In reading Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends, I have been learning how the big picture helps me get along with my family. The big picture is loving my brothers and sister so that there will be generations of godly families that love God and each other. But I must start loving my brothers and sisters now if I want to have generations of godly families. I don't know what the future holds but if I have strong, loving relationships with my brothers and sisters, when something bad happens they will be my closest friends and a source of strength . If my sister takes one of my toys and I want that toy now and I grab it, I am just looking at the little picture and thinking about me. I could ask for the toy nicely and not grab it. It helps me to look at the bigger picture while I am living with my brothers and sisters.
Psalm 145: 4 One generation shall praise Your works to another, And shall declare Your mighty acts. (NKJV) Posted by- Katrina
Thursday 3 September 2009
Contentment (by Rebecca)
I read a story that dealt with contentment in a book called Raising Maidens of Virtue. Contentment is a big problem today. The opposite of being content is coveting. Coveting means desiring something too much. And too much is measured by how that desiring compares to desiring God. If desiring leads you away from God rather then closer to God, it is covetousness. If you put your desires over God it is idolatry. Idolatry is sin.
Only God can give us true contentment. There are many places in the Bible where there are stories of people, such as Paul, being content with their situation. Consider the Israelites, who were thankful to God that He led them out of captivity, but when they got to thinking about the food they left behind in Egypt, they started to become discontent. We do the same thing. We are given a gift; perhaps from God or from a person but we focus on the gift and forget the giver.
So how do we stay content? Instead of trying to persuade ourselves to be happy in our circumstances (to be needed, to be beautiful, to be noticed, to be important etc.) we need to believe and trust God's goodness for our lives in what He has already given to us and promised to us. Philippians 4:11-13 Paul talks about learning to be content in whatever situation he is in. Storing God's word in our hearts can help with staying content. Psalms 119:11 says "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you".
Only God can give us true contentment. There are many places in the Bible where there are stories of people, such as Paul, being content with their situation. Consider the Israelites, who were thankful to God that He led them out of captivity, but when they got to thinking about the food they left behind in Egypt, they started to become discontent. We do the same thing. We are given a gift; perhaps from God or from a person but we focus on the gift and forget the giver.
So how do we stay content? Instead of trying to persuade ourselves to be happy in our circumstances (to be needed, to be beautiful, to be noticed, to be important etc.) we need to believe and trust God's goodness for our lives in what He has already given to us and promised to us. Philippians 4:11-13 Paul talks about learning to be content in whatever situation he is in. Storing God's word in our hearts can help with staying content. Psalms 119:11 says "I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you".
Another way we can be content is to be mindful of who we look up to. We can pick out peers whose lives show that God is their greatest treasure and "keep our eyes on them". It is a way to fight covetousness. Philippains 3:17 Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.
Be a Man (by Joseph)
There was a boy at the dentist office. He did not want to be there and did not want any pain so he was being whiney. He did not listen to the dentist and the dentist said, "Be a man." The boy said, "I do not want to be a man." The dentist could not believe that, because God made boys to become men.
TV commercials and movies often make fun of manhood. Manhood is not easy but you can do it. An example is the boy was being whiney and did not sit up at the dentist office. Manhood is like that. When your day is not going well, instead of whining, one should sit up, but it may not be easy. Boys used to be taught that it was their job to provide the money, but even that has been changing. Fewer young men are ready or able to provide the money to support their families.
But the most important thing as a dad is not your job, it is what takes place in your home, taking care of problems and spending time with your family. Providing the money is important,but loving God's word, reading the Bible to your family, and loving your family is more important. This is what it means to be a man. This will help us prepare to become young men.
(Taken from Boyhood and Beyond)
TV commercials and movies often make fun of manhood. Manhood is not easy but you can do it. An example is the boy was being whiney and did not sit up at the dentist office. Manhood is like that. When your day is not going well, instead of whining, one should sit up, but it may not be easy. Boys used to be taught that it was their job to provide the money, but even that has been changing. Fewer young men are ready or able to provide the money to support their families.
But the most important thing as a dad is not your job, it is what takes place in your home, taking care of problems and spending time with your family. Providing the money is important,but loving God's word, reading the Bible to your family, and loving your family is more important. This is what it means to be a man. This will help us prepare to become young men.
(Taken from Boyhood and Beyond)
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