Children obey…Parents parent!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 9 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Ephesians 6:1-3 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
I am not sure how many children read this devotion, but there are some thoughts here for parents as well. When Martin Luther penned an explanation to this command he said, “We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.”
For sure the first relationship that God is speaking into is the child to their parents. God has set up the social structure of the family so that children ideally have a mother and a father who love them and are willing to train and guide them in the ways of the Lord. The developing mind of a child needs the adult mind of a parent to guide their thoughts, direct their action, and be used by God to mold their children into the ways of the Lord. Perhaps this is not the woke thinking of today that believes a child should fill the blank slate of their mind in whatever they think is best. That parents are just providers of what is needed to sustain physical life and should leave the emotional, relational and spiritual development up to the child to chart their ways. Perhaps this command has almost been reversed in some instances so that it might read, “Parents, honor your children. Parents, obey your children.”
To be sure there have been parents who have shirked their responsibility to love and care for their children and abused and horribly neglected their duties. For this we are saddened of the impact on the hearts and lives of the children.
But that doesn’t make the need for God’s direction to children and parents to change. In fact, it highlights the need for godly parents to provide a godly environment of care and leadership for their children. Satan loves to work on the minds of malleable children. Without the care of a loving parent, the lies and deceit of Satan can fill the mind and heart of a child. Secularism, humanism, atheism, genderism, and much more are being communicated in the halls of education, the screens of cell phones, and the airwaves of Netflix. So the input of a parent who trains in the love and ways of the Lord is one which creates an environment where obedience is engendered and expected. Because for the child, we ultimately desire that they follow their Savior, not just have good behavior. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:4 Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Just like the husband-wife relationship is dependent on both walking with the Lord, so a godly home and parenting is dependent on parents walking with the Lord and leading their children to do the same. Parenting is not just providing a roof and three meals, but it is providing the boundaries of God’s love and law and taking time to guide your child to know and love and follow their Savior.
So kids, see your parents as they are, a gift from God to give you guidance in life.
Parents, see your children as they are, a precious gift from God to guide in the path of eternal life.
Kids, you have God’s forgiveness when you fail to obey.
Parents, you have God’s forgiveness when you fail to parent in a godly way.
Kids, you have God’s Spirit to guide and mold your heart in God’s love and grace.
Parents, you have God’s Spirit to guide and mold your heart in God’s love and grace.
So, children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Parents, train your children in the ways of the Lord, for this is right.
God bless today as you live for him!
Apply: What is one thing you can do today as a parent or child to bring your family closer to Jesus?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for our families. Forgive our failings. Strengthen us in our resolve to walk more closely with you each day, AMEN.
Wives…be the Church to your husbands!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 9 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
We can never underestimate the importance of having the Lord as the focus of our hearts and lives to make marriage work. To be sure, the world around presents us with many mindsets and ideas of what marriage should be, how men should be, how women should be. TikTok and Facebook Reels present snapshots into the common missteps of marriage or the quick hacks to a better marriage (some are valuable and practical). Yet in addition to the threats from outside, is the greatest threat to our marriages…our sinful nature inside. Our sinful nature naturally rebels against anything that God suggests and desires the opposite. On the other hand our nature driven by God’s Spirit craves the guidance of God for all things – including our marriages. (Maybe it’s telling that the end of Ephesians is the discussion of spiritual warfare…because the key to winning at marriage is winning the spiritual battles within your own heart.)
So the Lord gives his guidance to wives:
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
What is helpful in these verses (as they are to husbands) is the analogy of marriage to Christ and the Church. The Church consists of Christ who unconditionally sacrificed himself for the Church and the Church who, in response, willingly follows the headship of Christ.
Anything less than this being reflected in our marriages is evidence that sin is creeping in.
For ladies, it is easy to bristle at the word “submit.” It conjures up a “slave/master” relationship where submission is demanded and expected “in everything.” Husbands can be guilty of promoting this idea with forgetting the direction the Lord gave them and simply claiming “headship” over their wives without any thought of being Christ to their wives. For this husbands need a call to repentance.
The Church willingly yields to Christ because it knows and trusts that Christ has their best interest in mind. They have witnessed the selfless, sacrificial love that Christ has shown and trust fully that the path of following Christ is the blessed path to live. They know that in all things Christ will not steer them wrong, take advantage of them, or make a decision that will harm them. In all things the Church trusts Christ to lead well and love well.
Wives carry the same spirit with your husbands. (Husbands, I can’t stay away from our responsibility to create this environment that submission is freely given because we are doing our best with the Lord’s help to lead well and love well.)
