An Example for My Children

 

“Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.” Titus 2:6-8 (NIV)

                The basketball game last week was one of the most intense I’ve ever watched. It would determine a conference title for one of the teams playing. Coaches and teams were ready. Fans in the gym were ready. The referees were ready. Enter to my left and down one row a young woman that was more than ready; she was 100% focused on every single play of the game.

                Two other ladies – one of them her mother – were with her and they, too, were very intent on the game. She had also brought her adorable four year old son who was 100% focused but it was on a candy “pacifier” sucker in his mouth.

                As the game began, it became apparent that it would be a close one. The team I was rooting for would score; the opposing team would score. The game went back and forth through the first half. Fans for both teams were cheering and encouraging: “You can do it! Defense! Great job!” could be heard from around the gym along with an occasional groan if a shot was missed or a foul called that a fan felt was wrong. That is, except for the young woman in front of me.

She mocked loudly everything she believed the opposing team was doing wrong.  She verbally attacked the opposing coach: “What a whiner! She needs to sit down and shut up!” a parent: “I could just go up there and punch him in the face!” and the referees: “That was not a foul. Wake up! Get your act together!”

I found myself so focused on what she was saying and doing that at times I totally missed what was going on in the game. And then I noticed something else: not only was I watching her and listening to what she was saying but so was her four year old son and he was copying his mother’s every gesture and comment.

When she yelled “Bad call! BAD CALL! That was not a foul!” her son took out his sucker long enough to yell “You bad! You bad!”  He yelled as she yelled and mimicked her every word and move. He even shook his head back and forth, hands on his forehead, just as she was doing.

As I sat back wondering why in the world she was displaying such behavior, her mother turned to her and said “You know I just love sitting here and watching the other team implode.” And they both laughed. The young woman had learned the mocking behavior from her mother. From grandma to mother to son. From one generation to the next.

While I seriously doubt from our Scripture in Titus 2:6-8 that he was referencing our behavior at a basketball game, his wisdom about what kind of example we are to those around us and especially our children, is full of truth.

We cannot teach our children to be self-controlled if we do not exercise it ourselves. They look at us, they listen to us, they follow our example in everything we do and say. Just the opposite could have occurred at the ball game. That young woman could have shown her son how to clap for their team and encourage the players by doing those very things herself.

Titus says to set an example and to be self-controlled “so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say.” (v. 8) The parents of players on the other team were sitting around this young woman and could hear every comment she made. I’m quite certain it was not a positive impression.

Let’s do everything we can to be self-controlled in every area of our lives. What we teach will be passed down for generations. I pray we are teaching integrity and truth with kindness and compassion. Our children are watching and listening and learning from us – even at basketball games.

Father, I need your direction for my life as I train and encourage my children. I want to be a positive example for them and not one that leads them away from you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

·         How would you rate your behavior as a Christian at sporting events or other competitions?

·         Would people around you be able to identify you as a Christian or not?

 Apply

·         Memorize todays Scripture from Titus 2:6-8.

·         Before you go anywhere with your children, remind yourself that you are an example to them, either positive or negative, as a Christian.  

 Power

·         Titus 2:6-8 (NIV) “Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.”

·         Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not turn from it.”

·         John 13:15 (NIV) “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”

                 

Getting Rid of the Stink

 

“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

Psalm 119:11 (NIV)

 

There’s an old pair of tennis shoes in my garage that I wear when I mow or work in the yard. You may have a pair like them: shoe laces broken and tied together, grass stains accented with rips, one or two tiny pebbles caught in the tread (what’s left of the tread) along with remnants of “gifts” shared by the neighborhood cat.

 

One day my grandkids decided to help me straighten up my house and somehow those wonderful tennis shoes got tossed in my closet without my knowledge. The next morning when I opened the closet door, the stench that hit me in the face nearly knocked me over.

 

It permeated the whole closet including my clean clothes and the other shoes. I only needed a matter of seconds to pinpoint the source of the smell and throw the offending shoes out on the deck. However, even though the shoes were gone from the closet, the horrible smell remained.

 

I aired out the closet for a whole day and then hung an air freshener in it. The thing was, even though the tennis shoes had been removed for hours, they still left an odor that required me to put another and another and another air freshener in the closet until it was completely gone.

 

The horrible odor had to continually be replaced with the clean fragrance of the air fresheners. Thankfully it eventually worked!

 

It occurred to me while I repeatedly changed air fresheners in my bedroom closet that I also needed to allow the Lord to clean out those smelly tennis shoes from the closet in my heart. Let me explain.

 

When the tennis shoe smell says “God doesn’t even know I exist,” Psalm 139:17-18 says “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.”

 

When the stench hints that “God doesn’t care about my life and what I do,” Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

 

The horrible odor whispers “She should never have said that about you. You have a right to be angry and to hold it against her.” But we read in Matthew 18:22 that Jesus answers Peter’s question if seven times is enough to forgive someone with “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

 

Don’t let Satan’s lies hang around in the closet of your heart. Replace his stench with God’s truth and love. And remember, too, that the “air freshener” you hang up only works so long without needing to be renewed.

 

In other words, praying once or twice about negative thoughts and then thinking you don’t have to bother with them any more is not true, because Satan doesn’t stop attacking. You have to constantly be in the Word to stand strong against him.

 

Dig through the closet of your heart, find all those stinky shoes and give them a toss! Don’t forget to replace them with the sweet fragrance of God’s words of love and encouragement.  

 

Father, so many times I allow the liar to creep into my thoughts and speak untruths to my heart. Forgive me and help me to focus on you and your truth. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

Reflect

• Why do you think you allow Satan to attack you with lies?

 

• Do you have Scripture memorized to stand against the attacks?

