Dear Sister,
For the past two months I had the joy of being with our daughter and our son-in law for the arrival of their first baby. Little David Jeremiah is so cute and beautiful, and it was so special to watch and hold him. I am still learning how to be a mother-in-law, and now I need to learn how to be a grandmother.
Perhaps you wonder: What is there to learn about being a grandmother? Does this role not come naturally to us? Can’t we just follow the example of our own grandmothers, who are the most wonderful people on earth? They love us unconditionally, cook our favorite food, buy us those presents our parents won’t get, rescue us when we make mistakes, comfort us when we are sad, tell us we are wonderful even if we are not, pray for us when we are in trouble and believe in us when nobody else does.
Are these not the most important qualities we should seek to imitate when our time comes to be a grandmother—or is there more we should do?
What does the Bible say about the role of a grandmother? Actually, so far I haven’t found very many scriptures on grandmothers. However, the Bible has a lot to say about the specific qualities God desires for a godly woman to have and how older sisters should teach younger sisters His principles for their personal life, marriage, work, family and raising children (see Titus 2:3–5).
Surely this means that by the time we are grandmothers we should have acquired those godly qualities God talks about in His Word: “Let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Peter 3:4).
It also means that by then we should have succeeded in applying in our own life the principles we are supposed to teach and pass on to the younger women in the church. Certainly among those younger women are the mothers of our own grandchildren: our daughters and daughters-in-law.
God expects grandparents and parents to pass on their faith to their descendants. Our grandchildren will have to grow up in a world that is full of sin and controlled by the Evil One. Yet God desires that they will know Him early and choose to follow Him. God said about Abraham: “For I have chosen him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice...” (Genesis 18:19).
God also instructed the children of Israel not to forget the things He did for them, “but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.” They were also to remember the words He spoke to them, “that they may teach their children” (Deuteronomy 4:9–10). According to this scripture, grandparents are given the responsibility by God to pass on their faith to the next two generations!
The Bible tells us about a grandmother whose example we can follow. It is Lois, the grandmother of Timothy who was the most trusted and faithful “son in the faith” of the Apostle Paul. In fact, Timothy carried on Paul’s life work after the apostle was martyred.
Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother and a Greek father. Yet this is what Paul wrote about him: “From childhood you have known the sacred writings... . For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well” (2 Timothy 3:15; 1:5).
Because Timothy grew up in a Gentile nation with a non-Jewish father, who would have taught him the Word of God and helped him to believe in the God of Israel? It was his grandmother Lois who passed on her sincere faith to his mother and, together with her, to Timothy. This grandmother went against all odds with her efforts. Amazingly, she succeeded to see her daughter follow the Lord in spite of her marriage and her grandson serve the Living God in the midst of an idol-worshiping society. What a joy that all three of them received Jesus as their Messiah.
How did Lois pass on her sincere faith? She lived it every day before Eunice and Timothy. Lois not only had faith, but she had sincere faith. This means that her faith was genuine, pure, honest, reliable and trustworthy. There was no hypocrisy in her walk with God or her conduct with others. Eunice her daughter followed her example. What Timothy saw in his grandmother and in his mother was genuine godliness and faith, and he too became like them.
When we become grandmothers, we too must model the same kind of godliness and sincere faith to our grandchildren. When they look at us, they should be able to learn from our example what it means to follow Christ, be faithful in all things, have a gentle and quiet spirit, walk by faith and obey God’s Word.
Why am I writing to you about how to be a grandmother, even if you may be still unmarried or you are a young wife and mother? My first reason is because I am a new grandmother and I myself need to get a clear understanding of what God expects from me. The second reason is that someday you, too, will be in my place! Let me assure you of this: What you live and practice right now will determine what you become 10 or 20 years from now.
You see, in spiritual things you can only teach others what you genuinely live yourself. Your life, not your words, is the most powerful testimony you have to your children and grandchildren. What you model will transfer, not what you lecture at them!
I want to encourage you to choose now to develop those godly qualities that honor the Lord and that are worthy to pass on.
May the Lord give you much grace to walk with Him with all your heart.
With love and prayers,
Gisela