As we all know sin messes this up. Sin can lead wives to be punitive and disrespectful to their husbands. Sin can lead wives to diminish the roll God gave their husband and have a view of them that is less than honoring and fails to build up and encourage their husband in their walk of faith. Sin can lead husbands to abuse the headship God has given and force submission. They can lead in a selfish way that does not engender trust and good will from their wives. For sin as it has crept into our marriages, let us seek forgiveness from our spouse and strength from God’s Spirit to better understand his love for us so we can give that love to each other.
Marriage is a blessing from God. So let’s seek his wisdom, guidance and direction to make our marriage one that is honoring to him and a blessing to each other. And for those that are not married yet, pray for God to send you a spouse that walks with Jesus and seeks to honor him in life and in marriage.
Apply: Wives, what is one thing you can do today for your husband that will encourage him in his leading of your household in a godly way? What is something that needs repentance and forgiveness? Perhaps its time for a recommitment as a couple to seek the Lord in your marriage and walk with him.
Prayer: Lord, infiltrate all marriages with your love and grace. Help husbands to love as you loved and wives to submit to and respect their husbands as the Church submits and respects you as its head. AMEN.
Husbands…Love as Christ loved!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 9 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
Every day we interact with someone. Perhaps those are passing “hello’s” in the store, but many of our interactions are with people that are part of our family or people at work. In the world around us, their is great strain on marriages and families, employers and employees. All too often, these relationships break and divorce happens, children cut off communication with their families, and workers leave their jobs.
Our section of Ephesians this week can come across as a “quick fix” for our relationships. In some ways it is. But at the heart of our relationships must be our genuine effort to reflect Christ in all of them. Why? Because Satan and our sinful nature are working overtime to engage in these relationships in a selfish way which leads to the design of God to be twisted, corrupted and ultimately broken. Especially in our culture today, we need God’s people to grow in Christ and the ability to reflect Christ in their relationships.
Let’s start with marriage.
Here’s what Paul says in Ephesians 5:22-33:
22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
Our culture bristles at the word “submit”…so let’s leave that until tomorrow. While Paul addresses women first, I want to speak to husbands first (or guys who are preparing themselves to be a great husband). Every husband must prioritize growing in their relationship with Christ. Better than he knows his wife, a husband should know the Lord. Guys, let me encourage us (I will include myself), the best way we can provide for our wives is to invest in our time with the Lord. Why is that? Because Christ’s love for us is our model in loving our wives. Satan loves to twist this precious role God has given to us into a power trip where one can feel “entitled” to demand the following and service of their wives. Satan loves to get me to believe that I am in a marriage to be served by my wife (no wonder the word “submit” gets a bad wrap – because we are guilty of making it that). However, every husband must take a step back and ask, “How did Christ love me? When I answer, I discover two things:
- He gave all of himself up for me…he was willing to sacrifice!
- He put my interests above his own…he was willing to be selfless (not selfish).
So, what is our calling? Love your wives as Christ loved the church…JUST as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Christ’s goal was to make his church a beautiful bride. His heart’s desire was the beauty and perfection of his church. So it is our wonderful blessing to reflect Christ to our wives so that as much as possible they see the love of their Savior exuding through us to them.
By the way…let me know how your marriage is when you embrace time with your Savior and being intentional in expressing his love to your wife!
Apply: Husbands, what is one thing you can do today to strengthen your relationship with Christ? What is one way you can show a sacrificial, selfless, Christ-like love to your wife?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for your great love for all of us, but especially us who have the privilege of being a husband. Forgive us for our failures to reflect you and lead us to prioritize our relationship with you so we can better love our wives just as you have loved us! AMEN.
Be careful!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 8 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
How many times as a kid did you hear your parents say as you ran out the door, “Be careful!” Or how many times as a new teenage driver did they say as you pulled out of the driveway, “Be careful!”
Parents just don’t want the children they love to be harmed or get into trouble. Sometimes even with great care, accidents happen. However, many times when we get into trouble, we just weren’t careful.
So it’s no wonder that the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul warns us, “Be careful!”
Perhaps another way to hear this phrase is another parental favorite, “Make good choices!”
Here’s what Paul writes:
Ephesians 5:15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The goodness of God desires that we walk in the wisdom of God. This general statement perhaps can be characterized by two other passages in the Bible:
First and unwise person is a fool. “The fool says in their heart, there is no god.” (Psalm ____)
The wise person is one as the Proverbs say, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”
Bottom line, the unwise person seeks input, advice, life’s direction from sources other than the Lord. They seek input from media, higher education, science, or google. Not that all this type of wisdom is impractical and not useful, but if one seeks the answers to the bigger things of life such as “who am I?” “Why am I here?” or “Where am I headed?” from secular sources, the outcome will be one that is contrary to the Word and will of God.
