The Biblical Call To Honor Mothers

5/9/2026

Elijah McSwain, Sr.

Exodus 20:12 (NKJV) — “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Motherhood is a divine gift and a high calling from God. Being a mother is held in great esteem in God’s eyes. From the beginning of time, the Lord has given mothers a crucial role in His design. Mothers have been ordained by God to nurture, love, cherish, instruct, guide, and serve as examples of godly conduct and wisdom. As matrons of the home, mothers have been entrusted with a divine stewardship. Psalm 127:3 (NKJV) mentions “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.” The responsibility of caring for children and their souls has been given as a reward to steward well. As a heritage from God, mothers are tasked with raising a godly heritage through biblical instruction. Children are greatly impacted and influenced by scriptural indoctrination from their matriarch in the home. Spiritual influence and formation are transmitted from the parent-child relationship through systematic instruction in God’s Word. This is a picturesque example of 2 Timothy, where Timothy’s grandmother and mother played an instrumental part in his life. Paul acknowledged in 2 Timothy 1:5 (NKJV) — “when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.”

Exposing children to godly knowledge and wisdom helps shape, mold, develop, and mature them in the riches of God’s grace, values, principles, statutes, commands, and truth.

Insight and understanding are imparted from mothers to their children through the words of Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (NKJV) — “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Through motherhood, every offspring is blessed to have a model in the form of a woman who exemplifies faith, trust, submission, strength, integrity, love, reverence for God, discipline, and character as a Proverbs 31 woman. Therefore, mothers are not to take their God-given responsibility lightly. Nor should children disregard their mother's established position. Honor should be the daily tribute that mothers should receive and wear as a badge of reverence and respect. God has given mothers to the home so they can be impactful in the greater society. Therefore, honor is due to mothers, as God commands. The book of Exodus provides insight into the magnitude of parental recognition and appreciation. A closer look at Exodus 20:12 will reveal the importance of the commandment to honor mothers.

The Commandment Established

God highly regards motherhood, as evident by Him etching esteem and honor for mothers in the Ten Commandments. The first four commandments address exclusive worship of God, the prohibition of idolatry, the proper use of God’s name, and keeping the Sabbath holy. Following the proper vertical approach to God, the Lord commands that the first horizontal commandment, in regard to human relationships, deals with honoring parents. Exodus calls for children to honor the parental structure and order that God has ordained and established. The fifth commandment mentions “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” Particularly, focusing on mothers for Mother’s Day, God has regulated that children obey, respect, and submit to the authority of mothers, as well as show gratitude for the matron of the home. Why has God orchestrated and deemed it necessary for mothers to receive honor? There are several reasons as we survey the Scriptures.

First, God has commanded it.

God calls us to highly regard mothers, as stated in Exodus 20:12. The command itself stems from the mind of God and is etched in Scripture to be obeyed. It is a function intended to be carried out, executed, and followed by children. It is the divine order of God given for children to comply with and follow. Children are to act accordingly by following this mandate from God to esteem their mothers as a principle of human life. Leviticus 19:3 (NKJV) amplifies this reality further by stating, “Every one of you shall revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God.” To adhere to God’s command is an act of obedience. Therefore, honor your mother because God commands us to do so.

Honoring mothers is God’s means of regulating the home.

God has commanded that honor be given to mothers, who, by God's design and appointment, are among the authority figures in the home. The family structure includes the father and mother as delegated figures who exercise authority over children. With this God-given authority, mothers seek to train their children in the way of God, guide, correct, and protect them from the vain thoughts and passions of the world. Mothers help impart knowledge to their offspring through regular communication of instruction and application. They transfer valuable information to their children about God, faith, and the principles of life. Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV) records “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Mothers are a vital part of a child’s growth and development into a mature individual. Thus, honor is expected to be bestowed upon them.

Mothers should be honored for helping to give us life.

Mothers are participants in the instrumental means that God uses for the procreation of life. Without our mothers, in addition to our fathers,  there would be no us. Genesis 1:28 (NKJV) describes God giving parents a charge to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it.” In God’s plan, mothers have carried children for many months, providing nourishment to the children in their womb. Therefore, give honor where honor is due.

Mothers are to be honored because they are actively involved and engaged throughout a child’s life.

A mother desires to be present in the joys and the sorrows of their child’s life. She makes it her intent to shoulder her child’s burdens and celebrate their successes. A mother should be honored for spending time nurturing and cherishing her children (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:7). She spends an incalculable amount of time caring for and being devoted to her children from infancy to adulthood; therefore, she should be honored.

Mothers are to be honored because of the ageless nature of God’s commandment.

Notice that God does not place an age restriction, stipulation, or limit on children to honor their mother, as recorded in Exodus 20:12. God expects children to honor their mothers, regardless of the child’s age. Even if a person is grown and has moved out from under the rule and care of their parents, it does not negate or diminish the lifelong obligation to honor mothers. Mothers throughout their lives provide parental wisdom, counsel, and guidance to adult children, even when those children no longer live under their roofs.

