Jesus’ Empathy for Moms

Are you feeling discouraged as a mom? Overwhelmed with stress? Jesus feels for you more than you realize.

As a mother raising three children I (Kristi) was stressed from continually juggling the balls of kids, marriage, work, house, shopping, and more. Much to my surprise, that is still my life with all our children married! Now I’m juggling even more balls, including six little grandchildren and leading the staff and nonprofit ministry of Soul Shepherding.

Through it all, I’ve discovered that Jesus has empathy for moms like us.

Does Jesus Really Understand Being a Mom?

After all, Jesus is the perfect Son of God, knows all things, heals people, and does great miracles so how could he relate to being a tired mom wiping runny noses, quelling squabbles, and figuring out how to help kids with their homework?

The Son of God became human like us and took on real limitations (Philippians 2:6–7). He was tempted to sin and was sinned against. He felt thirsty, hungry, sweaty, bone cold, browbeaten, and soul weary. He experienced sore feet, sleepless nights, pain, irritation, anger, abandonment, anxiety, doubt, and death. Sometimes he had limited knowledge and trusted his Father’s knowledge (e.g., Mark 1:35-38, 13:32; John 7:16). He even experienced seemingly unanswered prayer (e.g., Mark 15:34). He had to learn and grow in grace (Luke 2:40, 52).

Jesus of Nazareth is not a superhero on a stained glass window. During his life on earth, he was not like Einstein doing third-grade math, just pretending to learn and go through struggles.

Jesus Can Relate to a Mom’s Life

The Lord Jesus has heartfelt empathy for you in all your struggles, emotions, and needs. The Bible is full of what we call “empathy Scriptures” that help us to experience being deeply loved by God. My favorite one is Hebrews 4:15: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”

In our book Deeply Loved, I share how it’s helped me to imagine Jesus experiencing difficulties and emotions like I face. Many Bible scholars believe that his father died when he was a boy and that Jesus stayed home until he was thirty years old to help his mother raise his younger siblings and provide for the family as a carpenter. It seems he knew the stress, frustration, and exhaustion of caring for needy children and managing their conflicts.

He might have felt stuck at home, loaded with responsibilities, and bored with mundane tasks when he wanted to be out with his friends, withdraw to a place of solitude to rest and pray, or start the adventure of launching his public ministry.

We know that Jesus was challenged with balancing the competing demands of family and work (e.g., Mark 3:21), being interrupted (e.g., Mark 5:30-31, 35), managing all the expectations people had for him (e.g., Matthew 16:21-23), and feeling hurt and disrespected by family members and close friends (e.g., Luke 4:24).

Receiving and Reflecting Jesus’ Empathy

What is your life like as a mom? What challenges are you facing and how are you feeling?

These four steps will help you receive the Lord’s empathy.

1. Consider how Jesus experienced something similar to you.
2. Ask for his empathy and be emotionally honest with him.
3. Write down a prayer or share with a friend to help you trust God.
4. Smile with thanks because you and your family are deeply loved!

If you enjoyed this blog, check out the book Deeply Loved: Receiving and Reflecting God’s Great Empathy for You by Bill and Kristi Gaultiere. Reading their book is like talking to true friends who really care for you—and they have thirty years of experience as therapists, pastors, and spiritual directors.

Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are doctors of psychology and the founders of Soul Shepherding, a nonprofit ministry to help you go deeper with Jesus in emotional health and loving relationships. They’ve authored a number of books and each week they share on their “Soul Talks” podcast. They invite you to “come on retreat” with them and about fifty other people (with eight retreats each year across the U. S. to choose from), talk with a spiritual director or coach they’ve trained, or join the 150 students they train each year in their program to earn a Certificate in Spiritual Direction.