On the contrary, the wise person is one who “understands what the Lord’s will is.” The wise person is “filled with the Spirit.” The wise person is in a circle of friends that is willing to encourage and support that wisdom by “speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.” The wise person always gives thanks to God the Father for everything.
So be careful. Know who you are in Christ. Seek daily wisdom from the Father through the pages of his Word, the Bible. Always seek the Lord’s direction and understand more fully his will.
The result? You will avoid many spiritual pitfalls, spiritual dangers and ultimately spiritual death. And to be honest, you will be able to see clearly the wisdom from God and the blessings that he gives as we are careful to always live as a wise one in the Lord does.
Apply: Evaluate the sources of input in your life. Are they sources of godly wisdom or are they sources that perhaps need to be replaced with godly wisdom?
Prayer: Lord God, thank you for not just warning us to be careful to live as one who has wisdom from you, but where to find that wisdom…in your Word and the people who encourage us in that Word. AMEN.
NOTE: Thank you readers for being part of this spiritual journey and growth. This devotion marks the end of four years of posting a devotion from Monday – Friday (with a few glitches and misses). I’ve written over 900 posts in those four years and am closing in on 1000. To the extent God has used these to guide your heart closer to him, I am humbled and give the Lord the praise. MG
Stay away from the cliff!
This week’s devotions are based on Week 8 of the Series Ephesians: Becoming Who You Are (CLICK HERE)
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a man is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
If you haven’t noticed, this section of Ephesians (4:17-5:20) has a lot to reflect on and evaluate, “How well am I doing at living as a child of God’s light?” I am grateful and desire to remind us that as we seek to more brilliantly shine the light of Christ, we have the love, grace and forgiveness of Christ when the darkness of sin rears its ugly head.
But I am grateful that God’s Spirit gets so specific to help me understand and see clearly the difference between light and darkness…walking with God and walking away from God.
These verses are no different.
They hit our heart and then guide our actions and our words.
In discussions with people, maybe especially teens and young adults, the questions that are asked in essence say, “How close can I get to the spiritual cliff without going over?” Often these questions are related to dating and physical behavior that is “ok” prior to marriage. Although I have done marriage counseling with couples that one spouse is finding no problem being overly friendly and flirtatious with a person of the opposite sex.
Don’t do it. Don’t give a HINT of sexual immorality. The goal is not how close to immorality can I get without being immoral. The goal is how far away from immorality can I stay so I give no hint that I am being immoral. The same is true of impurity and greed.
Remember yesterday’s devotion. Satan loves to get a foothold in our hearts and lead us to justify the “little things” that maybe aren’t sin but are just a breath away from it. Be careful because activity close to the line has an extreme danger of pulling us over the line.
The danger? We get a new god. We abandon our love of the true God for the love of sex, impurity and greed. With a new god set up in our heart we leave God no other choice but to take us out of his will and leave us no inheritance in heaven.
So it’s a big deal, which is why God cares enough to warn us.
He also guides us to not only not engage in it improperly, but also to not speak or listen to it in appropriately. Verse 4 guides the Christian to even stay away from the four letter words and potty talk that may not be taking God’s name in vane, but are speaking of things he has deemed good in a degrading way. Yes, God ordained sex to be a blessing in marriage. When we joke about it, speak crassly about it or degrade it, this is improper for God’s people.
Again, Satan loves to get us laughing at jokes we shouldn’t laugh at and repeating and sharing reels we shouldn’t be repeating. He loves to deceive us with the little things so we fall from the most important thing: our relationship and love for the Lord.
It’s hard, I know. In our culture that makes sex the center of so many conversations and comedic routines or laughs about the sins of the world and normalizes behavior that is anything but godly, it is hard to shine as a child of light. We may get called a “prude,” close-minded, or “better than thou” person. But in the end the approval of the world is not what we are seeking. We are seeking to glorify our Lord…and for that reason we will seek the Spirit’s help and guidance to stay far away from the spiritual cliffs and speak with words of thanksgiving that honor the Lord for who he is and all he has given to us and made us to be.
Apply: What phrase in these verses does the Spirit call your attention to today? How can he guide you to move away from activity of darkness to shine more brightly as a child of light?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving me enough to warn me of the things I need to avoid and stop doing to prevent great spiritual harm to me and others. Forgive me when I fail and strengthen me to only give clear witness to being a child of your light. AMEN.