May 11, 2001

“I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” 2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV)

Mothers and grandmothers can have a powerful spiritual impact on their families. Through them, many of us see Jesus for the first time. Before we can even speak, we breathe in the heavenly aroma of Christ. As we watch our mothers and grandmothers, we see in them the light that has come into the world.

Notice that Paul doesn’t say in 2 Timothy that Timothy’s father or grandfather raised him in the faith. Rather, he gives the credit to two godly mothers in Timothy’s life, Lois and Eunice.

Perhaps the men in Timothy’s life weren’t followers of Jesus. Some commentators think Acts 16:1-where Luke describes Timothy’s father “a Greek”-might suggest this. Regardless, it is interesting that some early opponents of Christianity criticized it in part because so many “ignorant” and “foolish” women were involved in the ministry of the church.

>From one such “foolish” and “ignorant” woman, Lois, came a legacy of faith

that helped bring at least two generations into the family of God. Lois was a Jew who accepted Jesus as her Savior, possibly only a decade or two after Jesus’ death and resurrection. Coping with any objections her husband may have had, she brought up her daughter, Eunice, in the Christian faith, and Eunice did the same with her son, Timothy.

The effect of Lois and Eunice’s godly parenting is apparent to readers of the New Testament. Thanks to their witness, Timothy grew to become a powerful force in the early church, impacting hundreds or even thousands of lives with the truth of the gospel. Even today, God uses godly mothers and grandmothers to be Loises and Eunices in their families.

This Mother’s Day, I’d encourage you to thank your mothers and grandmothers for passing on to you a legacy of faith. No one can inherit faith, of course, but godly mothers and grandmothers can at least make sure that Jesus is never a stranger to their children and grandchildren.

– Matt Donnelly, for the ChristianityToday.com staff