A few Sundays ago I was reminded by Abe Kuruvilla of Dallas Theological Seminary of the story of the woman in Mark 14 who poured expensive ointment over Jesus’ head while he was visiting a leper.

What struck me was the similarity between her sacrifice and ours as mothers.

 She is a great example of being God-centered. God who became flesh was in her presence and she went above and beyond to serve Him.

 But she had critics…they thought she should have used the money she spent on the ointment for the poor. They scolded her, in front of Jesus. But He “had her back”, He said, “leave her…A good deed she has done to Me. For you will always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good  to them; but you do not have Me always. What she could, she did.”

 Dr. Kuruvilla reminded us that her gift was:

  •  Profuse: it was above and beyond. She gave all she could give. Do we as moms see our jobs as a direct service to God? Do we go above and beyond? Or do we just get the job done…get it over with…get through the day?
  • Pure in quality: she purchased the best quality ointment. The best she could find.  As moms, do we give our kids the best quality mom? Do they get us at our best or the leftovers?
  • Precious: her gift was expensive…the equivalent of one years salary. Some of us do chose to give up literally salaries to give the precious gift of our time in service to our kids. Some give up being with our kids to make money for our famiy. Both sacrifices are precious. We may give up leadership roles, other service opportunities, or alone time so that we can give more of ourselves to our families.
  • Praise-worthy: Jesus declares, “wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.” This woman, with no name, would forever be remembered. It’s an example of true humility.

If you humble yourself by loving your children in the small things (feeding them, kissing skinned knees, changing diapers), He will lift you up.

 May your daily sacrifices for your children bring God glory because they are profuse, pure, precious, and praise-worthy. You may have those who think your sacrifice is wasted. But God thinks it’s essential and all that matters is what He thinks.