Where did you get your name? Your spiritual name, for good or for bad? To whom do you owe your identity of significance?

Here's an interesting bit of trivia: of the 69 kings of France, only three were truly loved by their subjects. They happened to be the three raised by their mothers and not tutors or guardians.

Napoleon was right. An aristocratic lady, sitting by his side at a great dinner, asked him, "My Emperor, will you tell me what it is France needs most at this present hour?" He turned to her and answered quietly, "France needs most of all mothers." Does America?

Aurelius Augustinus would have made the cover of People magazine weekly, if it had been around in 354 AD. He had two mistresses, the first when he was only sixteen. He fathered an illegitimate child, and ran from one scandal to another. But his saintly mother Monica wouldn't give up on her wayward son. Where he moved, she moved. While he sinned, she prayed. Finally, at 33 years of age, he came to faith in Jesus. He was ordained a priest, then a bishop; he wrote sixteen volumes of the greatest theology since Paul, and is considered the most brilliant Christian since the New Testament.

To whom do we owe Augustine?

Susannah Wesley was the 25th child of her father and the mother of 19. She taught each of her children to recite the alphabet by his or her fifth birthday; when they turned six, she spent six hours each day teaching them Christian theology. Two of her sons, John and Charles, would in time found the denomination known as Methodist. John Wesley later said, "I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians of England." To whom do we owe him?

Is the pattern clear?

C. I. Scofield published the famous Study Bible which bears his name. His mother died at birth, her last prayer that this newborn child would be a preacher of the gospel. His father didn't tell him about his mother's prayer until he had answered it.

The great expositor G. Campbell Morgan said, "My sermons were Bible stories which I had first learned from my mother."

The remarkable evangelist Dwight L. Moody admitted, "All that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

The greatest Baptist preacher ever, Charles Spurgeon, agreed, "I cannot tell how much I owe to the solemn words of my good mother."

John Newton's mother prayed for her wayward, sinful son, until he came to the Amazing Grace of which his hymn testifies.

Erma Bombeck was right: children do emulate their mothers. Mrs. Campolo was accurate: you are "socializing homo sapiens." So reflect today on two requests.

First, would you choose the example you want your children to follow? They will become what you are. What spiritual model are you giving to their souls? What model do you want to give to them?

And second, would you make their spiritual development your highest priority? Our society values their grades, their athletic achievements, their social status. God values their souls. One day, so will they. But before they can, you must. What are you doing for your children's souls today?