A Mother's True Worth

Our source for the figures above is Salary.com in an article titled Dream Job: Stay-At-Home Mom by Regina O'Brien.

Here's an excerpt:

Even though stay-at-home moms and dads aren't included in Department of Labor statistics, their type of "non-wage labor" adds incalculable value to future human capital...

In the long-term, then, staying at home can benefit families financially and emotionally, and provide a boon to future labor markets. While a stay-at-home parent can't really use her or his experiences as resume fodder, caring for children requires attention to detail, multitasking capabilities, and self-confidence - skills that are necessary...

Read the rest of the article...

The true worth of a mother is, in reality, beyond calculation. It was a good grandmother that brought up the mother that brought forth Timothy of the New Testament. Countless millions in Christianity around the world today benefit from the lessons gained from this man's association with Paul.

I take the figures offered in the chart above only as a means of somehow giving some shape or form to an otherwise elusive value which is a mother's importance. In this sense, the figures are important. My fear in putting into quantity what to me is best left to the realm of quality is that in pegging it to a number, no matter how astronomically high, we set a limit to it. In this sense, the value tends to be diminished. A price has been set to it. It is no longer priceless.

Which brings me to the Bible. It was through a mother that God chose to bring Jesus Christ into the world as God incarnate. The value of that choice has infinite repercussions both in time and in eternity. It is "common" sense to those that read and study the Word of God. But it is "common" sense that may as well be gold as it is treasure unearthed from God's wisdom. No numbers necessary. The value is simply too high.

Here is a sampling of what God's Word says:

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.

Proverbs 31:10, 26-30

Ah, this mother of the Bible. She fears the LORD. As such, generations that will bless generations are sure to spring forth from her. As such, she surpasses the charming, the beautiful, and the noble. Such a mother is invaluable.

Perhaps, when we are willing to be measured according to the world and its standards, we may attach a number to the worth of certain mothers. But the mother that pleases the Father in heaven revels in his blessings both in this life and in eternity. There is no price tag to that.