Modesty Series: Modesty in our Speech

I know what you’re thinking: “Took long enough!” Yes, you’re feelings are justified. Our blog “schedule” has been rather out of wack lately. This is largely my fault, and for that I offer my sincere apologies.

As Janelle alluded to in her pre-Haiti post, we’re starting a new series today, one on modesty.

Now, while many people may have heard teaching on this topic before, many have not, and even if you have, we hope to offer some new perspectives on the topic that we pray will benefit you.

What exactly is modesty? I mean, if you had to define it, what would you say? Most dictionaries define modesty as lack of vanity, orderliness, simplicity, with a regard for decency in speech, dress and behavior. At the heart, modesty is a kind of humility which does not seek to aggressively gain other’s attention or admiration. So in the 19^th century, when someone called a man “a modest fellow” they were referring to the fact that the man had a humble attitude which did not put himself forward as more important than he really was. Modesty is a pleasant attribute because it causes those around you to feel at ease. They don’t feel the need to compete with you and don’t have to worry about how to respond to what is obviously an arrogant attitude. It puts your companions at rest. This broader concept of modesty should allow us to see the many ways which it can apply to our lives as Christian women. Modesty is a way of both rightly seeing ourselves as well as a way of loving those around us.

So, just to mix things up, this first post is going to consider, not modesty of dress (Julie will get to that on Monday) but rather modesty of speech. I don’t know about you, but ever since I was little I took great joy in making shocking statements when in a crowd (mischievous smile). There is something so pleasant about watching everyone gasp and look confused. I suppose it is similar to the desire to make people laugh. It’s a combined effort invoke a (positive) reaction in others, while also drawing attention to one’s self. Now, to be completely honest, I do not believe that there is anything inherently wrong with such desires. Everyone is made different: some of you would probably die of embarrassment if you said something which caused heads to turn, but some people are wired to enjoy attention. Such people are capable of doing things that most others are not, such as public speaking, street preaching, biblical confrontation, performance oriented tasks, etc. Just like all human characteristics, however, sin has the power to twist something such as an enjoyment of attention into something harmful to both ourselves and others.

If, like me, you tend toward the “shocker” speech, you might find yourself saying things that are inappropriate or not “fitting the occasion,” as Ephesians 4:29 puts it. Perhaps you tend toward crude joking, something which the Bible says should not be found amongst Christians (Ephesians 5:4-8). This sort of speech is often times a lack of humility and modesty—an impulsive action aimed at grabbing attention, but not taking into consideration whether the comment carries respect for the human body, for God’s design, for his view of sin, or the edification of those around you. Will your words cause others think about “whatever is true…honorable…just…pure” (Philippians 4:8)? If you tend toward patterns of immodest speech don’t be discouraged—there is a time and a place for playfulness and joking and wit; but spend some time with the Lord examining your heart to see if the way that you are exercising your power of wit is founded in biblical love for others and reverence and love for God.

Maybe you don’t struggle with getting people’s attention, but you are very desirous of other’s admiration, approval and good opinion. If this is the case you might be very quiet, but when you do speak you may try sound impressive, wise or smart. You may use sarcasm or irony to make yourself look better than other people. You may even gossip and slander in a way that shows how perceptive you are and how oblivious the people you are commenting on are. Slander is a some-what separate issue from modesty, yet the two can be related if the inappropriate speech about others becomes a tool you use to venerate yourself, compete with and exult yourself over others. You may even speak about yourself or your body in a way that makes other women feel uncomfortable, belittled or challenged to compete. But the Bible says that such "selfish rivalry" is demonic and contrary to the spirit of Christ. If you struggle in these areas, ask God to begin to show you when you are tempted this way; soon you'll see patterns and be able to change.

Remember, "anyone who does not stumble in what he or she says is a perfect person", a.k.a. no one can perfectly tame the tongue (James 3:2, 8), but with Christ's spirit of love in us we can learn to consider other before ourselves (Phillipians 2).

