I am really excited about this year, and I’m looking forward
to seeing some real growth in our lives.
My goal is to be a blessing to folks, specifically by bringing the
wisdom of the older women into the world of the younger women, and putting help
where people can reach it. I have some
topics and interviews planned that I think will be a real encouragement to
those of you seeking to live for God this year.
Our theme this year is Stewarding Life. God has given us this life, and now it is our
duty to live it for Him. We can show our
appreciation for His gift of life by taking care of it, and that starts at
home, with us. So in January, we’re
going to focus on Stewarding Ourselves: Our Bodies, Our Hearts, Our Time. Along with the regular posts, I plan on
giving various tips I’ve picked up along the way from the real “experts” –
those who have successfully raised godly children. It will be quite a treat.
Let’s get right into it, shall we?
Sandy was given a big responsibility: the teen girls’ Sunday
school class. She was really pumped
about it, desiring to be a help to the young ladies, but she made a terrible
error. Since the only other class she
had ever taught were 2 & 3 year olds, she simply read Bible stories to the
girls and used her flannelgraphs! Before
she knew it, girls were whispering during class, texting, or even worse,
sleeping! One Sunday afternoon found
Sandy in her room in tears, wondering what had happened.
What did Sandy do wrong?
Wasn’t she earnest enough? Did
she have enough Bible knowledge? Was
something wrong with the Word of God?
Was she a bad teacher?
No, Sandy was not a bad teacher, and she definitely had a
passion for the Word of God. Certainly,
nothing is wrong with the Scriptures.
Sandy’s problem was that she didn’t take natural laws into account. By ignoring the Natural Laws of Learning,
Sandy’s efforts became useless.
What I’m going to do is take some natural laws, and apply
them to our lives. We will find that we
will no longer stagnate, but grow!
NATURAL LAW #1 – STEADY
PRESSURE! Slow and steady, steady and
slow, that’s the way we always grow!
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The first principle of growth: do a little bit every day. I’m amazed at folks who
exercise once every two weeks! Though
it’s better than nothing, it would be better to do a little every day than
exercise sporadically. Reading our
Bibles every day is a must for growth,
and in marriage, there needs to be some communication on a daily basis, or the
marriage will wither and die.
NATURAL LAW #2 – INTENSITY! Slow
and steady gets me ready, but working harder gets me farther!
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While a lot of growth occurs slowly and steadily, employ short, intense sessions to expand your horizons quite a bit! In the physical realm, it is imperative to
“stress your body” (exercise) in a controlled manner, so that if (or when!)
there is an emergency situation, you are able to handle the stress. Spiritually, our hearts need regular
“exercise” of memorizing Scripture, witnessing, and the sharpening action of
godly fellowship. In marriage, the
embers burn steadily all the time, but flare up in intense expressions of
passion. Intensity is an integral
principle for growth!
NATURAL LAW #3 – VARIETY! To kick
it up, change it up!
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While it’s imperative to have a steady stream of input, and
that there be times of greater intensity, it is also imperative that we vary
things up a bit sometimes. Physically,
our bodies become quickly accustomed to whatever level of activity we have, and
so become unchallenged. Boredom sets in,
and variety is necessary. Spiritually,
it becomes quite easy to get in a rut of reading the same amount every day; variation
helps prevent monotony. And in marriage,
if we’re always doing the same ol’ thing at the same ol’ time in the same ol’
place, it gets very droll indeed. A
little variety can spice things up a lot!
So now we’re set to Steward our Lives! By God’s grace and with his help, we can make
some serious strides in becoming “Fit For the Master’s Use!”
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