Titus 2 Ministry: Midwives, Adoptive Mothers, and Trainers
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”—Matt. 28:18-20
God has always intended for His people to reproduce. Physically, as women, God equips us women with the body and the cycles that we need to conceive, carry and feed children.
While this may have ilmits in the biological realm, as I have mentioned in my opening post for this series, this is not so in the spiritual realm. Spiritual mothering is not limited to married women with children. Because of the deeper meanings in the metaphor of reproduction, single or barren women are not left out but also able to participate in and receive its blessings as well.
There are several ways that we, as Titus 2 women, participate in this reproduction process of making more disciple makers.
Serving as Midwives
One of the most amazing (and difficult) experiences I’ve had was giving birth to my three biological children.
What helped make this process more bearable (besides seeing my newborn) were the nurses that cared for attended me. For each of my long deliveries, God brought a Christian woman alongside with me. Not only did they care for me throughout the waiting period, they would counsel me, comfort and even pray with me.
Likewise, we as Titus 2 women can serve other women as spiritual midwives. Because God alone creates spiritual children, this helps me put my role in perspective. His Spirit will create and birth new life, but I can certainly help by walking with other women as He takes them through this process.
We counsel.
We comfort.
We pray.
In this way, we offer ourselves to God for His use in the slow and sometimes painful work of birthing children. It reminds us that we are not God, which means we are not responsible for doing His job. But we can turn to Him in faith, allow the Holy Spirit to rule and reign in us so that we become more like Christ, and faithfully represent Him to others.
And this is important work.
Serving as Adoptive Mothers
Not only have I had the privilege of experiencing the birth of my own children, I have walked through (and still am) an adoptive mother. In a sense, I am walking alongside Anah’s mother, a woman I would never know, in the care of her daughter after the birthing process.
Sometimes I may meet a woman who is already a believer. This woman doesn’t need a midwife but she may need a mom. God does not just save His children from spiritual death only to leave them to figure things out on their own.
Again, we cannot take credit for the salvation and adoption of any person into the family of God, but we can take women under our wing. Those of us who have been growing in our understanding of what it means to be a child of God can help others to grow likewise.
This includes helping them grow in their spiritual life:
Telling the larger Story of God and how it changes how they view and live life
Speaking about their identity in Christ as saint, sufferer and sinner
Helping them learn to breathe by inhaling God’s Word in study and exhaling through prayer
Deepening their connection with God through meditation on God’s truth and memorizing it
Teaching them how to abide in Christ through rest and retreat
Guiding them to counsel themselves towards change and growth
Recognizing spiritual warfare and standing firm in Christ
And just like mothers train their children not just in their relationship with God, we help His children to translate their faith into real life:
In their planning
In their marriage
In their parenting
In their homemaking
In their everyday worship through their work
In their relationships
Training in these areas needs to be appropriate for the person in their time and season, which requires discernment on our end. Just children rarely learn things overnight, training is often ongoing, over long stretches of time. It is slowly built upon, little by little, with new lessons that mature with them as their understanding develops.
Sometimes these lessons come from my own experience with God.
Sometimes it comes through sharing how God’s Word has shaped my thoughts and actions.
Sometimes this may require addressing sin.
Sometimes it may mean helping them walk through pain and suffering with their eyes fixed in faith on God.
Sometimes it might mean recognizing their growth edges and helping them take the next step of faith.
Whatever those steps, I too need to be in committed fellowship with God. As the Holy Spirit works in me, He will also guide me to point others to Christ in love. He also strengthens me with endurance to walk with them for the long haul and empowers me to love when it is a struggle.
This is the work of a mother—and this is our call.
Serving as Trainers
Serving as adoptive mothers, however, is not the end in itself. Our goal is not merely to help the younger women be happier at home or more content in their circumstances.
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, the end of our efforts is to reproduce—help the younger women likewise become older women who will train and teach the younger women in their lives. This includes a woman’s own daughters: we want to train our little girls to become women who likewise have a heart for others in her life.
It is one thing to teach something; it is another thing to teach someone so they can teach someone else. This means that even as I am helping a younger woman to grow in her own personal faith, I am also planting seeds in her heart that the blessings that she has been given is meant to be passed on as well. I trust that God will guide them, as circumstances permit, in ways to help others grow too.
From my own experience, I have noticed that when I am faithful in pointing others to God, when they encounter Him as they spend time with me, their hearts are changed. This naturally happens for God is love, and His generous love ministers to them so they want to give.
When my heart is oriented towards Christ, when my feet are pointed in the right direction, the steps I take will move me closer towards Him. As my heart abides in His love, He will help me to love others. And the most loving thing we can do for others is to tell them about the good news of Christ and help them to live in faith and obedience to Him.
This is what discipleship looks like and as women, we want to help the women in our lives to know Him, grow in Him, and love others wherever He plants them. We want them to understand their lives in context of His grander story so they might make life decisions that are consistent with it. We help those under our care to steward their life and blessings from God back into His kingdom, where He multiplies it for an eternal reward that will never perish or fade.
May the Lord find us faithful to this end.
