I hear the phrases “just a mother” and “only a mother” all the time in society. Whether it is someone ashamed to admit to her working friends that she is ‘just a mother’ or when talking about someone else to describe that she is ‘only a mother’ and not working outside the home. Recently I have heard more and more people using the phrase “more than a mother” when talking to young girls. They want them to believe that they can be so much more than ‘just a mother.’ and to aim for something ‘more’ like being an executive of a big company.
“Only a Mother”
Satan rejoices when he can convince us to use these phrases like ‘just a mother,’ ‘only a mother’ or ‘more than mother.” Why? Because Satan knows the true power and purpose, and destiny of fathers and mothers. He knows there is no such thing as “only a mother,” but he would like to make us believe otherwise.
The roles and titles of Father and Mother are the titles and roles of Deity. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught this truth when in a statement they declared: “The title father is sacred and eternal. It is significant that of all the titles of respect and honor and admiration that are given to Deity, He has asked us to address Him as Father.” The entire purpose of the Plan of Salvation was so that we could become like our Heavenly Parents; sons like our Heavenly Father, and daughters like our Heavenly Mother.
Satan rebelled against this plan and was thrust out of heaven. He was permanently denied the ability to get a body, and thus be sealed to a wife and become a god. Thus was denied the ability to ever become like our Heavenly Father. Since the war in heaven, Satan has waged a scorched earth campaign against motherhood and fatherhood. He seeks to get us to squander what we have because he wasted his potential already. Misery loves company.
Satan loves the idea of “only a mother/father” because it brings shame to the title he can never attain.
“Just a Mother”
Could you imagine Queen Elizabeth saying, “I am just a queen, it is not like I am the CEO of a bank.” No? Why not? Because she understands that being a queen is not something you would ever attach a “just” before. In the temple, we are promised that we are to become kings and queens if we keep our covenants. We learn that being a queen is a part of being a wife and mother. John Taylor reminded the saints of this when he declared,
“Have you forgotten who you are, and what your object is? Have you forgotten that you profess to be Saints of the Most High God, clothed upon with the holy priesthood? Have you forgotten that you are aiming to become kings and priests to the Lord, and queens and priestesses to him?“
President John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom [1987], pp.229-230
Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught this too! In Apr. 2010 General Conference he declared, “You are truly royal spirit daughters of Almighty God. You are princesses, destined to become queens.” So when you see or use the word mother, replace it with the word queen. Suddenly phrases like “just a mom” and “only a mom” become “just a queen” and “only a queen” and the deception of Satan is exposed.
“More Than a Goddess”
One of the most effective tactics Satan has with women is the idea that they can be “more than a mother.” This idea implies that being a mother is beneath the alternative things women can do. Young women are told, “You can be more than a mother, you can be a lawyer, software engineer, or a CEO!” Sadly, many today would agree with the statement that being a CEO is more than being a mother.
Can a woman be a lawyer? Yes. What about a Senator? A President/Prime Minister? Softwhere enginereer or a CEO? Yes, a woman can choose to do any of those things. The grand lie is that these things are “more” than motherhood (or fatherhood). Ezra Taft Benson decried this false philosophy when he taught:
“One apparent impact of the women’s movement has been the feelings of discontent it has created among young women who have chosen the role of wife and mother. They are often made to feel that there are more exciting and self-fulfilling roles for women than housework, diaper changing, and children calling for mother. This view loses sight of the eternal perspective that God elected women to the noble role of mother and that exaltation is eternal fatherhood and eternal motherhood.”
(‘To the Elect Women of the Kingdom of God,’ Nauvoo Illinois Relief Society Dedication, 30 June 1978.)
(Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 548).
Exaltation is eternal motherhood! Think about that for just a second. Exaltation, (which is becoming like God, IE becoming gods and goddesses) is described as eternal motherhood and fatherhood. So substitute the word mother with the word goddess. Is being a CEO more than being a goddess? NO! Even the very thought is laughable. Who would trade being a goddess for being a Lawyer or politician? Once again, the idea is laughable. Yet how many women (or men) have been convinced to do just that?
It is time to reenthrone marriage and childbearing in our culture! Let us once again make the roles of husband and wife, father and mother, more important and of higher prestige than the honors of this world, for the Gospel declares them to be! Only then our society will realize the truth taught by Sheri Dew, “No woman who understands the gospel would ever think that any other work is more important or would ever say, ‘I am just a mother.’”