The Divine Role of Motherhood - Part 2

Woman's role as mother is under attack. Satan wages a war on families, on motherhood, by trying to paint and portray it in such dreary colors that women feel drawn elsewhere. There is much that is gaudy and flashy in the great and spacious building, which can appear so appealing and even uplifting; however, by lusting after Satan's showy society, we devalue raising children and thus devalue the family. This leads to the destruction of the one potentially eternal component of society. Civilizations rise and fall and societies crumble but the family can be eternal. Women need to escape the "tugs and pulls of the world" (Maxwell, Ensign, Nov. 2000, p.35) by realizing, to paraphrase Pres. Harold B. Lee, that "the greatest of the Lord's work…brethren [and sisters] will ever do as fathers [and mothers] will be within the walls of [their] own home[s]" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1973, p. 130).

While there are many worthwhile things for women to do outside the home, none of those can take the place of being a successful parent. Pres. David O. McKay said, "She who can paint a masterpiece or write a book that will influence millions deserves the admiration…of mankind; but she who rears successfully a family…deserves the highest honor that man can give, and the choicest blessings of God" (Improvement Era, 1953, pp. 453-54). On a similar note Elder Maxwell so eloquently states, "Some mothers in today's world feel 'cumbered' by home duties and are thus attracted by other more 'romantic' challenges. Such women could make the same error of perspective that Martha made. The woman, for instance, who deserts the cradle in order to help defend civilization against the barbarians may well later meet, among the barbarians, her own neglected child" (The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book, p. 219). The titillation of the great and spacious building does not compare with the tranquility of a humble home.

When mothers are there for their children, fulfilling their stewardships, they have great impact on the lives of their children and consequently on future generations. As a result of this, mothers have played some of the most important roles in history. There is Mother Eve, who fearlessly stood by her husband's side, facing a desolate world, and who was both the mother of the human race and the "mother of all living" (Gen. 3:20). It was she who reminded Adam of the necessity of the Fall, of becoming mortal in order to have children and fulfill the Lord's first commandment to "be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth" (JST Gen 1:28). Eve knew her role as a mother.