Pouring from an Empty Cup

Hello friends + Happy Monday!

I pray that this week you have been filled with joy and peace!

In last week’s podcast episode we talked about motherhood and self care. We talked about what the world tells us we should be doing for “self care” (getting our nails done, girls’ trips, glasses of wine, what have you). We compared what the world tells us self care is to what we see in the Gospels. Motherhood is a ministry and we should model all aspects of our work as mothers after the life of Christ. When you read the gospels as a whole, you see that Jesus doesn’t “pamper” himself when He needs rest and renewal, instead He comes before His Father in private prayer.

We also discussed a saying we see floating all around the internet: “You can’t pour from an empty cup.” This is a thought I wanted to dive a little deeper into in today’s post because I think it’s important.

As busy mamas, wives, career women (the podcast episode is geared toward mamas, but all of us are busy no matter our marital or motherhood status), we give and give and give. Nurturing is in our nature. Specifically in motherhood, the giving doesn’t stop. If I stopped and realized how much time I actually had for myself before my children were born, I would have taken advantage of it a bit more, haha.

Moms tend to give and give and give no matter the hours, no matter the energy levels, no matter the emotional state. When we are needed, we give. And lots of moms on the internet are telling us we can’t pour from an empty cup. We need to have time alone and fill ourselves up.

This thought isn’t inherently wrong, that moms need a moment to have alone time and be renewed. In the podcast episode, we talk about how to do that properly. You can listen to that here.

Here’s the cold hard truth: We can pour from an empty cup.

We have to pour from an empty cup.

We need to pour from an empty cup.

Yes, you read that right. We need to pour from an empty cup. What does Scripture say about that? Let’s look.

Christ Emptied Himself

As Christian moms, we are to pursue Christ likeness. Philippians 2:5-7 teaches us that Christ, the Son of God emptied Himself and became a servant. If we are going to be like Christ, we need to empty our cup and lower ourselves to be servants just as He did when He came to Earth. Even though Jesus was God, He did not count Himself equal to God. I sure hope we aren’t counting ourselves equal with God. We are to empty ourselves of any pride and sacrificially and selflessly serving our families and in turn serving God.

We are Not to Complain

Later in Philippians 2:14-15, we learn that we are not to complain about anything so that we can be LIGHTS in our world. If you are constantly complaining about having an empty cup and serving others, your children are going to see that. Instead, be a light and joy through your serving so that your children might also learn to serve others.

What is in Our Cup is Not Good

In Jeremiah 17:9, it says the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. What naturally flows out of our cup is not good! It is sin, pride, anger, selfishness, resentment, frustration. This is what pours out of us naturally. This is not what we want to pour out onto our families! We need our cup to be empty so we can pour goodness on our families…

Our Weakness is Good

Here’s the entire basis for my idea that our cup NEEDS to be empty:

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

If we are not weak and empty, God cannot be glorified. If our cup is FULL, we do not need Him to come and fill us up! Our cup needs to be empty so that we can come to Jesus and ask for His strength, His power, His grace. The power of Christ can only rest on us when we are empty and weak.

So yes, You need to pour from an empty cup because you need the power of God to pour from your cup. You need the grace of God to pour from your cup. You need the joy and love and gentleness and mercy of the Lord to be poured from your cup. When you take “filling your cup” into your own hands there will be no room for the things of the Lord. But when your cup is empty, He can fill it with goodness and that is what will be poured out.

This week, take a moment or two or three away from the world of motherhood. But not so you can pamper yourself. Take a moment away so that you can sit in the quiet, loving presence of the Lord and lay your empty cup at His feet so that He can fill it with His power, grace, and peace which passes all understanding.

You are loved + cherished and may the Lord make His face shine upon you.