God calls us to speech that is gentle, kind, not arrogant or rude, not insisting on our own way, not irritable or resentful, not rejoicing at wrong-doing but rejoicing with the truth. That is, God calls us to speak lovingly to others (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). We are also called to purity of speech, and to edifying speech. For this reason, as women especially, let us “adorn” ourselves, as 1 Timothy and Titus say, with modest speech which does not seek to exult ourselves but to bless others.

“likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.” 1 Tim 2:9

“Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.” 1 Peter 3:3-4

Let us be beautiful, but let us learn what true beauty is and adorn yourself with it in our speech as well as our actions.

~Jess

Flirting is Fun, Godly Conduct is Hard

You've been invited to a party, and you get a call from your best friend that he is going to be there. This completely changes everything, from what you are going to wear to how you do your hair, to what perfume you are going to put on. He seems to like green, so you put that on. You overheard a conversation he had that he thought girls who wore skirts were pretty and feminine, so you put on a skirt.

At the party, you nonchalantly look around, zero in on him and make sure no girls are talking to him. Good, he's with his guy friends. You quickly scan the crowd and see what the other girls are dressed like...do they look better than you? Anyone wearing green? Anyone wearing a skirt? Good, no one is. You don't want to seem too eager to talk to him so you wait and mosey over to the snack table. No, wait, no snacks because it might make you look less attractive. Everyone knows that eating and talking to a guy is a social flaw.

You do eventually make your way over and strike up a conversation about...well, you can't really remember what it was about, but throughout the evening you do what you can to hang out with him and get his attention. After the night is over, you leave, making sure to tell him goodbye and that it was nice hanging out with him. In the car, you look at your best friend and suddenly you are both talking about the evening and "how it went" and every little gesture and glance that was passed between you and him.

Sound familiar? Can you see how childish this looks? An entire night devoted to one guy; one guy who will probably not end up being your husband. In fact, he might end up being the husband of one of the other girls in the room that you were comparing yourself to. All that time and energy for nothing...flirting, giggling, acting a part, paranoid about who else he might be giving his attention to, hoping that he likes how you look...the list goes on.

I set this scenario up to make this point: ladies, it is completely and entirely possible to be a friend to a guy without flirting. It is quite possible that we can be attracted to a guy and not flirt with him. Not only is biblical friendship possible, but attainable with any godly guy whether we are attracted to him or not.

Chances are, if we are flirting with someone we like you are flirting with someone we don't like, too. When it becomes a part of our interaction with one guy, it bleeds itself into you relationships with other guys. We might not “like” Steve, but we unconsciously flirt with him because it has become a part of who we are. No one wants that type of reputation! When we leave that party, what influence are we leaving behind? One where our guy friends are uplifted and drawn to Christ, or one where they are remembering how we looked and acted? Which is more beneficial for us and them in the long run?

This is simple common sense. Flirting is fun, but fleeting. Godly conduct is hard, but lasting. When we are in heaven, what will we remember from here on earth? That we flitted around from one social gathering to the next having fun, or that we were purposeful in pointing people to Christ? I'm not saying that every conversation has to be about the Bible, God, or Jesus and if its not than we are doomed. What I am saying is that fruitful conversation with a guy who is not our husband does NOT involve flirting. Yes, you read that right. Until we are in a permanent relationship, flirting has no value except to get ourselves attention when we shouldn't be seeking attention. The single season we are in now should be dedicated to Christ and Him alone. Giving our heart to a guy prematurely is completely setting ourselves up for it to be broken. Please, let’s save ourselves the heartache. We don't want to be in that place, especially one of our own making.

Thinking this way is for all of us. Whether we are in high school, college or working. Whether the guy is in the church, at school or in the workplace. If we are talking to "that guy", and see him as another woman's future husband, our conduct should change. If it doesn't, we need to ask yourselves some serious, soul searching questions. What's to stop us, then, from flirting with a guy who is actually married? Or us from flirting when we are married? Scary, isn't it? But if we don't ask ourselves this, if we don't seek God's help, if we don't care because we just "want to have fun", then we most likely will struggle with the same thing even when we are married, because we don't magically change when that ring is on our finger. Lasting change comes from God. When our heart is changed, our conduct will change.

