Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Goodness, Righteousness, and Truth

"But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints;
and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.
For this reason it says,
"Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you."
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father" (Eph. 5:3-20)

Wow, I know this passage is long, but I couldn't leave any of it out, it's so good! I was thinking how much differently I have come to understand many passages of the Bible since becoming a mother, how much more relevant they sometimes seem than before.

As mothers and wives, isn't it easy to let our talk just... run away? In my German Bible that first verse says that we must not even make these things (immorality, impurity, greed) the topic of our conversations. How that spoke to me! It means, among other things, that I will not, when with my fellow moms, center conversation on things I might wish I had (greed). When we see other moms, isn't it easy to start doing this?" ("I wish the grocery store had a day care!" "I wish my children would not whine," "I wish I had a bigger car"...) Why don't we go into mom-group settings ready to speak gratitude, ready to be the light. Silly talk, now there's an interesting topic for moms! LOL! But I think I understand what that means: We fight the temptation to speak of a lot of worthless things by verbally giving thanks! How hard is that?!

I also love that the scripture exhorts us to "let no one deceive you with empty words"--I would recommend to this end throwing out all "professional" non-Biblical parenting advice, including all popular parenting magazines, websites, and things which are derived from this humanistic, man-made system, and replace our thinking with truths derived from the perfect word of God. (I can personally testify that I was a lot more confused in my parenting (and UNHAPPY in my womanhood) when I was reading worldly magazines. Now things are becoming so much clearer and smoother in my house. And I am a joyful mother of children!)

Another thing that is interesting here is that the Lord calls the deeds of darkness "unfruitful," the opposite of what God wants us to be: fruitful! We have been so blessed to be physically fruitful. It is an invigorating thing to accept one's God-given fruitfulness, and even revel in it, love it, enjoy it! I try never to speak anything negative about my womb or fertility or any of the things that go with it! Even though it can be difficult to remember this in later pregnancy or during certain hormonal cycles, it has brought such joy and peace to me to deliberately do this.

I love that the Word of God doesn't just give us "don'ts," but always gives us the antidote (the way to combat the enemy!) as well. don't get drunk, DO be filled with the Holy Spirit. How? "Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father." Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not something that comes to just a few special people. We are commanded to be filled with Him in specific ways, which always includes giving thanks! It is such a good thing to realize that the Holy Spirit waits for our invitation before coming in. He will not simply come upon a select few, uncontrollably. He comes when we welcome Him with a thankful, joyous, song-filled attitude! Now wouldn't it be sad if all the "experts" were right that we--and our children--cannot control our emotions, but that we must give free reign to all of our feelings in order to be whole and happy?

What does this passage speak to YOU as a mother?

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