By Demola Atobaba, Ado-Ekiti
Mothers across the world have been charged to be Godly in discharging their motherhood responsibilities to both their children and husbands at home.
They were urged to first submit themselves as raw gold to God to mould them and finally submit to their husbands.
Giving the advice, the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church, Miracle Cathedral, Okeyinmi Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Rev. Dr. Olukayode Ayinde, said mothers with noble characters must be Godly, caring, homely, enterprising, wise and hardworking adding that only mothers in God can be described as gold.
The cleric said, the significance of the celebration in the Nigerian Baptist Convention is that the day is set aside for recognition of the immence contributions of mothers to the growth of the Church and the development of the nation at large.
The clergy who drew his sermon topic: “Mothers As Gold”, from Proverbs 31:10-31, maintained that parenthood is an examination by God in which every mother will give account of how they have handled their families.
According to Ayinde, “God has given all mothers a challenge that there is every need to be available doing what is acceptable before God.
He urged the men who desire to get married to women of their choice to look and go deeper in their Maker in order to get the best from God because you don’t just see gold on the surface of the earth except you dig deep. So they are to dig deep in God and He’ll connect them aright.
Rev Ayinde pitched his sermon on three key points namely: Discovering the mother as a gold, Becoming a mother as gold and also Developing the mothers as gold. He advised all husbands to learn how to value their wives and daughters both at home and in the society and hold them in esteem. He said, in doing this, their potentials would automatically come out fine and beautiful.
The religious leader who warned all mothers not to engage in any action unacceptable to God in the cause of discharging their motherhood responsibilities to their wards, said many parents missed it when they derailed from the original plan of God for the family, saying all mothers should always pray, fast and advise their children in a Godly way.
His words; “Mothers should be peace makers and not trouble shooters, even when husbands are not ready to cooperate in building the home for God, mothers should be available for the family.”
In a separate interview with TopNewsng shortly after the event, the Adviser to the Women Missionary Union (WMU) body of the First Baptist Church in Ado-Ekiti, Rev Mrs Hellen Ayinde, said the day was set aside to celebrate all women who have done well in the Church.
“If somebody is doing good, we must let he or she know that she is doing well and find a way of expressing your appreciation to that person”.
Hellen Ayinde who also doubled as the Church Pastor’s wife, urged all husbands and children not to underestimate mothers but to encourage them to contribute their quotas for the betterment of the society.
According to her, “Don’t ignore and under estimate the role of mothers because they give us life, they raise us better than they had been, they give and keep trying to give better than they ever had.
“As mothers, we always try to show right paths by being motivators, mothers give up all for kids, forgive all mistakes made by kids and that is why they deserve respect because of the roles placed on their shoulders by our Creator”, she stated.
Also commenting, the president of WMU, Dr Mrs Grace Obisesan explained that the importance of the programme is growth of God’s mission through Women Missionary Union across globe.
Dr Obisesan who went down memory lane said, “The WMU section started in 1919 at Okelerin Convention and with the help of God, that very little seed that was planted on that day, has become very broad and big tree and the mission is expanded so much that they have impacted so many lives both in Nigeria and the entire African continent.
Speaking on behalf of the awardees, the duo of the immediate past president of WMU; Deaconess Adefunke Oladepo and Dr Mrs Funmilayo Ibikunle appreciated the women wing and the Church at large for the recognition of God’s faithfulness among the WMU.
They pledged to be more committed to God’s assignments and also the readiness of other awardees that the honour would spur them to do more towards the upliftment of WMU and the Baptist at large.
Other awardees include, Deaconess Elizabeth Ogunjimi, Mrs Caroline Odu, Mrs Julianah Abe and Mrs Bolanle Ademilua.
May God help us.