Augustine

Augustine (354–430)

thanKs, moM

Moms are pretty special. They take care of you, make good food to eat, and if you’ve been really good, they might take you to the park, zoo, or a friend’s house. They might even bring homework to school if you forget it at home.

Augustine was born a very long time ago, and he had a very good mom. She followed Jesus and helped Augustine with his own faith. When Augustine was about your age, he was sent to a school where his mom couldn’t help him make good decisions. There were no phones, internet, or online video chat. Augustine made his own choices, and they were bad. Augustine had once obeyed God because his mom wanted him to, but when she was no longer around, he struggled. You might know what that’s like.

His mom would learn of Augustine’s poor decisions, but by that time he didn’t care. She begged him to follow Jesus, but he followed whatever interested him.

By the time Augustine was in his thirties, he returned to the Jesus his mother loved. He credits his mom’s infl uence as part of the reason he sought Jesus. He read Romans 12–15, and that was the message God used to change Augustine’s heart (read it yourself sometime). God used Augustine to infl uence centuries of Christians. God used a mom to infl uence Augustine.

The Bible talks about moms when it says, “She opens her mouth with wisdom. The teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of those in her house, and does not eat the bread of doing nothing” (Proverbs 31:26–27).

Children, obey your parents in everything. The Lord is pleased when you do.

COLOSSIANS 3:20