If, as single women, we can learn this lesson now, before we are married, we will save ourselves a lot of heartache and struggle after we actually are married. If it's a godly husband we want, chances are he will be more attracted to us if we don't flirt with him than if we do. This aside, our motivation for change must be to please God. To be God-pleasing, we must put off man-pleasing. If God is our primary focus, flirting won't be as much of a struggle because we realize that, ultimately, our satisfaction is in Him alone, and cannot be found in the attention of men.

--Janelle

Springs of Life: Guarding Our Hearts in Relationships with Guys

>Most of us have heard the phrase, “guard your heart,” often in relation to our feelings towards guys. But what does that even mean? And what does it look like, on a practical level? To answer these questions we have to understand what the heart is, and how it works. Welcome to Spiritual Anatomy 1101. We’ll start with this scripture:

“Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23

So, what is this verse saying? In the Bible, the word לב, or “leb,” which we translate “heart” means the core or seat of our will, thoughts, emotions, and desires—it is the treasure chest which holds our dearest possessions and the headquarters from which all decisions and actions are executed. Our hearts choose and treasure what to love and desire, and our actions flow from these desires. So our hearts are the springs of life because life and death depend upon what we choose to love. It is for this reason that we must keep watch over our hearts, and guard them as the source of our existence. As women, much of our life depends on our choices about which men we allow our hearts to love, which ones we set our hopes on and follow and in what way, who we allow in and out of its doors.

So then, how can we “guard” our hearts? What does the verse mean when it tells us to “keep [our hearts] with all vigilance”? The Bible tells us two ways to keep a healthy heart. Like our actual, physical hearts which must both pump blood in and pump blood out in order to sustain life, our spiritual hearts will be healthy only if we learn to surrender our desires to God, and fill our hearts with love for him. So lets talk about each of these functions.

1) Surrendering the desires of our hearts to God:

God created us to love, to passionately desire good things. But as Julie brought up last week, as fallen creatures, we don’t always desire what is good for us, or we often desire to have good things at the wrong time. As this relates to guys, women are naturally created by God to desire an emotional and physical relationship with a male counterpart. Additionally, we have a basic need for general male interaction to balance our chemical and spiritual existence. Sometimes, those desires will not be fulfilled, and other times we may desire to fulfill them in inappropriate ways. In either situation, as guardians of our hearts, we have one task: to take those desires captive to God.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We . . . take every thought captive to obey Christ. . . .” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

This is an encouraging verse, because it reminds us that a) we are proclaimed victors in Christ, able to fight the battle for our hearts through spiritual means, b) It doesn’t say the we can’t have tempting thoughts, but instead that every thought should be consciously captured, examined and brought before Jesus for his verdict to declare the place of that thought in our lives—how it is to obey his good will.

So maybe there is a guy you know who captures your attention, someone you wish you could know more intimately. First of all, I’d like to say: welcome to humanity! You are completely normal and we can all relate. Having said that, there are a couple things you should know. First, I promise, this will not be the last guy who you are interested in—there will be many more, so keep things in perspective. Second, figuring out if this is or is not the person that you are suppose to marry will not help you decide how to think about or act around this person, so don’t strive to. Third, while there is no sin in being attracted to someone, and it is often outside of your control, what you do with that attraction will make all the difference in your spiritual life.

If a stranger walked into your house, you wouldn’t just tell them to make themselves at home, eat whatever they liked and lay around wherever they wanted. No! You’d ask who they were, discover their purpose for being there, and depending on that, would decide how they would be able to operate in your home. In the same way, when thoughts pop into our heads: “He is really handsome,” “I wonder if he has a girl friend,” “I wonder what it would be like to be married to him,” “I wonder if he is my future husband,” “I wonder if he notices me,” “I wonder if he will be at the party this weekend,” –we don’t just let them have free reign in our hearts and minds. We take note of those thoughts, and the desires which attend them, and say, “alright, that’s how it is; now come with me,” and lead them before the throne of our Father, asking, “Lord, what shall I do with this?”

