I Teach a Sunday School class at our church.
I wrote a challenge for all the Grandmothers, Aunts & Mom's who were in that class yesterday....
and I am posting it here for you to read if you wish.
Mother’s Day Challenge
Ladies, when God created man, He did not want him to be lonely, nor did
he create man to pro-create on his own! We as women were created FOR our
husbands. To love and honor them in our marriages and to pro-create with
him…and we all have had the most beautiful children ever!!! But with those
amazing creations come a responsibility…..modeling a godly marriage and relationships
for our daughters.
That is not something we should do without great reverence for our Lord
and Savior. And thankfully, God has given us many scriptures to help us out on
this road that we are to walk and also do it on a stage before our daughters, to
enable them to walk this road in their future that will give God all glory and
honor for His accomplishments in not only our lives, but our daughters. God did
bless us with the ability to have children, but that is not the main reason for
our existence. We can be a good mother and fail God…. be the best mother who
ever lived and still fail God…when we do not prioritize as God desires for us
to. We, of course, do not want this to
happen!
So, let’s look to scripture to help us…..starting with the proverbs 31
woman,
10 An excellent wife, who can
find? For her worth is far above jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in
her, And he will have no lack of gain.
12 She does him good and not evil All
the days of her life.
26 She opens her mouth in wisdom, And
the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She looks well to the ways of her
household, And does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and bless her;
Her husband also, and he praises her, saying:
29 “Many daughters have done nobly, But
you excel them all.”
30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is
vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
Ouchie! I know when I read
this, it sometimes makes me cringe. I know how short I have fallen from this
instruction, to many times for me to feel comfortable acknowledging.
Ephesian’s 5 instruction says…1-2 Therefore be imitators of God, as
beloved children; 2 and
walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an
offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
15 Therefore be careful how you walk,
not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time, because the days
are evil. 17
So then do
not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
22 Wives, be subject to your own
husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the
wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the
Savior of the body. 24 But
as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to
their husbands in everything.
God knows our circumstances. God KNOWS our circumstances! Whether stress
filled or complete joy, hard or easy, loving or annoying…..HE knows! One thing
that I have found through my 30 plus years of marriage is: God does not change
because it is 2012 as opposed to 150bc! His word and commands are the same
today as yesterday; His wants for our lives are the same as they were when
scripture was penned as it is today. We are to model a life of Christ, with the
same restrictions, grace and mercy as those biblical examples given to us that
show us how to do it!!!
Submission is not a
forced slavery where a wife must make herself conform. It is not a loss of
individuality or personality. True biblical subjection is a woman’s creative
and challenging pleasure of discovering how she can show her husband that she
respects him, and admires him. Her new prayer should be, “Lord, give me a
simple and unselfish desire to be led by my husband as I am led by You, and
thereby bring glory to Your name!......(quote by Richard L. Strauss)
*Something that
never goes out of style is: “a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of
God of great price! Meek means gentle, considerate, willing to surrender one’s
right. “Quiet” means peaceful, restful and un-disturbed. We often instead model
moodiness, irritability, nagging, grumbling, and complaining.
When a marriage is going well, nothing is sweeter! And I’ve seen that
when a marriage is miserable, there is hardly anything more miserable. God’s
plan is for us to experience nothing but perfect, deeply satisfying
relationships of harmony with HIM, our husbands, our family, also in our church
life and in our friendships…but, that was life on the other side of Eden! That
plan was un-done by human sin, self-will and selfishness.
A cheerful atmosphere in the home
depends largely on us as the wife. If we accept our responsibility to create a
joyful atmosphere and yield ourselves to the indwelling Spirit of God, HE will
produce in us His fruit of joy; life will become an exciting challenge rather
than an exasperating chore!
As much as it depends on us, we CAN live at peace with others. Of
course, our husband and children won’t always choose to live in peace and joy
with us….their choices are out of our control. And when we are hurt by them,
the natural reaction is disappointment and frustration.
OUR choice is: we can stand and react to others out of our
disappointment & demand our way OR we can seek God’s comfort, love
unconditionally, and embrace hope. And remember, our daughters are watching our
choices, listening to our words and seeing how a bitter spirit is a poison and
will bring more pain than the original hurt or demand…OR they see and hear our
words of encouragement, love and passion for the Lord’s desire for our lives.
Will we always be on the right page at the right time? NO WAY…..but that is
when we have the opportunity to seek forgiveness, show forgiveness and train
through our failures and not just our victories.
Life and marriage is not and has not been compete and total bliss. There
have been times when I am quite sure that my daughters have seen my
failures…but I also know that they have seen (hopefully more often!) my
successes, joys, submission, love, love and love. Love for their Dad, love for
them, and most of all Love for our Heavenly Father. When I am successful in the
later, the other areas are second nature, easy, wonderful and without
condition. You see, God’s love and acceptance is without condition. HE loves
unconditionally, and I am, as filthy rags, so not deserving of this. I
disappoint HIM every day, many times a day, over and over again. Yet God loves
me. Jesus died for me. The Holy Spirit lives in me. I am loved, without
deserving it. I am accepted without deserving it. I am looked upon as someone very
special, without deserving it. Who am I? A child of God, His princess, the one
who took His breath away. I am His.
My marriage,
my family, deserve that
kind of love and acceptance from me. As I quoted from scripture before: Eph.
5:1-2 Therefore be imitators
of God, as beloved children; 2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and
gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
Being a submissive wife,
modeling for our daughters, is not a chore. It is not a demand. It is not a
“less than human, subservient, belittling life”.
What it IS, is a reflection of Christ in me.
A light in me.
A sweet fragrance. One that I
want to share with those I love….those who see me, day to day, living life.
It is what I want my daughters to learn, what I want our son to expect and what
I want my husband to be able to brag about to his co-workers and friends. (ok,
I AM human after all!!!)
How bright are you shining day to day?
How sweet do you smell day to day?
What or Who are you reflecting today?
