Abraham Lincoln famously stated that: "I regard no man as poor who has a godly mother." This pithy quotation coming from a man who was renowned for his common sense and wisdom deserves our contemplation and thought. In Lincoln's time, a hard-scrabbled existence was part and parcel of the American experience, in which the majority of Americans earned their subsistence and existence off of the land. This life may not have been an easy life, but it was a life that held for many Americans, opportunity, if they were willing to apply themselves diligently.
Lincoln understood that it was never the money that made the man, but the character of the man that defined him. But where do we find that character? I submit that we often find that character developed from the nurturing, care, and love of our mother. All life begins with our mother, and it is from our mother that we first take in this world. If our mother is damaged, neglectful, uncaring, immoral, incompetent, or worse, this does not necessarily mean that we will turn out poorly, but it definitely means that we will have additional struggles to overcome in this world.
A godly mother is a mother that has built a solid foundation, based on providing service, works, and devotion to Him who is eternal, omnipotent, and omniscience. A mother that recognizes that there is something worth seeking that is beyond this material world that can provide us with emotional and spiritual sustenance, moral guidance, and love, is a mother that cares deeply for us. This world offers enough challenges that it is pure foolishness not to lean on He who can provide all answers and an ever-present helping hand.
There may be times when we are hurting, or in trouble, or things are going against us, in which we desire our mother to be there to comfort us, but circumstances may not allow for this possibility, it is then that our seeking for our godly mother's aid, becomes a seeking for the One that gives all aid, in which His grace and love will never extinguish and will never leave us.
You are never a poor man if you have a godly mother because the wrong scorecard to look at is the card that keeps track of the amount of money in one's bank account, instead we should concern ourselves with the scorecard that keeps track of the amount of grace created in one's blessing's account.
Good times come and good times go. You may be born into wonderful circumstances, or you may not be, tough times may or may not often trouble you, but along any path there will be challenges, and there will be decisions that must be made. A man, any man, must face those challenges and those decisions that define him, and a man that has the upbringing from a godly mother will often find that the decision that he need make is the correct one, because he will not turn away from doing the right thing and for this, he will be a wise man.