Tag: Discipline

Posted on

The Sanctity of Motherhood

Dear sister,

What comes to your mind when you read “motherhood”? Your mom? Your best friend’s mom? The mom with the screaming kid at the park or grocery store? Sleepless nights? A good day being one where you actually get out of your PJ’s and into the shower? I actually asked my husband, some friends and my 12 year old niece this very questions. None of their answers were the same. Interesting.

My husband talked about how he was impacted by a professor who said believers find great stability, comfort, love, and protection in the tightly harmonious relationship of the Trinity. Believers know the Father, Son, and Spirit deeply love each other and that we can never come between them. He then tied it to parenting, in that to be a good parent is to have an unbreakable, loving, joyful marriage in the Lord for the child to see, to find protection, love, and comfort in. My husband then remarked how many women separate being a mother from being a wife and that being a good mother in many ways begins by being a good wife who fights a for healthy marriage that glorifies the Lord. I really think this is true, but I also know many Godly mothers that do not have a husband who serves the Lord or a husband at all.

My niece then said motherhood makes her think of discipline, cooking, cleaning, teaching, and being willing to apologize to her children when she fails. I think there is a ring of truth in this as well. I find this true in both my mom’s and in my life. Yet there are good moms who have to work and have outside help for these tasks and chores.

I love what my friend wrote because you feel the incessant thoughts that every mom has:

Motherhood is a broad subject. The first verse that popped into my mind was John 15:13: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” I think I’ve told you how I would remember that verse when I was wiping pee off the toilet and doing the same tasks every day. Motherhood is a self-sacrifice to raise the next generation. Or you could talk about the importance of motherhood in raising the next generation. Like laying a firm foundation of love, stability, faith, morality, worldview, work ethic, etc. under your children. Or you could talk about how Christ uses our vocation of motherhood to sanctify us. We can’t accomplish this great task without divine help. Our weaknesses, selfishness, laziness, etc. is exposed under the daily necessity of keeping our kids alive.

AMEN! Many other women have told me about the self-sacrifice of Motherhood. How there is no “me” or “what I want” any longer…only what our children and/or husband needs. Take heart sweet sister, Christ is our example. He gave his life for others…why? To glorify the Father and to be an example for us. He washed feet, he stayed up late, he submits to the Father, He cries with us, and he gave up his life to save us. So moms and future moms, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor (children) as yourself. Fear the Lord. Know in your weakness he is strong. Motherhood is a gift and sacrifice that we cannot do on our own. Let me close with the Scripture that my niece memorized when she is struggling: Hebrews 4:14-16 “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

~ Colleen

Posted on

Smell the Roses

I wasn’t looking forward to writing this letter to you, dear sister.  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to write but that I feel like the last thing I have wisdom in is seeking and having joy. I don’t feel joyful. Instead, I feel weak, angry, jaded, and even apathetic toward God and my faith. I find that I even brush away encouragement, preferring to selfishly insist on my own way and deal with certain situations on my own terms.

My dear sister, it is certainly easy to become discouraged in our walk with the Lord. We start to look at other people’s lives and say, “Why hasn’t that happened for me? Why is it that I’m not as strong as her? If I just had this one thing I would be happy, right?”

I’ve had to make a life-changing decision recently. I don’t particularly care for the permanence such decisions deliver. Having to choose between two distinct paths, knowing that to choose one is to forsake the other is slightly terrifying. So I’ve put off making a “real” decision. But now, certain events have demanded a legitimate answer to my painstaking question. What am I going to do?

As I began thinking through my decision, I realized that the decision I wanted to make and the decision I needed to make were not the same. I wanted to quit, to give up, and to run away. I kept telling myself it was too late for me to ever be “good enough.”

The decision I needed to make involves a lot of hard work, time, and discipline. My past never fails to remind me that I don’t have a good track record when it comes to discipline and perseverance. Why should this time be any different?

This dilemma has revealed one truth: I am weak. I am weak and I cannot be strong in my own power. But Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us, saying, “the joy of the Lord is our strength.”  While it is a comforting statement, it begs the question: how can I have strength, when I don’t have joy?

Joy comes from contemplating the beauty, glory, and love of God. How can we be sorrowful when pondering the majesty of a sunrise, or the might of the great oak trees? How can we be sad when we remember Christ’s sacrifice and His victory over sin and death? But I have neglected these wonders of late; my thoughts have fallen onto myself. Is it any wonder then that I have fallen into discontent and apathy?

