A friend recently told me that when he looked into the mirror he saw his sin
Look closer and you will ultimately see the people in your life that you have had an effect on. Your wife, son, daughter, neighbor, people at work, friends, and relatives.
When we open our Bible’s, Ephesians teaches us:
“15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives and Husbands
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.23For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,27so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church,30because we are members of his body. 31“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” – Ephesians 5:15-32
“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” – Ephesians 6:4 ESV
How then do I, as a father train up a child?
1. Start with the basics
a. Teach your children the bible.
b. Teach them to pray and why and how.
2. Be hands-on
a. Step by step, show your children where to go and how to get there.
b. Pray with them.
c. Read the bible with them
3. Be an example.
a. Have your children watch you.
b. Do your children see you praying with your wife, others and themselves? or reading the bible?
4. Use others as examples.
a. Admit you aren’t the best at certain things and lead them to learn from others who are good. model others for them.
5. Encourage repetition.
a. Put what you learn into practice!
b. Discipline your children to practice as often as possible.
c. Encourage your children to read the Bible alone.
6. Get them (your children) in the game.
a. Encourage them to use what they learn from the bible in the world.
b. Encourage them to serve.
c. Encourage them to go.
d. Let them experience failure and teach them how to deal with it.
– unknown author
Fulfilling the Law Through Love
“8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” – Romans 13:8-10
So if you Live and Love as Christ did, When you look into a mirror, you won’t see the sins of the past for they have been forgiven and paid for by Christ. You should NOW see the face of someone that is a spiritual leader within his sphere of influence.
- William A. Whitcraft