For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

My mom was a woman who did not always have it all together. She came from a sinful past, just like all of us are born into. She also did not know Jesus as a child, she met him in her 30’s. She was someone who could empathize well with others, she seemed to be so many people’s best friend.

She became a Christian just before I was born. And as I watched her from early on, until I was around 13 years old (when she went home to be with the Lord), she had a growing faith and a widening heart to love others.

I remember her spending countless hours consoling a friend she met at church, who was a single mom and new to the faith, with her pain and heartache. She would also learn the new cultures of Cambodia and Vietnam to help the refugees find Jesus and learn English. And still she was able to understand the playground issues I had as a kid born with a small hand, or the hard time I had when seeing injustice.

Many of you are moms with some similar traits. My mom had simply found a Lord and Savior of her life that expanded her heart to love others. She became LESS SELFISH AND MORE SELFLESS! Towards the end of her life, she was so passionate about the lost in front of her, that she would get pushed around in a wheelchair to teach refugees English from the Bible. She did this all the while dealing with the pain and fatigue of late-stage cancer.

So today, on Mother’s Day, I tell my mom’s story. I do this not to make her look perfect, but to show a witness of what can happen in a heart fully surrendered to God. I have sought in many ways to have a heart that models her behavior to my family and others. Still working it out, some days are better than others.

Peter in this passage tells us to 1) keep in mind from where you were redeemed. We were redeemed from the imperishable seed of Jesus Christ, if indeed we are his true followers! 2) Our faith and hope was redeemed from being in ourselves, others, or this world to being in God and in a personal relationship with him through Jesus! 3) The purifying work of the Spirit is alive in those who seek him diligently. His work cleanses our hearts from sin as we are repentant and allows us to love others beyond our ability — WAY BEYOND IT! 4) And so the call on our lives is to love others deeply, from the heart. This is not something we can really do at all. Human love is fickle and has selfish motives at its core, because we are sinners. To love this way all the time is a power that can only come from God.

So thank you to all you mothers out there who are growing in your ability to love well! You shine in life and are a model for sons like me and daughters too!

Lord, bless the mothers who read this devotional and show them how much joy you take in seeing them love deeply! Fill them with your Spirit and move in their hearts even more. Help them to know they too are deeply loved!