Today I read in Believing God, and Beth spoke about stewardship...isn't that what I read about yesterday in Purpose Driven Life?! Naturally, this is making me think even harder about what I am doing with what God has given me.
This morning's sermon topic was "Relationships with People". There were four points:
This morning's sermon topic was "Relationships with People". There were four points:
- What relationship needs to be initiated?
- What relationship needs to be nurtured?
- What relationship needs to be restored?
- What relationship needs to be severed?
Pastor Scott referenced John 13:34-35:
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
I have really been taking a hard look at the attitude and heart I have toward James. As much as I have wanted to release my anger and bitterness, I have not fully done that. I know that I am to be as much a disciple to him as to anyone else. Probably even more so toward him since he is the father of my precious boys. I don't have to like him, but I am supposed to love him and treat him as Christ would...forgiving him.
Pastor Scott said, "God is love, and you can't love God if you don't love people."
This is going to be a tough one, but I am committing myself to kindness toward James. If he says or does something I don't like, I will hold my tongue until I can speak with kindness and then I will communicate to him why I disagree. I'm hoping that the "fake it 'til you make it" rule will apply here! By making a conscious effort to treat him with kindness, maybe I will eventually get to a point where I actually do feel kindness toward him instead of bitterness and contempt.
I had the biggest WOW moment with the kids yesterday. We had just gotten in the car to run some errands and the bickering and biting words began. So I said, "Okay...here's what we're going to do today. Before any of you open your mouths to speak, ask yourself, 'Is what I'm going to say going to be helpful?' If it will not be, then don't say it. God tells us to use kind words when we speak. He says we should use our words to build each other up and encourage each other."
I could not have told you what book of the Bible that came from, let alone what chapter and verse, and I felt good that I was able to remember something from the Bible and relate it to a situation so that the kids could learn from it. I've always struggled with memorize scripture...or anything else, for that matter. I am much more of a conceptual learner.
Less than 10 minutes later as I turned the radio up (KLOVE), the deejay wrapped up the song that was playing by saying, "...that song was from Building 429. The group got their name from Ephesians 4:29, which says, 'Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.'"
The kids' jaws dropped. "That is SO WEIRD! You just said that, Mom! That's exactly what you just said!"
I just smiled to myself and said, "Yep. See...God's trying to tell you something."
I sure love it when He makes things crystal clear like that!
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
I have really been taking a hard look at the attitude and heart I have toward James. As much as I have wanted to release my anger and bitterness, I have not fully done that. I know that I am to be as much a disciple to him as to anyone else. Probably even more so toward him since he is the father of my precious boys. I don't have to like him, but I am supposed to love him and treat him as Christ would...forgiving him.
Pastor Scott said, "God is love, and you can't love God if you don't love people."
This is going to be a tough one, but I am committing myself to kindness toward James. If he says or does something I don't like, I will hold my tongue until I can speak with kindness and then I will communicate to him why I disagree. I'm hoping that the "fake it 'til you make it" rule will apply here! By making a conscious effort to treat him with kindness, maybe I will eventually get to a point where I actually do feel kindness toward him instead of bitterness and contempt.
I had the biggest WOW moment with the kids yesterday. We had just gotten in the car to run some errands and the bickering and biting words began. So I said, "Okay...here's what we're going to do today. Before any of you open your mouths to speak, ask yourself, 'Is what I'm going to say going to be helpful?' If it will not be, then don't say it. God tells us to use kind words when we speak. He says we should use our words to build each other up and encourage each other."
I could not have told you what book of the Bible that came from, let alone what chapter and verse, and I felt good that I was able to remember something from the Bible and relate it to a situation so that the kids could learn from it. I've always struggled with memorize scripture...or anything else, for that matter. I am much more of a conceptual learner.
Less than 10 minutes later as I turned the radio up (KLOVE), the deejay wrapped up the song that was playing by saying, "...that song was from Building 429. The group got their name from Ephesians 4:29, which says, 'Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.'"
The kids' jaws dropped. "That is SO WEIRD! You just said that, Mom! That's exactly what you just said!"
I just smiled to myself and said, "Yep. See...God's trying to tell you something."
I sure love it when He makes things crystal clear like that!
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