Guest Blog: Beth Meverden
Every day on the way to school, I quote the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:14-17) and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) with my children. I throw in others to make sure they’re still hidden in their hearts
Why do I focus on those passages with my children? Because when times get tough and they start to wonder if God is with them or how to handle a specific situation, my prayer is that the Holy Spirit will bring those verses back to mind and give them encouragement and guidance.
Reflecting His Character, Sharing His Love
A Mama Heart Like Jesus: Equipping Our Kids to Bear Good Fruit
1. Know God’s Love
Before our kids can love others as Jesus does, they need to experience Jesus’ love for themselves. In John 15 above, Jesus commanded His disciples to love others as He first loved them. How can our children truly experience God’s love?
Our kids first get a glimpse of God’s love through us.
Imagine with me that you and your kids have been planning all month to go to the zoo during Spring Break. Your children used the zoo map to create a well-planned tour through the zoo, making sure not to miss any of their favorite animals. The morning of your zoo trip, you wake to pouring rain. What now?
You know your zoo has a rain-or-shine policy and you won’t get your money back. You don’t have a poncho that will fit your youngest child and you don’t want your stroller to get soaked. What are your options?
As I have been searching the Scriptures to discover what character traits Jesus taught His disciples, I have noticed that one of the virtues He emphasized most frequently was humility. I wonder if this is because we humans have such a hard time being humble, or if humility is one of the foundational character traits to acquire in order to develop other virtues, such as a servant’s heart. In order for our kids to learn to serve others with the right attitude, they must first learn humility. Here are a few ways we see Jesus teaching this important virtue to His disciples.
This month we will discuss how Jesus taught his disciples to be like Him in character. He did this through His example, explaining why character is important, highlighting other people’s character, and through correction and encouragement.
One of the character traits Jesus focused on with His disciples was obedience, or teaching His disciples to follow His ways.
Jesus taught the disciples obedience.
Knowing and Loving God, Reflecting His Character
A Mama Heart Like Jesus: Finding Great Christian Movies for Kids
One way we can encourage our kids in their faith, character, and love for Jesus is by letting them watch good Christian movies with a Biblical message. Kids are drawn to screens, whether we like it or not, so what better way to encourage them by providing a message of truth rather than one full of the world’s lies?
Knowing and Loving God, Reflecting His Character
Equipping Our Kids to Be in the World But Not of the World
If you have been around church lingo or attended Bible studies, you have probably heard the term “to be in the world but not of the world” based off of John 17 (see above). This is an important concept to teach our kids because as Mamas, we cannot shelter our kids completely from the world, nor did Jesus do this with his disciples. Jesus taught his disciples to be in the world, but to not live as the world lives. In order to learn from Jesus, let’s look at three ways He taught His disciples to be in the world but not live like the world.
3 Ways to Protect Our Children From Evil
“If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.” Matthew 5:29 (ESV)
1. Jesus taught His followers to stay away from evil.
Knowing and Loving God, Reflecting His Character
A Mama Heart Like Jesus: 3 Key Ways to Restore Relationships with Our Kids
This month we are looking at how Jesus built close relationships with his disciples, and we discussed how He spent quality time and spoke words of life to them. Now let’s look at how Jesus restored relationships with his disciples by offering forgiveness and grace.
Knowing and Loving God, Reflecting His Character, Sharing His Love
A Mama Heart Like Jesus: Speaking Words of Life
In our Mama Heart Like Jesus series we are studying how Jesus discipled His followers as a model for discipling our own children. This month we are looking at how Jesus built close relationships with his disciples, and we discussed ways to spend quality time with our kids. Now let’s look at three ways Jesus spoke words of life to His followers.