First Words
Posted in Daily Focus on Friday, August 8, 2014
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11).
If you homeschool young children, chances are you constantly correct their pronunciation of many words and verb tenses. Correcting their speech becomes a daily task and one that should be taken seriously in order to instruct them in proper grammar usage. “Hangaber” and “Sgetti” were our children’s first words for hamburger and spaghetti. Although the correct words were eventually learned, our children continued to pronounce these words as they had first said them. Unfortunately, they remain a part of our family’s vocabulary even today.
As Christians, we also have a tendency to retain childish things in our walk with the Lord. However, God wants us to grow into spiritual maturity and do away with childish things. We are to move from speaking, thinking, and reasoning as a child to trusting in the Lord with a mature faith. No longer should we speak impulsively, take offenses easily, or pout when life doesn’t go our way.
What about you? Are you still acting like a child in Christ? If so, now is the time to start growing. “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men” (1 Corinthians 14:20).
Father, forgive me for acting like a child in my walk with You. I know You want me to grow into the fullness of Your love and blessings. Please, show me how. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Comments(4 comments)
JULIA F 08/08/2009 06:36:16
An interesting note from our pastor's sermon last week. He was also talking about being mature and not as a "child, tossed to and fro". This was referring to the gullible tendencies of a child and that they will believe everything they are told. We are not to be believing everything we hear from a "spiritual" person. We need to search it out and study God's Word to see if it is really true or not. We need to use the Bible as our filter for anything we hear, read, or learn about. This world is full of "false prophets" and twisters of the truth. Please be careful in who you listen to and follow! God Bless!
DONNA J 08/08/2009 08:52:36
Such a great word, as usual. It's so important for us to grow into maturity in the Lord. That only comes with studying God's Word for ourselves, and asking God for wisdom to understand His Word (James 1:5). The enemy has a much harder time trying to deceive us if we understand God's Word for ourselves and maintain relationship with God so that we can hear Him speaking unwritten wisdom directly to our hearts by His Holy Spirit.
KATHY S 08/08/2012 06:18:59
In the last month the Lord has been \"Testing\" and \"Teaching\" me in this area.
I have tried to let go of my anger towards some of the children who were horrible to my son in both Public and Catholic school. I have not succeeded to well, as I have encountered and reacted terribly in 2 situations in the last month.
First, as we were leaving the grocery store a boy came up and touched my sons shoulder and said \"Hi\" and ran off. I asked my son who that was, he said \"Kimani\". My blood started to boil.
When we went outside, as I went to push the cart back into the corral, the boy came over and said \"Hi\" to me. I asked him what was his name, he replied \"I\'m his friend\" (pointing to my son) after a few more identical answers, he finally said \"Kimani\". I let him know that I was disgusted by his behavior and he was part of the reason we left the school ETC. This child got quite the \"Lecture\" from me that day.
Strangley, he just stood there \"smiling\" at me while I was explaining how badly his behavior was.
I left, with an elevated blood pressure (my face and neck were beet red) and it took me almost an hour to calm down.
Upon telling my very wise Mother this story, she said \"he\'s still just a child, raised in a bad enviornment, tell Jesus your sorry, you probably hurt the boy\'s feelings\".
#2
Driving to my Cardiac therapy, running late, as we were at the stop sign I saw a boy on a bike across the street, the first thought that came to my mind was \"Fabian\". The child who tortured my son (and me for that matter) in 4th grade at Catholic school, we left the school after 5 months BECAUSE of this child, he was AWFUL. (the school finally kicked the kid out after he threatened a little girl with a KNIFE)
So ASSUMING that this person was Fabian, when he smiled and waved, thinking it was out of sarchasim, I made a rude gesture, as I would have done 30 years ago (before knowing the Lord and being a teenager myself).
When I turned the corner the boy took his sunglasses off. I was MORTIFIED. It was the nephew of our wonderful family friends, a really nice boy.
God got through to me that day, I got on the phone and repeatedly called my friend, leaving messages to the mistake I had made, then called her Mother in law and professed my shame and regret. asking them to please tell the very nice boy that it was a mistake and how very sorry I was.
They all kind of laughed and said that when this boy had come home, he asked his Grandma, why would I have been rude to him? What did he do to me? The wise Grandma said, for sure she didn\'t know it was you, you know how nice she is, she had to think it was someone else, further telling him that from my surgery and all my illnesses, I probably wasn\'t myself.
Thank God for these wise Mothers and Grandmothers! God taught me that day to \"LET IT GO\" and FORGIVE, and to not respond the same as the ill behaved children that my son attended school with always did.
I don\'t care so much what people do to me, but when you hurt my child, as you are reading , I don\'t handle it too well.
So that\'s my story, God once again taught me a lesson the hard way. I guess sometimes that\'s the only way to do it. But, I learned, and no matter who I see that was awful to my son, I\'m going to just keep walking or driving, and not go into my \"teenager\" mode. My son was upset at me for both incidents, he\'s
13 yrs. and knows better, I\'m 46 and God had to deal with me on these issues.
This devotional was \"perfect\" timing for me. Thanks!!
CHRISTINE B 08/08/2012 09:50:28
You have no idea how much I needed to read this this morning.....God has used you this morning. Thank You!!!