GotQuestrions.org: Should Christians celebrate Mother’s Day?
Mother’s Day—called Mothering Day in
the U.K.—can be traced back to ancient pagan practices, but it has gone through
a lot of changes and names to get to what we know today. The history of
Mother’s Day can be traced back to celebrations of ancient Greece in honor of
Rhea, the mother of the gods. During the 1600s, the early Christians in England
celebrated a day to honor Mary, the mother of Christ. By a religious order, the
holiday was later expanded to include all mothers. Mother’s Day occurs in the
U.S. once a year on the second Sunday of May, while Mothering Day in the U.K.
is celebrated the fourth Sunday of Lent. Traditional ways to celebrate Mother’s
Day are to take mothers out to dinner and/or honor them with cards, flowers, or
candy. Biblically, honoring mothers (and fathers) is commanded by God in both
the Old and New Testaments (Deuteronomy 5:16: Ephesians 6:2).
The Bible does not command us to
dedicate a special day to honor our mothers, nor is there anything in the Bible
to condemn it. So the question is whether, considering the pagan roots of the
holiday, Christians should celebrate Mother’s Day. The key is found in Romans 14:5-8:
“One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers
every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who
regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the
Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and
gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies
to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the
Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
As Christians, we should be fully
convinced that we are doing what God wants us to do. If we choose to celebrate
Mother’s Day and we see nothing wrong with it, then we should celebrate with a
clear conscience. If, however, celebrating is against one’s conscience, then
celebrating is not appropriate. On the other hand, if one does not celebrate
Mother’s Day or any other holiday for reasons of conscience, that is fine, as
long as he/she does not become prideful, looking down on those who do celebrate.
As with all issues not specifically addressed in Scripture, we have the freedom
to celebrate or not celebrate Mother’s Day, according to personal preference.
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HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! EBB4
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