Could it be that the way we speak about motherhood betrays a pharisaical tendency to self-aggrandize the ordinary, good, and faithful work that mothers do, while minimizing the ordinary, good, and faithful work of everyone else?
And this mindset doesn’t only minimize the callings of other women in the church; it’s also damaging to mothers who might believe this sentiment themselves. How easy it is for women to shape their identity entirely from this very intense and time-consuming season of life—to balance upon it their sense of purpose, their joy, their hopes. But should they? Is this really the highest vocation to which women are called? Is this the safest perch for their identity?
If Scripture does speak of one highest calling, it’s to be a disciple of Christ. Jesus himself explains this when he tells his disciples about the high cost of entering the kingdom of God—and its eternal rewards: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life” (Matt. 19:29). If motherhood were a woman’s highest calling, why would Jesus ask her to leave her children behind? Instead, we see eternity shaping our earthly priorities. And what a comfort this must be to every mother who has watched her children walk away from the faith—a heartbreak I can’t even bear to imagine—to know that her Jesus will repay a hundredfold what she has left behind in this world that is passing away. You cannot extend that hope to a woman whose highest calling is motherhood. You can extend it to someone who recognizes their calling as a disciple of Christ the King.
Mary Van Weelden | “Motherhood Is Not a Woman’s ‘Highest Calling'” | October 28, 2025
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Mary Van Weelden
Mary Van Weelden is Content Manager at Sola Media, a graduate of Westminster Seminary California, a writer, a pastor’s wife, a former journalist, and a recovering taco snob.
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