Acts 2:37-38

When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?"
Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Read about baptism here.

Teach them to be Chaste

Titus 2:5

"To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."



Titus 2:4 begins by teaching us how we should, as godly women, treat others. In verse 5, we are given instructions on how we should act.



Here is a very challenging, and well written post by Kelly at Generation Cedar on teaching young women to be chaste. Her blog is full of thought provoking truths. Enjoy.

So, how do we love them?

The question now, is "How do we really love our children?" I think first and foremost we need to go before the throne of God Almighty and beg forgiveness for how we view HIS children. Not only for ourselves, but for the horrendous murder of the unborn that this nation is practicing. Pray the Lord will guide our hearts and our actions as He changes us and our thinking. Then, turn our hearts toward our children.

Moms, you have your very own mission field right in your home. Christians travel thousands of miles to spread the gospel to the unreached people of the world, and you only have to take a few steps. Even if your children have accepted the saving grace of Jesus Christ, they still need to see a godly, christian life, lived out before them. There is no higher calling than to care for our children.

So how do we love them?

Proverbs 22:6

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Ephesians 6:4

"And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord."

I Corinthians 11:1

"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."

2 Timothy 3:16-17

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

Matthew 25:40

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

James 1:19

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"

Moms, there are so many more scriptures that will pierce your heart, search the word and allow God to speak through them.

I have to be honest, this post took 3 days to write. Not because it is so eloquently worded or a deep theological discussion, but because mothering is hard. I don't have all the answers, I fail each day. I struggle with remembering to have a soft answer and a patient attitude. Praise God for His mercy, grace, and forgiveness that is new each morning.

Really loving our children

A good friend of mine wrote a post on loving our children over at The Frazzled Mama . She dives deep into the meaning of "love" in reference to our little ones. Go, visit her site, and open your hearts to the challenge of really loving our children.

Loving our Husbands

"...To love their husbands..."

The next section I want to focus on from Titus 2:4-5 is this, "...to love their husbands." Reading that upon first glance, I'm probably quick to give it a big 'ole "DUH", but I think there is so much more to this little phrase than the credit we give.

The word "love" in this passage is translated from the Greek word "philandros" which means "to be husband loving." Again, because I want to know the real meaning of words not our distorted conception, let's go to the Websters 1828 dictionary to find a deeper meaning of the word "love".

Love

1. A feeling of strong attachment induced by that which delights or commands admiration; preëminent kindness or devotion to another; affection; tenderness.

2. Especially, devoted attachment to, or tender or passionate affection for, one of the opposite sex.

(There were other entries, but none that pertained to the union between husband and wife.)

Do you love your husband? Do I really love my husband? Is it such a strong attachment that induces feelings of admiration from others? Do I show kindness and devotion to him? Do I have a tender and passionate affection for him? These are hard questions to answer sometimes. Like when he's left his dirty socks in the bathroom for the trillionth time, or when he goes to a softball game and leaves me home with 4 sick kids, am I addressing him with kindness and devotion? (These situations never happen, they're hypothetical events...really they are.)

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the majority of us weren't taught how to really love our husbands. We weren't taught how to be completely devoted to them. In fact, I would venture to say that most of us even had a "back up" plan at one point. "Well, if this doesn't work out at least I could always _______." Look around you, how are our men being portrayed in the media? Show me one instance where a man is the head of the home, he's successful, and he has a devoted, loving wife with obedient children. It doesn't happen. Instead, we're filling our minds with dopey men and overbearing, controlling wives, with kids who are out of control. What message are we sending our daughters? What hope of a biblical marriage will they ever have with examples such as these?

Well, we can't control the media; but we can control our hearts and our actions. This is going to call for a total mind overhaul. To truly love our husbands, we must put his needs above our own. Yep, there it is, did you put your steel-toed boots back on? I said it....We've got to put our husbands needs before our own. Ouch!! Lord, help me here...this won't be easy! Seriously, this week let's explore ways to really love our husbands...don't blush, I won't be going there...this is a family blog! ;)

Background on Titus

The book of Titus was written by Paul, as stated in Ch. 1:1, to Titus whom he calls his "true son in our common faith". Titus had worked with Paul during his third missionary journey at Ephesus and from there was sent to Corinth to help that church with its work. After Paul's imprisonment in Rome, he and Titus worked in Crete. Titus remained in Crete to complete needed work. This is where he was when he received this letter from Paul.

Paul sent the letter with Zenas and Apollos, who were on a journey that took them through Crete. The letter was intended to give Titus authorization and guidance in meeting personal opposition, instructions about faith and conduct, and warnings about false teachers.

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Warning....personal opinion is to follow....

When reading scripture, I think it is very important to know who and to whom the scripture was written. With that knowledge, the reader is allowed a certain insight as to what is the meaning behind the text. A big fat HOWEVER,I also think that all to often we forget that the very word of God is living and transcends all time. Though this letter was written to a man, by a man, around 60 AD; I don't think that gives us the liberty to pick and choose whether or not it's "culturally relevant". Scripture is God breathed, which I take to mean that God used the writers as a tool to put His words on paper. I believe God's word to be wholly applicable today as it was 2000 years ago. Okay, Lesley...step down from soapbox and resume normal funtions.....

Titus 2:4-5 Study

Titus 2:4-5

4: That they may teach the young women to be sober,

to love their husbands,

to love their children,

5: To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,

good, obedient to their own husbands,

that the word of God be not blasphemed.

I'm going to spend a few weeks studying Titus 2:4-5. Disclaimer...I am not a bible scholar. I will be studying, citing references, and for the most part, giving my personal opinions of how to apply God's Word to my life today. I'll begin tomorrow with a background on Titus, then a study on the first section of verse 4, teaching younger women to be sober. Your comments are welcome and appreciated, I would love this to become an interactive study.