Rid yourselves of all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.
I Peter 2:1
I Peter 2:1
"You and I want to be people whom God can entrust a spiritually powerful voice. Let's allow the Holy Spirit to alert us to some misuses of the tongue that can greatly diffuse it spiritual effectiveness: Gossip. Lying. Profanity. Perversity. Unkindness. Complaining. Disrespect. Negativism. Criticism. Breaking a confidence. Using inappropriate humor. Demeaning others. Misuse of God's name- not just taking His name in vain but using it loosely, casually. We can only imagine ho reluctant God might be to infuse our prayers with power when we use our tongues for inappropriate purposes."
Exert from: Believing God: Day by Day written by Beth Moore
The date of this devotional page is May 12th. It is August now. Since May 12th I have read this page almost every single day. I have a few other pages dog eared too, but I am drawn more to this one. May 12th happens to be an important date for me. It was the day I married my amazing husband. I find it odd that this page seems to be such a biggie for me and the date correlates to a very important turning point in my life. Marring Charlie was the first step on my walk with Christ. It was the first step of about 10,000 and I am sure I have a million more ahead of me.
I struggle with all of the things listed on this page. Every last one of them. I am not saying I am a terrible liar who cusses constantly and tells everyone's secrets. What I mean is that in some way shape or form, I struggle with all of these every day of my life. Whether it is through my actions, in my conversations, through my parenting or simply the thoughts in my head, I struggle. I cannot understand why God blesses me so much knowing what a terrible sinner I am. The good thing is, I don't have to understand. I know that my God loves me and is always there for me. Even though he knows I am going to sin again tomorrow, He forgives me for today. The Pastor at the church I attend says this, and he says it often, "I am the worst sinner I know". I don't know about you, but I am in that boat. I'm in that boat and paddling my heart out.
I am trying to change. Day by day I am trying fight this battle. Will I ever be perfect? No. I can't be because of my flesh. I will, however, try my hardest to be as much like Christ as I can. I want so much for my children, but most importantly I want them to lead a life that will bring glory to God. In order for them to do that, I have to show them with my life. They need to see me living a life that glorifies God. I pray every morning that God will help me guide my children to Him. Reading this page, every morning, keeps these struggles fresh in my thoughts. It helps me to focus my day on God and doing the right thing. I don't want to give God a reason not to grant my prayers. If it happens to not be his will, then so be it. But I sure don't want to miss out because of my inappropriate tongue.
Exert from: Believing God: Day by Day written by Beth Moore
The date of this devotional page is May 12th. It is August now. Since May 12th I have read this page almost every single day. I have a few other pages dog eared too, but I am drawn more to this one. May 12th happens to be an important date for me. It was the day I married my amazing husband. I find it odd that this page seems to be such a biggie for me and the date correlates to a very important turning point in my life. Marring Charlie was the first step on my walk with Christ. It was the first step of about 10,000 and I am sure I have a million more ahead of me.
I struggle with all of the things listed on this page. Every last one of them. I am not saying I am a terrible liar who cusses constantly and tells everyone's secrets. What I mean is that in some way shape or form, I struggle with all of these every day of my life. Whether it is through my actions, in my conversations, through my parenting or simply the thoughts in my head, I struggle. I cannot understand why God blesses me so much knowing what a terrible sinner I am. The good thing is, I don't have to understand. I know that my God loves me and is always there for me. Even though he knows I am going to sin again tomorrow, He forgives me for today. The Pastor at the church I attend says this, and he says it often, "I am the worst sinner I know". I don't know about you, but I am in that boat. I'm in that boat and paddling my heart out.
I am trying to change. Day by day I am trying fight this battle. Will I ever be perfect? No. I can't be because of my flesh. I will, however, try my hardest to be as much like Christ as I can. I want so much for my children, but most importantly I want them to lead a life that will bring glory to God. In order for them to do that, I have to show them with my life. They need to see me living a life that glorifies God. I pray every morning that God will help me guide my children to Him. Reading this page, every morning, keeps these struggles fresh in my thoughts. It helps me to focus my day on God and doing the right thing. I don't want to give God a reason not to grant my prayers. If it happens to not be his will, then so be it. But I sure don't want to miss out because of my inappropriate tongue.
2 comments:
Sometimes I wonder why I am blessed so much when sometimes it feels like I do so little; but then I think about my kids. Even though I know they are going to mess up and at times drive me crazy, I still want the best for them and will help them how I can.
I came back and read this twice.
So very true! How much we waste when we allow our mouth to speak unkindly and in ways that don't build up.
Thank you for sharing this... I have a feeling it would speak to ten different people in ten different ways - that good :)
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