Usually, our Father tells us to simply give the thought/desire to him; the Bible tells us that if we have any desire that we should “make our requests known to God”, who “withholds no good thing” from his children who ask (Philippians 4:6-7, Psalm 86:11, see also Mark 11:24, Ps 37:4, and James 4). This means that if what you ask for is good, God will grant it at the right time, and if it is not good, you don’t have to worry, because your Father is wise and he will not give it to you—therefore there is no fear in asking, but instead much peace, as long as you trust him to orchestrate what is good for you. Sometimes when we bring a thought/desire before God, he tells us to kill it. We must be willing to do what he asks, knowing that He will help us.

Now I do want to throw out a quick word of balance: It is important to remember that being attracted to someone, having these thoughts come to mind, and desiring to be married are not necessarily unhealthy in and of themselves. On the contrary, it is absolutely natural and good to desire marriage and even to feel attraction to worthy men. It is very important that we not battle with guilt or condemnation for these things, because if we do, Satan is only distracting us from the real battle. These thoughts and desires will come. It is inevitable. Even as we take these thoughts to Christ on a daily basis, they will continue to come—they do not ever simply disappear, so we cannot be discouraged when this happens, or think that until these thoughts go away that there is something wrong. If this were the case we would all be in big trouble J. The goal is not to eliminate these thoughts, but to learn to deal wisely with them. Wisdom is sober minded—it recognizes that there is no profit in fantasizing about things that do not exist, and that fostering a desire which may not be fulfilled will only make the heart sick. Instead, wisdom acknowledges the existence of certain thoughts and desire, and then continues in her course of seeking Jesus and his love above all else, by presenting her desires to God in prayer, or in simply telling herself not to worry about that and to think about something else that is beneficial in the moment.

And remember: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.”
1 Corinthians 9:13

God will always provide a way of escape for us. We cannot serve two masters—we must refuse to be controlled by anything but the God’s love, but we can take comfort in knowing that if we ask God for any fruit of the Spirit, faithfulness, self-control, wisdom, that he promises to give it. This leads to the second part of how to keep a healthy heart.

2) Being filled with the Spirit of God and his Love always:

Simply trying to empty your mind of unhelpful thoughts will absolutely not succeed, unless you fill your mind with thoughts of the beautiful:

“[W]hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philipians 4:8

Find ways to dwell on things that are pure in your heart. Remember—where light is, there can be no darkness. Where you are dwelling on that which is lovely and good, impure thoughts will not be able to slip in unnoticed or thrive.

“[We] walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:4-6

Sometimes as women, our hearts are stirred and we desire to dwell on romance, and love, and the beauty of a man’s desire for a woman and visa versa. One thing that has really helped me when I’m in those moods is to think about the epic Romance of God’s love for us. I imagine Jesus as the warrior who swears to find and fight for the one whom he has betrothed. I imagine the brutal death which he endured for the sake of his bride, and the moment when he arose in light from the tomb, victorious over those who had tried to hold him captive in order to abuse his bride, only to receive his retribution instead. I remember his promise to come and save us, his passion to fight for us, his power to heal us, his kingdom where he will dwell with us forever. After all, it is that story which inspires all of ours. Every romance ever written is a mere candle lit from the lightning bolt of God’s passion for us. By dwelling on these things we make perfect our desires for romance and find satisfaction in the one and only true source of love. In this way, we guard the well spring of life.

Remember, God is able to write the perfect love story for you, so leave it to the Great author to do so, and give yourself wholly to “him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). Dedicate yourself to good works, and to worship and fellowship of believers, and be joyful always—this is the best guard available for the fortress of your heart and the best medicine too.