Eugene Carpenter documented “The first word directing relationships toward others focuses on parents, who stand as human partners with God in the “creation” and nurture of persons. They are to be treated in a way that honors them for their position and their character. The home was the foundational social institution for learning about Israel’s traditions. Not to honor parents destroyed the home, the family. Yahweh makes honoring parents paramount and specific. To honor meant more than to revere. It had concrete implications that indicated a person must care for parents and respect them. It meant to listen to and to honor their store of wisdom for directing one’s life.” ₁

Matthew Henry would add, “Honour thy father and thy mother, includes esteem of them, shown in our conduct; obedience to their lawful commands; come when they call you, go where they send you, do what they bid you, refrain from what they forbid you; and this, as children, cheerfully, and from a principle of love. Also submission to their counsels and corrections. Endeavouring, in every thing, to comfort parents, and to make their old age easy; maintaining them if they need support.” ₂ Children are to spend their lives paying tribute to their mother, who has made numerous sacrifices on their behalf by investing in them. The authoritative position of mothers should be honored for a lifetime. Even after mothers have transitioned into the life that is to come, the way we live as children should honor our mothers because of what has been instilled in us. God has established the command to pay tribute to, show respect for, and give recognition to mothers by His decree. Reverence for mothers reflects God’s will for the parent-child relationship. God’s will is that our mothers be treated with compassion, grace, and dignity. May we live out God’s command to value and venerate the mother God has given us.

The Promised Connected

Honoring parents is divinely appointed to be a societal norm.

In biblical times as well as today, God has declared that parents be treated properly. In the ancient custom of Israel, when parents were mistreated, severe consequences were imposed. Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (NKJV) attest that “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, “then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. “And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ “Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.” Proverbs 20:20 (NKJV) signifies “Whoever curses his father or his mother, His lamp will be put out in deep darkness.”

It was culturally inappropriate for children to dishonor or disrespect their parents.

Death was the ultimate demise for usurping parental authority and rebelling against them.

To rebel against God’s design and order was an act of rebellion against God Himself, who instituted the dynamics of the family. John MacArthur penned, “The long-term pattern of rebellion and sin of a child who was incorrigibly disobedient is in view. No hope remained for such a person who flagrantly violated the fifth commandment (Ex. 20:12), so he was to be stoned to death.” ₃ Irreverent and rude behavior was not tolerated by God or by Jewish society. Neither is God fond of flippant or frivolous behavior toward parents today. Mothers should be honored as God commands it. To do otherwise over the long haul has unfavorable consequences.  

This same biblical principle is mentioned in the New Testament. Matthew 15:4-6 (NKJV) states, “For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ “But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— ‘then he need not honor his father or mother.’ Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.” Human traditions have sought to override God’s command. In doing so, people rendered the commandment of God null and void in their lives, in an attempt to be freed from the responsibility tied to the fifth commandment. Likewise, modern tradition attempts to get children to dismiss their parents, but God calls for constant respect and care for them. The Lord desires that mothers be celebrated in such a way that He has attached a promise to it.

Exodus 20:12 (NKJV) states, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. A prolonged life is the reward for honoring mothers. Bruce Hurt noted, “Obedience of children to their parents is a foundation stone for a stable society. To honor their parents signified that they loved them, had respect for them and submitted to their authority.” ₄ God blesses those who respect their mother because, essentially, respecting one’s mother is a means of respecting God. Respectful, obedient, and well-mannered children under Israel’s rule, would see the land of promise, the Promised Land, by obeying God’s commandment.

What does this covey for us today? The commandment to honor mothers still holds weight today.

Warren Wiersbe voiced, “The fact that this commandment comes with an immediate promise adds weight to its importance.” ₅ It is important to heed God’s directive, as His position to honor mothers has not changed. Ephesians 6:1-3 (NKJV) implies “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” First, it is right in the sight of God to submit to parental authority. Secondly, God has made a promise of assurance to those who operate according to His standard. Thirdly, length of days and the chance to live a full life are the results of honoring mothers.

God has ordained this promise for those willing to live on His terms. The terms of God are simple in Exodus 20:12, “Honor your mother.”

Colossians 3:20 (NKJV) proclaims, “Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.” Of course, this verse does not insinuate blindly following our parents into ungodly activity. The tone and implication of Colossians 3:20 is a call to honor parents in the things they command us to do that are right, godly, grounded in biblical truth, and do not sear our conscience. God exhorts us to give careful attention on how we treat our mothers.

Mothers are a gift from God and should be handled gingerly and delicately. Mothers are a blessing, so let's cherish them daily. Live intentionally by honoring mothers.

Notes

1. Carpenter, Eugene. 2016. Exodus. Vol. 2. Evangelical Exegetical Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

2. Henry, Matthew, and Thomas Scott. 1997. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems.

3. The Macarthur Study Bible

4.  https://www.preceptaustin.org/exodus-20-commentary#20:12

5. The Wiersbe Study Bible