 

Apply

• Journal each “stinky shoe” that you struggle with in your heart.

 

• Beside each entry, journal a Scripture that shares God’s promise for that struggle.

 

Power

• Psalm 119:11 (NIV) “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.”

 

• II Corinthians 2:15 (NIV) “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.”

 

• Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”

 

 

 

 

 

Letting Go

 

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:25 (NIV)

 

Trying to capture a monkey is not at the top of my bucket list but I read an article detailing a unique way to catch monkeys alive and unharmed in the jungle so they could be delivered to zoos. Trappers had tried a number of different devices, including nets. But they were concerned that the small animals could be hurt if they became entangled in the webbing so they devised a clever solution.

 

They built several small boxes and inside each one placed a banana. Each box was nailed shut but not before a hole was drilled on one side, just large enough for a monkey to reach in with its hand. The trappers then placed the boxes on the ground around trees and left.

 

The monkeys quickly converged to examine the boxes. Finding a banana in each one, they immediately reached in to pull it out. They tugged and pulled on the banana but it wouldn’t budge. The opening was just big enough for a little hand to reach in but not for a little hand clinging tightly to a banana to come out.

  

As soon as the trappers returned, the monkeys immediately tried to flee but could not. The reason? They would not let go of the bananas! They would scream and screech and twist and pull as they attempted to escape. Every monkey simply had to do one thing: let go of the banana . . . but they refused to and were captured.

 

I see myself in that article. That box represents this world that we live in. And it’s not a banana that I want to hold on to with all my strength. It’s being in shape or having money or a bigger home or newer car or a more important career. It’s power and prestige and prominence in the community.

 

And all the while Jesus is calling to me “Let go. It is nothing compared to what I have to offer you. It’s a trap!” but I keep holding on and pulling and tugging as I convince myself that happiness exists when I have a firm grip on all those earthly things.

 

Consider this: if the trappers did not come back and the monkey continued to hold on to the banana, he would soon find that it would begin to spoil and rot and would not be anything that he would even consider eating. That is, unless he is eaten by the wild animals around him as he holds on to nothing. So it is with me and my grip on all the empty promises of this world.

 

Holding on to what is temporary and worthless compared to that which is eternal and priceless will never have a good outcome. Just as there is a part of us that wants to yell “Let go of the banana!” after reading the article, even more so the Lord is prompting us to let go of the fake possessions here on earth and focus on the precious treasures He has prepared for us in heaven.

 

Father, forgive me for focusing on the temporary things of this world instead of what you are offering me: life for eternity with you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

Reflect

• What are you holding on to in your life because you consider it to be important?

 

• How does it compare to what Jesus is offering you?

 

Apply

• Make a list of everything in this world that you consider most important in your life.

 

• Next to each entry, journal what Jesus offers you instead and a Scripture that speaks to His offer.

 

Power

• Luke 9:25 (NIV) “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”

 

• I John 2:15 (NIV) “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

 

• Colossians 3:2 (NIV) “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”

 

Are you Bankrupt?

 

“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

Mark 8:36 (NIV)

 

Have you ever prayed for someone and then realized much later that you had not been praying the way the Lord would have wanted? Probably we all have. A friend of mine shared with me how the Lord redirected her prayer quickly and clearly. 

Barbara told me that she had lunch with a couple who told her they were struggling financially. They shared how there never seemed to be enough money at the end of the month for everything they felt they needed along with paying all the bills.

          “My heart just broke for how hard they worked,” she told me. “Even though they both had great jobs, they were worried that they would be bankrupt within a few months if things didn’t turn around financially.”

 As Barbara drove away after lunch, she said she began to lift the couple up to the Lord. “Father, please help them,” she prayed.  “The last thing they need is to be bankrupt.” But she said that the Lord immediately spoke truth to her heart.

 “Pray for them. But understand the problem is not that they are bankrupt financially; it is that they are bankrupt spiritually.” Her prayer instantly changed for the couple.

 Jesus knew that the pull of the world and what it offered would be a huge temptation for His children. That is why there is one Scripture after another in the Bible that addresses that very struggle.

In Mark 8:36, Jesus asks a pointed question: “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” He is speaking to a large crowd with His disciples at His side and yet He is speaking to us, too.

 The couple Barbara spoke with could fail to pay the money they owe and have to declare bankruptcy. They could also work harder, perhaps, and pay off their financial debt. But can I ask you this: what’s the point of being financially free if we're spiritually bankrupt?

 Every single thing that the world offers us may appear beautiful but it is temporary. And because of sin, the more we get, the more we want. Jesus offers us eternal freedom. We can never pay the debt of being spiritually bankrupt but we don’t need to because Jesus paid that debt with His death on the cross.

 When you give Jesus your heart – your everything – you are no longer spiritually bankrupt. You are eternally His. If you have financial debt, I encourage you to seek Christian financial counseling to get on the right path.

 But first, go before the Lord and ask Him to be Lord of your life. Get in the Word and seek His direction for everything that you do, every day. Be spiritually debt-free in Him. For eternity.

 

Father, I want you to be the focus of my life completely. May I look less at what the world offers and more on your face and eternal life. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . .

 

Reflect

• Where is the majority of your focus centered every day? Spiritually or worldly? More of Jesus or more of stuff?

 

Apply

• Write Mark 8:36 in your journal. Make a column titled “gain the whole world” under it and write down everything material that you consider important in your life and cannot live without.
• Now, beside each one, write “yes” or “no” as you consider whether each thing on your list is worth forfeiting your soul. If you answered “yes” to anything you wrote down, seek the Lord’s face and lay that item down before Him.

 

Power

• Mark 8:36 (NIV) “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”

 

• Matthew 6:21 (NIV) “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

• Proverbs 23:5 (NIV) “Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”