I’ll end with this final thought:

“Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.” Proverbs 4:25-27

~Jessica Chamaline

A Treasure Trove: Relationships with Parents

For this week’s round of posts on relationships, I was assigned the topic of relationships with parents. This was no surprise, mostly because of my in/famous relationship with my own parents—let’s just say, I wasn’t the easiest child to raise. Every person has completely different situations, different strengths, weaknesses and struggles in their parental relationships. With that in mind, I tried to break up this post by some of the common situations/difficulties I know that we all struggle with. First though, let’s read what the Bible says about our relationships with our parents:

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother' (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’”
~ Ephesians 6:1-4

"Hear, my son, your father's instruction,
and forsake not your mother's teaching,
for they are a graceful garland for your head
and pendants for your neck."
~ Proverbs 1:8-9

"Hear, O sons, a father's instruction,
and be attentive, that you may gain insight,
for I give you good precepts;
do not forsake my teaching.
When I was a son with my father,
tender, the only one in the sight of my mother,
he taught me and said to me,
'Let your heart hold fast my words;
keep my commandments, and live.
Get wisdom; get insight;
do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. . . .'"
~ Proverbs 4:1-5

There are two lessons about our relationship with our parents that these passages teach us.

The first is to obey and honor our parents. This is pretty strait forward—unless your parents are telling you to sin, and as long as we’re under their roof and dependent on their support, we need to submit to their directions, even if we don’t exactly agree or feel that it is fair. Why? Because ultimately fearing God is more important than winning an argument and getting what we really want right away. Besides this, if your parents see that you obey them, it will build trust and respect, and eventually they will have enough confidence in your obedience that they will give you more freedom and responsibility, trusting you to take care of yourself based on your appropriation of their wisdom. Take it from someone who knows—obedience isn’t just convenient for your parents—it has long term benefits for your relationship with them and for you personally. I know, I know—it’s not as easy as it sounds, but it’s worth the frustration it takes to subdue your will and emotions in order to obey God, and some day when you are a parent you'll be grateful for the same dedication in your own child.

The second biblical message about our parental relationships is that we should pursue and treasure their wisdom, instruction and advice. This message is, I believe, farther-reaching than the first—it will be applicable and beneficial to you for your entire life. You will only have to obey your parents while you are under their authority, but the good that is accessible to you through their insight and involvement in your life will never fade away, no matter what season of life you are in. It is a part of “honoring” our parents, and like obedience, it too comes with a life-long promise of God’s blessing. This is where I would like to focus more attention. Sometimes, as young adults, we become so focused on “growing up” and making our own ways in the world that we turn away from the ones who are most equipped to guide us in that endeavor. We can be so involved with establishing our own identity, building our own circle of friends, and learning things through our own experience, that we brush aside the treasure chest of experience and wisdom that God has already bequeathed to us in our parents. They, more than anyone, were given by God to help you as you shape your identity as an independent adult.

But relationships are never easy, and there are always road-blocks we must face along the way. Things like, “my parent/s and I don’t have much in common,” “my parent has sinned against me so often that I’m always angry at them,“ “my parent and I are so much alike that we butt heads,” “my parents judge me and don’t listen to me when I try to communicate with them,” “my parents are awkward and don’t know how to interact with me,” “my parent doesn’t want a relationship with me; they don’t want to be a part of my life,” or even “my parents are not saved, so they don’t share my values and even persecute me at times.” These are all very real and difficult challenges. We all have them. But you know what? That’s ok, because the things which are most valuable are things most worth fighting for, and a relationship with your parent/s is worth fighting for.

Here are some things to remember that I think will help you out.

1) God, in his wisdom, chose exactly who he would give to you as parents. Whether they are unsaved or saved, laypersons or pastors, whether they’re quiet or loud, whether they’re right-brained or left-brained, single, divorced, married, gentle or harsh, strong-willed or lenient, God gave you exactly whom he did, having considered and approved of every single detail of your life-long relationship. They are exactly what you need in order to grow into the image of Christ, and you are exactly what they need as well. No one else would do. Chances are that you see more of the negative traits that are sanctifying you than you see the positive ones which are building you into a functioning adult on a daily basis. It’s likely that you see more of their sin than their righteousness—I mean hey! You live with them. But God sees and loves your Mom and/or Dad the same way that he sees and loves you—with eyes of hope, forgiveness, grace and acceptance—eyes that see all the good that is in them, and all that they are meant to be. He sees them through the righteousness of his Son. Pray that God will give you his eyes, and humility to remember your limited view and understanding (Proverbs 3:5-8). It’s always good to remember that God knows a whole lot better what he’s doing and what’s good for us than we do.

