Mother's Day is fast approaching - and it's a great time to reflect on how much our mothers, grandmothers, wives, daughters, and mother-in-laws mean to us.

Mothers have a unique and crucial role in the lives of their children. The Bible has a lot to say about the importance of mothers and the special influence they have as they strive to not only love and cherish their children but teach them to love and fear the Lord.

For example, Mothers are reminded to love their children (Titus 2:4)-to feel affection for them and to have a kind attitude toward them. At the same time, a mother is to train her children to live godly lives (Psalm 78:5-6) and encourage them to live in a manner worthy of God's kingdom (Proverbs 22:6).

While not a spiritual holiday observed by Christians, Mother's Day is a wonderful opportunity to thank God for the beauty of motherhood and pay tribute to godly mothers. Here are some Mother's Day Bible verses, quotes, and poems to help you do just that.

Mother's Day Bible Verses

1 Corinthians 13:4-7  "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

Isaiah 66:13  "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."

Proverbs 17:6  "Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children."

Proverbs 22:6  "Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

Proverbs 29:15  "A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother."

Titus 2:3-5  "Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

Ephesians 6:1-3  "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"-which is the first commandment with a promise- "so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."

Proverbs 23:22-25  "Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.  Buy the truth and do not sell it- wisdom, instruction and insight as well.  The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.  May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!"

Proverbs 1:8  "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching."

1 Peter 3:4: "You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."

Mother's Day Quotes

The sweetest sounds to mortals given/ Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.

~William Goldsmith Brown

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. ~Author Unknown

A mother understands what a child does not say. ~Author Unknown

Mother, the ribbons of your love are woven around my heart. ~Author Unknown

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving

Mother's Day Poems

This heart, my own dear mother, bends,

With love's true instinct, back to thee!

~Thomas Moore

Who ran to help me when I fell,

And would some pretty story tell,

Or kiss the place to make it well?

My mother.

~Ann Taylor

Mother is a name held sacred

     By most mortals of the earth;

     It means great love and sacrifice

     From the very day of birth,

A love that's so full of beauty,

     So tender, so very true!

     Something, seemingly, from Heaven

     That has come to me and you.

There's no love so understanding

     And so faithful to the end

     As a Mother's love-God bless her!-

     That to us our Lord did send.

~Gertrude Tooley Buckingham, "Mother" (1940s)

Before a day was over,

Home comes the rover,

For mother's kiss - sweeter this

Than any other thing!

~William Allingham

My Mother's hands, so thin and work-worn,

     Were loved by me as jewels, rare,

     For they had rocked me in my cradle,

     And, lovingly, they'd stroked my hair.

They worked for me, both night and morning;

     They helped to smooth away my fears,

     For never were these dear hands idle;

     I think of them with love and tears!

My Mother's hands to me were precious:

     I thought their beauty was sublime;

     I felt no harm on earth could touch me

     If they were near me all the time!

~Gertrude Tooley Buckingham, "My Mother's Hands" (1940s)