To choose what I need over what I want may be the hardest thing I will ever have to do. But I know that what I need is what is ultimately going to bring glory to God. And contemplating that reality is what brings me joy, and in turn my strength.

I don’t know what you’re struggling with today, my dear sister, but in all things make sure you take the time to watch the sunset, revel in a thunderstorm, and well, smell the roses!

Pursuing a higher joy,

Kayla

 

Posted on

Run, Sister, Run!!!!

My Dearest Sister,
 
​Have you ever felt like you were running through life as if it were a race? You are constantly sprinting toward the next goal, always focused on the task at hand. Sometimes though, you start to get tired and it seems like the race will never end. Each breath you take is labored and your legs are becoming weak. Finally, when you feel you can’t go another step, you stop running and collapse in a heap on the pavement, trying to catch your breath. You may be asking yourself what is wrong with you, why is this so difficult? You had felt perfectly capable of your ability to run the race just a few minutes ago. The air was crisp, and you were prepared for the challenge at hand – or so you thought. Instead, you feel defeated, like everything has been all messed up, and you’re not sure how to get up and keep running the race.

​If you can relate at all to this situation, I have a scripture that I would like to share with you. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul writes to the church at Corinth, describing life as like a race. We are all running and most of us want first place. However, there is a catch to doing well in this race. In verses 25-27 Paul says “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things…. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” According to this passage, temperance – another word for self-control – is key to finishing well in this race of life. If we don’t have any discipline in our lives, not only is the opportunity to get first place gone, but we may as well consider ourselves disqualified altogether. Ouch! Unfortunately for you and I, self-control is one of those things that just doesn’t come naturally to most people. Our sinful human natures are all about gratifying the self and seeking pleasure in the moment. For the Christian though, having self-control means that the self is denied and worldly pleasures are given up to pursue something much greater. It means not thinking, saying, and doing things that are displeasing to God and actively thinking, saying, and doing the things that are pleasing to Him. Basically, being spiritually disciplined means following the rules that God has laid out for us, because it is not ourselves but He who knows what is best for us. It all sounds pretty basic in theory, but – as I’m sure we both know from personal experience – it is much harder to put into practice.

​As I am reading Paul’s words about self-control, I have a picture in my mind of a professional marathon runner. If they are serious about their profession, they usually have a set of rules they follow consisting of things they should not do and things they should do. These athletes eat healthy diets and drink lots of water. They adhere to rigorous workout schedules and seek the advice of a personal trainer. They abstain things that are harmful to their performance such as sweets, fatty foods, and alcohol; They take what they do seriously and their eye is always on the prize. If marathon runners didn’t practice discipline and self-control in every area of their life, when it came time for a race they would become easily tired and finish at the back of the pack – or worse, not finish at all. Well, it is very much the same for a Christian. To run the spiritual race well, we must ingest the Word of God (Psalms 119:10-11) and thirst for the things that, like water, are good and pure (Phillipians 4:8). We have our very own personal trainer, the Holy Spirit, who helps us when we don’t know how and gives us the encouragement we need to keep running (Romans 8:26). We are to abstain from sin, which hinders our spiritual performance and exercise daily what we learn through practice (James 1:21-22). It is about having temperance “in all things,” in every area of our lives. And if we practice good spiritual discipline, when it comes time for the race, we will be able to run without getting tired; our legs will have power and our hearts will be strong because we have sought God and He has prepared us. We will not “run with uncertainty” as Paul says, but with purpose, always keeping our eyes on the goal. It is only with the self-control of a disciplined spiritual runner that we will finish the race well.

​Unlike a marathon runner though, the prize we run for is not a gold medal that after a while will just be a memento of the past collecting dust on a shelf. As Paul says in verse 25, “Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” I get very excited when I think about what that crown means. It’s not just a prize or a pretty keepsake; it’s a crown reserved for royalty, for the adopted children of the King of Kings. That crown is for heirs to a kingdom, joint heirs with Christ, just as it says in Romans 8:17. How often though, do we act like heirs to the kingdom of God? Does our life show that we are disciplined runners who practice self-control through the power of the Holy Spirit within us? Is our eye on the prize, constantly reminding us that we are children of a Mighty Lord? Or are we slacking when it comes to our spiritual diet and exercise program? Sister, hear me when I say that we need to be mindful of the prize at hand. We need to run with certainty and purpose, for not only are other people watching, but that crown is not something to be lost because we failed to take the race seriously. So run, dear sister! Run with discipline and purpose for that glorious and imperishable prize. Run like a daughter of the King of Kings. I will see you at the finish line!
 
​Your loving sister in Christ,
​~ Lauren