2) Even though you may share no common interests with your parents, I guarantee you that there is always, always something new that you can learn about your mom or dad that you never knew before and that will surprise and interest you. There was a period in my life when I so wanted to have a deeper relationship with my Dad, but the way I imagined it was him pursuing me, getting to know me, caring for me, understanding me, being there for me. I was so focused on how I wanted him to love ME that I never thought about how I might be able to love and be friend to him. Talk about self-centered. When we finally started to mend our relationship I was surprised by how much he wanted to tell me about himself, and how many things were explained when I started to realize how he felt about life, what he’d been through, and why he thinks the way he thinks. There was so much there that I never knew existed, even though I had lived with him my whole life. Your parents are real, complex, deep human beings with a heart and soul and mind—There is so much to discover, so much you will never find if you only relate to them on the level of an authoritative relationship; when we only interact with our parents to ask them permission to do things, or to check in to be sure our work/chores are done, or maybe to go out with them once in a while, it’s like treating a ticket- booth like the entire fair ground—We’re missing out! Start asking your parents some deep questions about themselves with a real desire to learn. It may feel awkward starting off—but be brave. You never know: you might even discover that you have more in common with them than you realized.

3) Never underestimate the power of experience, and an outside perspective. Your parents have both. They may not have been into the same music as you are when they were teenagers, but they were teenagers. They’ve been there, done that, and survived. They’ve experimented with more situations than you have, been in more fights than you have, experienced more relationships than you have, made more money than you have, all simply by nature of their longer duration of life on this planet. You should listen to them. Also, they’ve watched you pitch fits, mope and rebel since you were a shrimp, as well as seen you mature and grow first hand. Therefore they are aware of your patterns of behavior . . . believe it or not . . . even more than you yourself are. Common, admit it, you’re not even sure who you are—you’re still figuring that out, and in the long run, that’s something you will have to determine for yourself—but right now, consider your parents as the computer data-base with more information than anyone else in the world about you, your personality, your strengths, your weaknesses. This is why God says that we should value their advice above all others’. Who wouldn’t appreciate or use such a database?

4) For those whose parents are not Christians: Unsaved parents can range from nurturing to hurtful to downright dangerous, but in any case, we are still able through the grace of God to honor and respect them. Honor does not require you to agree with them or even to necessarily obey them 100%, all of the time. Honor entails a reverence and respect for the fact that God placed you under their authority, for the fact that they gave birth to you, that they in some way have sustained your life, and that they have experienced more of this world than you have and therefore know more than you on many, many levels. Even if your parent is not saved, they have wisdom—be it mixed with the secular wisdom—that comes from experience which you can benefit from. Perhaps the most compforting thing to remember is that by honoring your earthly parents, you are ultimately honoring your Heavenly Parent--your Father God, who is blessed by your trust in and obedienc to his desire. He is really the one taking care of you. He is able to use *all* things to his purposes—difficult situations, the background of your parents, the mistakes of parents, the personality of your parents . . . your mistakes :). Because you are a child of God, all of these things work together in his great plan for your (and their) ultimate good. Therefore it is important to reverence their authority in your life, to honor their direction and to pursue their wisdom and guidance where possible.

We all need to remember that as you grow in the Lord, you will have new and beautiful opportunities to minister to your parent/s by loving them, caring for them, providing for them, praying for them, even being a friend to and advising them in their own life situations. You may even have the *great* blessing of leading your parent/s to Christ—a privilege many are honored with. In all these actions, through the Spirit of Christ, you are able to be a blessing to them—through your humility, your teachability, your love and pursuit of relationship, you are doing what Scripture commands: you are showing them honor.

“The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.”
~Proverbs 25:24-25

I have a CHALLENGE for you this week: find (or set up) a time to spend time with your parents, and during that time, find a way to get to know them better. Ask them questions, show an interest in who they are and what they have to say. Ask for their advice about something, and then listen to them, and really think about it and take it to heart. See the way that God blesses you.

~ Jessica Chamaline ~