Whether you were born with baby fever and want as many children as possible, or you are deathly afraid at the thought of caring for a child, we can all cultivate our maternal nature.
Biologically, we are programmed to want to bear and raise children. That’s why God gave us all the parts and hormones and feminine qualities to be able to do so. This is not just for super fertile married women. This is also for the single girl, the woman trying to get pregnant, the woman past child-bearing years- basically, all women. The maternal instinct exists with or without children, and is a beautiful part of femininity. It is gentle, nurturative, sympathetic, attentive, edifying, and protective of children. The goal here is not to make you want to hold every baby you see on sight, but to help you to view children as God does and to channel these feminine qualities into our feelings towards and interactions with children. So, how can you cultivate your “inner mother”?
Spend Time with Children
Like I said, you do not have to be baby crazy and want to hold allll the babies. But a little experience with children can’t hurt, and making yourself comfortable with them is a good thing. You can do this by working somewhere that has children, volunteering for the nursery at church, babysitting, helping take care of family members that are children, or, of course, having children yourself. If you are older and/or past child- bearing years, you can invest in the lives of youth through church, perhaps, or some other way. If you have children, prioritize caring for them and spending time with them over (almost) everything.
Advocate for Children and Babies
Before the cancer of feminism found its way into the society, children were highly esteemed. Women would stay home with their children and care for them, and, oftentimes, teach them. Most women wanted to be mother’s. Today, millions of women pay to have their babies killed, and boast it as their “right”. This is not only evil, but it is a complete perversion of our natural, God-given nature to care for children. We can all do our part by sharing the truth and reality of abortion, voting for anti-abortion politicians, donating or volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center, and foster or adopt if you are led to.
It is also against our maternal nature to let children rule over us. We are in charge. Say, as an extreme example, a mother has a little boy who wants to be a little girl. She should guide him towards the truth, not take his word for it and traumatize him by reaffirming his fantasy. We must not accept trans-genderism and sex change, trafficking, or pedophilia, in any way shape or form. These are just a few ways we can advocate for children.
Realize that Your Maternal Instinct is Natural
Many little girls and young women want to have children, but are told to suppress their desires. I’m here to tell you that that desire is normal and natural. Furthermore, pregnancy is natural. Childbirth is natural. Our wombs were created for the life that would potentially grow inside it. If you have a sex drive, it is there not simply for your pleasure, but for the purposes of precreation. If you are single and desire intimacy and marriage, or if you are married, you should plan on putting your sexual desires to use by procreating if possible. This is how God created it to be. If you plan on remaining single, then you can still put your maternal instincts to use in some of the ways I mentioned in the previous points.
Have a Scriptural View of Children
Most importantly, as I mentioned earlier, and have written about in earlier posts, children are given to us as a blessing. You need not be afraid that they will be financial burdens, take too much of your personal time and work, or keep you from your dreams. Some women see babies as gross and children as annoying. They don’t want to touch children with a ten foot pole. The thought of raising a kid to adulthood is terrifying for some. And many have resolved to never have kids, or wait a millennia after they are married until they feel old enough, or “ready” enough. Having a certain number of children at a specific time in your life doesn’t make you holier or more righteous than another; however, how we view children reflects our spiritual maturity. If you do not already believe that children are blessing, and find yourself viewing them in a way that I mentioned earlier- scary, gross, burdensome, difficult, undesirable, inconvenient- ask God to change your heart towards them. Ask Him to reveal to you the root of those problems, why you view children in that negative light, and what caused you to get there, so that you can properly tackle the problem.
Do Not Practice On Your Boyfriend or Husband
Ladies, your boyfriend or husband does not need you to practice motherhood on him. Your maternal instincts are for children. Your man already has a mother, and you are not her. Yes, there is a crossover of feminine characteristics that enable us to be both good wives and caring mothers (and caring to others), but there is still a significant difference in how we should treat our men vs. how we treat children. Men do not need to be coddled, babied, ordered around or told what to do, nagged, protected, or manipulated. If your boyfriend likes that you are “Mama”, then you need to leave that relationship; you want a man who can lead you, not one who is attracted to you because you treat him like a child. If you are already married, well, you’re stuck, but realize that continuing to treat him like his mama is simply enabling and reaffirming weakness.
We should no longer allow the progressive dogma of today to dictate who we are and should be as women. We should follow God’s word, and His ways. Your maternal nature is natural. Don’t suppress it or run from it. Cultivate it. Lean into this part of your femininity as you continue growing in Christ and as a woman seeking to glorify Him.
With love,
Solie Osorio
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