HS Day 340 – Character trait training – Obedience vs. Willfullness

Freedom to be creative under the protection of divinely appointed authority.  [for an older child or an adult]

OR

Quickly and cheerfully carrying out the direction of those who are responsible for me. [for a younger child].

2 Cor 10-5. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

When delving into my ‘Believers Bible Commentary’, this is what we found…

This verse tell us what it meant by ‘strongholds’ in verse 4. 

Paul saw himself as a soldier warring against the proud reasoning of man, arguments which oppose the truth.  The true character of these arguments is described in the expression against the knowledge of God.  It could be aplied today to the reasoning of scientists, evolutionists, philosophers, and religionists who have no room for God in their scheme of things. The apostle was in no mood to sign a truce with these.  Rather he felt committed to bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.  All men’s teaching and speculations must be judged in the light of the teachings of The Lord Jesus Christ. Paul  would not condemn human reasoning as such, but would warm that we must not allow our intellects to be exercised in defiance of The Lord and in disobedience to Him.  

I thought of a particular friend [who may or may not be celebrating a birthday today  xox] when coming across the above quote.  She feels she needs to be ridiculously smart in order to take on some of the more ‘technical’ [for want of a better word] teaching that God has for us, when in fact, it’s not that AT ALL !!  It’s the OBEDIENCE that is the key !!!  I have proved over and over again to myself that all information we seek is like seed that drops down into the ‘soil’ of us.  So, so so many times I’ve been doing a bible study or sitting under a particular teaching, feeling that there is too much information being taken in for me to be processing it.  I used to worry about this a lot… until enough time passed that I realised when that teaching was needed, it was there for me to draw on.  I may not have fully processed it at the time of receiving it, but it’s sits in my ‘bank’ until I need it and then God will re-teach it to me through a particular set of circumstances or situation.

My level of obedience around these particular times and the duration it may have taken to process something has shown that the above teaching is accurate.  If I’m slacking off in my obedience to God, it will take me longer to learn something… and to my own detriment indeed.

Wilfulness is such a relevant topic for our society today.  The media basically TELLS us to be wilful, to ‘Just do it’ [sorry Nike but that just screams WILFULNESS…. and yes, I completely realise how they intended it…. get off your butt already and exercise…. that’s fine, but it’s such a well known slogan now that the attitude of it is used for all sorts of things], Sprite tells us to ‘Obey our Thirst’… well, they’re kinda right, but our thirst shouldn’t be for Lemonade, but for the spiritual ‘food’ only God can provide.  

It’s in a child’s DNA [not technically obviously] to be wilful.  They need to be taught to respect authority and to be obedient.

Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)  Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

The taking thoughts captive area though is a concept not fully understood until a little later.  Master 10 does have an understanding of the concept and does do his best, but add some wilful 10yr boy in there at times and it doesn’t always go smoothly.  Same goes for Master 13 and Miss 14…  they grasp the concept and have the attitude of living in that way, but teenage ‘issues’ sometimes can overshadow common sense and good teaching.  Hence why, as a parent, I don’t think this particular teaching stops for quite a long while yet.

I am extremely grateful for the solid biblical teaching I received on this topic at our previous church.  I would highly recommend the spiritual warfare podcasts by David Thomas.  You can find them on iTunes.  I’d share the link but I can’t seem to work out how to. [clearly I’m not that tech savvy after all.. whoops]  Just search up Life-House spiritual warfare podcast and you’ll get it.

Blessings xox

Monday morning !! Time for a new CT week !!

So, today begins a new school week… and a new Character Trait to focus on for the week ahead.

Self Control vs. Self Indulgence

Instant obedience to the initial promptings of God’s Spirit.

Galations 5:24-25

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spriit.

This is a particular week that I am both look forward to, and also dreading.  The reason is that it is something that my children do struggle with, so the week ahead will be interesting to say the least.  I’m confident that that God will do great things in this week…  teaching myself and my children (& my husband) many great things to do with this particular character trait.

It’s a very interesting one, as the world basically instructs us to be self indulgent…. it’s everywhere, on TV, on billboards, in magazines, on food packaging.  I believe it’s one of the enemy’s biggest tactics, as it puts people’s focus on themselves, and far from on others.

 

Some other verses I came across are below….. One of them particularly describes our current world reality very well.

Phillipians 2:3 – Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant that yourselves.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 – But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For some people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.  Avoid such people.  

2 Corinthians 9:7 – Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 

Proverbs 18:1 – Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgement.

John 3:30 – He must increase, but I must decrease.  (Simple, but so powerful !)

There is so much to be found on this subject… but I’ll leave that fun exploration for you guys to enjoy.

As I said when I decided to begin this learning journey with Character traits, I was a little scared because I knew that each character trait focused on for that particular week would be on show full force….. Well, today has not disappointed.  :0(  Let’s just say it’s been quite a trying day when it comes to lack of self control in my children.  BUT, the upside is… plenty of teachable moments… and great opportunities for great discussions on this exact subject.

Man, isn’t parenting just so much FUN at times??  LOL

OK…  if there is any blog followers out there praying with me through this journey… please continue… as the ride is sometimes bumpy and stressful.

Blessings peeps.

xox

 

 

Catching a fantastic interview with Jim & Michelle Duggar !!

I watched such a fantastic interview this morning and wanted to share it with you as it was jam packed with great advice, suggestions & Godly parenting tips.

I loved the ‘Send up a flare prayer’ comment !!  I really liked the reminded about whispering to our children as opposed to raising our voices… SUCH a valuable tool, but one easily forgotten in the heat of the moment….  with a wilful 9yr old, a stubborn nearly 12yr old, or a hormonal nearly 13yr old.

So today…. in the spirit of pacing ourselves.. we are working on ‘First Time obedience’. We have tackled this one a lot, so my children are very familiar with it.  However, there are times where it has been ‘put by the wayside’.  I know a lot of people, and I have too, used the ‘count to 3’ method… but I’m not a fan of it.  Kids are smart….. so much smarter than we often give them credit for.. and they can learn that when you hear Mum/Dad say it… You obey it !!!  Now, don’t get me wrong… this doesn’t mean that my children to get chances… they do…  but when I believe they are of an age, and have had adequate time to learn this concept, I expect them to adhere to it.  Chances are only needed during the learning process.

I’ll keep you posted peeps !!!

Blessings  xox