МАТЬ

So that you know that it is not birth that makes a mother and that there is no reward for this, Paul, addressing the widow, said this: “if she has raised children” (1 Tim. 5:10); did not say: if she gave birth to children, but: if she raised them. The former is a matter of nature, the latter is a matter of free will. Therefore, here too, having said: “he will be saved through childbearing,” he did not stop there; but, wanting to show that it is not the birth, but the good upbringing of children that gives us a reward, he added: “if they continue in faith and love and in holiness with chastity” (1 Tim. 2:15). That is, you will receive a great reward if the children born to you remain in faith and in love and in holiness. So, if you dispose them to this, if you exhort, teach, advise, then for such care a great reward has been assigned to you from God. Thus, let wives not consider caring for children, both female and male, a foreign matter: [the apostle] did not distinguish between gender here, but just as he said simply: “if she has raised children,” so here: “if they continue in faith and love and holiness.” Therefore, we need to take care of children of both sexes, and especially wives, because they stay at home more. Husbands are often distracted by travel, court cases, and civil cases; and the wife, being free from all such worries, can raise children more conveniently, since she has a lot of leisure. This is what wives did in ancient times. Indeed, this responsibility - I mean caring for their children and guiding them to wisdom - lies not only on husbands, but also on wives (1). You might be interested in: