Devoted: Great Men and Their Godly Moms by Tim Challies. Challies. 128 pages. 2018
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Tim Challies’ latest book, which celebrates mothers who were used to shape the men who changed the world, began as a series of articles. Rebecca Stark and Melissa Edgington added helpful “Questions for Reflection” for each chapter, and Edgington also adds “A Mother’s Reflection” at the end of each chapter.
He tells us that it may surprise us to learn how many of our Christian heroes were shaped by the attentiveness and godliness of their mothers. Even though they may have had fathers who were present, involved, and godly, they would insist that their primary spiritual influencer had been their mother. In this book, he takes a brief look at some of them. Below are a few items I highlighted about each of the remarkable women profiled in this short book:
The Hidden Strength of a Weak Mother – John Newton
- Elizabeth consistently trained her son in Reformed theology.
- Elizabeth prayed and hoped God would call him to ministry.
- As biographer Jonathan Aitken says, “The spiritual lessons the boy had learned at his mother’s knee were never forgotten. They become the foundation for Newton’s eventual conversion and Christian commitment.”
The Prayer of a Godly Mother – Hudson Taylor
- She determined to pray for her son until she came to a sense of assurance that God would save him.
- Rightly would he be known as one of the great Christian missionaries. And his story cannot be told without giving due credit to the power of a praying mother.
