Some Advice to Mothers and Daughters - Love from, Hannah More

Hannah More (1745-1833) is not a name remembered by many today, yet just over two hundred years ago, she was one of the most influential and well-known women in Britain. What makes Hannah so interesting to me, however, is her passionate and active faith in Jesus, which produced many “good works” and challenged diverse people in her society to honour God through trusting where He has put them. One of these groups of people were women – in particular, mothers and daughters in Christian families. Hannah’s time was a time when many mothers and daughters who were Christian seemed to lack enthusiasm for Jesus as Lord over their lives, roles and relationships with one another. Hannah desired these ladies to truly love God in their heart, with their actions and in their relationships. She believed women who did this could humbly change and protect society from spiralling into sin. I hope and pray Hannah’s advice will be somewhat encouraging and helpful to many mothers and daughters who read this post.

Hannah lovingly encouraged the Christian mums of her time to love and esteem their role as mothers to the next generation, even though mothering can be tiring, tedious, and the fruits are often not seen for years (or even in this life). She calls “the education of your children” the great privilege of mothers: “a power wide in its extent, indefinite in its effects, and inestimable in its importance” (Strictures, 1799, 59). With such great influence, mothers should resolve to constantly and lovingly plant seeds in their children’s hearts to trust and obey Jesus as King. Hannah believed one way of doing this was to slowly go through the Lord’s Prayer together with the children – exploring and thinking about one line at a time to teach the kids to pray.

Meanwhile, Hannah reminded Christian teenage daughters of their duty to love their neighbour as themselves, and especially to love, honour and obey their parents. In the eighteenth century, girls would spend time learning how to sew, and I think it had come to the stage where many girls were sewing themselves beautiful clothes in order to capture others’ attention. Hannah recommends that girls instead should be pure in their motivations, and perhaps try sewing clothes for their mother instead as a way to encourage godly love and cut vanity, envy and flirtation right out of the picture. Hannah also tells teenage girls to fulfil their responsibilities for God’s glory, and even (especially) to practice being mothers to their siblings when given the opportunity. I think a lot of Hannah’s advice may apply to 21^st century Christian teenage girls: In the interest of making Jesus our King, we can all seek to bless Mum and Dad at home, and make the effort to care for younger siblings (if we have any) through learning from Mum. With regards to school, we can all aim for self-control and obedience to Jesus when in the company of pressuring peers, and apply ourselves to our schoolwork/ homework in a way that glorifies God.

Altogether, Hannah More’s call to good works within our families is a call to “work out [our] salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12b). By no means does this mean good works saves us, and we should never base our assurance on what we do or don’t do. Nevertheless, because we have been saved by faith in Jesus’s death and resurrection, we should be thankful and obedient slaves to Him, our Brother and LORD. I think James 2:17-18 sums up Hannah’s call very well: “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works”.

(C) Naomi Seto