Author: mary

Parenting takes patience and prayer. Some days it takes more patience and some days it takes more prayer! When you first become a parent, it can feel like you’re on a beautiful journey to a new land. When parenting toddlers, it can feel like you are reliving the same day over and over again. As they grow into school age kids, some days will feel like a new learning experience and other days will feel like you’re running a marathon. When your children enter their teenage years, there will be times that you will feel like you both are living on different planets. Before you know it, your children are off to college. How can we make the most of the time God has given us with our children and still have patience?

Find the good in every day. If you slow down and take the time to look, you will see the good in your children. It could be as little as a smile, a funny story, or a hobby or talent they have. Invest in the things they love and spend time with them. Encourage your children when they need it and even when they don’t. Children need to hear when you are proud of them or when they do something hard or well. Encouragement helps both their spiritual life and their mental health. Most of all pray for them daily. Go before the Lord on their behalf. Tell them you’re praying for them so they know that you care about them and their future.

Part of growing and training your children in the Lord is matching hour actions with the words you say. When you live out how you feel about your children, you will grow your relationship with them.

Parenting can be both rewarding and trying at times. It can be a joy to watch your children learn and grow. As they are growing, each stage comes with its own troubles and how we handle each stage shapes who our children become. Parenting is a job that we cannot do on our own. The world is trying to teach our children lessons that are not in the Bible. We need the help of the one who created our children: God the Father. So how can we persevere and train our children up to love the Lord in a world that works against us?

Trust in the Lord with your children. He created them and knows them better than even you do! Psalm 139 says He knit us together in our mother’s womb. He knows everything about us because that is the way He created us. This makes trusting Him even easier when we know that He knows what is best for them. If you trust Him as your Father, then you should be able to trust Him with your children. If this is a struggle for you, pray and ask God to help you give Him control.

While it is helpful to read parenting books, join groups or Bible Studies that give parenting tips, the best thing to do is to pray and seek God’s face. Ask Him to place people in your life who will help mentor and train you as a parent. Pray for opportunities to grow as a parent. Just as our children need to grow and learn, we do too!

Have you ever really thought about the marriage vows that people say on their wedding day? They pledge to stay for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part…Think about these two examples of marriage and their commitment to the vows they made.

There was a woman who fell in love with a man who had brain cancer. He was given a short time to live and they both knew that if they married, it would be a brief marriage with a lot of heartache. Yet, she married the man she loved, took him to doctor’s appointments, sat in the hospital with him as the cancer was having its way in his body, and held his hand as he stepped from this life into the next. She took her vows “in sickness and in health” to heart and trusted that the memory of their love and her trust in the Lord would sustain her long after he was gone. Now, there was another couple whose marriage began with troubles and trials. They married young with little to their names, but they had love, so they thought they could survive anything. As the years went on, their money problems increased and they did nothing to try and seek help. They became resentful of each other, and even though they committed to stay together for richer and poorer, they gave up and went their separate ways.

Both couples endured hardships, but one chose to honor their commitments and trusted the Lord, while the other one gave up when times were tough. God is the only one who can help you honor your spouse. He is the one who will carry you on this journey.

In the US, we have rules and regulations for almost everything. In Oklahoma it is illegal to eavesdrop, in North Dakota you need permission before killing a pigeon, and in North Carolina it is illegal to participate in a meeting if you are dressed in costume (“Weirdest Laws Passed in Every State,” USA Today). Some of these laws seem silly and unnecessary. However, there are many laws that are very necessary for maintaining order among people. People need laws about marriage and divorce, property, driving, and many others. Laws govern a society. They provide limitations and boundaries for people to live within and show how far a person can go before bringing ruin upon themselves. Laws are needed because we live in a lawless land full of sin. If there were no laws we would have destroyed ourselves a long time ago. This was the whole reason the Israelites needed the 10 Commandments in the Old Testament. They showed the people how to live and helped govern their nation. It is difficult to picture a world without laws.

However, there is no law against what is good. Galatians 5:23 says there is no law against the fruit of the spirit. This means there is no law about how much kindness you can show, how much love you can give, or how faithful you can be. Laws are only needed to show the lawless how to live. There is no law needed to show you how to do godly things for others.

When you understand that laws are needed to govern sin, but there are no laws needed to govern the good that comes from God, you will find freedom. You will find the freedom to serve, freedom to praise, and freedom to live in Christ!

There is a reason why self-control is considered one of the fruit of the spirit. It is something that people have struggled with since the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and we still lack self-control today. The word self-control means control or restraint of oneself or one’s actions. Everywhere you look, you will see a lack of self-control. Look at how people drive on the road as if they are the only ones in need of going somewhere. Look at how people leave a concert, even Christian concerts, pushing and shoving. You won’t have to look very long at social media before you see a lack of self control. It is everywhere, and it is becoming harder and harder to maintain control over the things we say and do when we see people everywhere living unrestrained lives.

How can you show that God is the Lord of your life in a world that lacks any kind of self-control? First, let God guide you with your words. Before you post something or say something, take some time to think about if your words are going to bless God or not. Don’t react, but pray and ask Him to give you the words to say. Second, make sure your actions match the things you say. Be faithful and true to your word. If you say you will do something for someone, do it! If you tell someone you will pray for them, do it! Live a life controlled by the Holy Spirit, not a life controlled by your words and actions. A life that lacks self-control is a selfish life, but a life that has self-control is a selfless life.

Self-control is a fruit of the spirit because it is evidence that the gospel and the Holy Spirit are in control of the believer’s life. So take some time today to pray and ask God to help you stay in control of your mind, body, and spirit.