to provide for his own needs and the needs of others!

Acts 20:34, 35 (NLT):“You know that these hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs and EVEN THE NEEDS OF THOSE WHO WERE WITH ME. And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive,’”

Read 1 Thessalonians 19 and 2 Thessalonians 3:8 (NLT): “We never accepted food from anyone WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you . . . Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: ‘Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.’”

I am always challenged by the example of David when he wanted to purchase the threshing floor of Aruunah in order to build an altar to the Lord, Araunah offered it freely to David. He told David: “Take the threshing floor. And look, here are oxen for you to use. And here are the threshing instruments. Use them all freely.”

What did David answer? “I will surely buy it of thee AT A PRICE: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that WHICH DOES COST ME NOTHING. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver” (2 Samuel 24:21-

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

“Dear Father, Please help me to be responsible before You and to do what is right toward my fellowman. Save me from being selfish and thinking of only my needs. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I will take responsibility for my own needs and also the needs of others.