Self - Esteem: Looking Up Instead of Looking Inside

Last month, Mom's Matter was going to cover the topic of self-esteem
but the meeting was canceled because of bad weather.

This month the moms will receive a copy of the booklet Self Esteem.

I wanted to share  a couple of things I was planning to share in January.

Leslie Vernick "Instead of looking to God to tell us who we are, as fallen human beings we seek external sources to tell us who we are.  When we do that, instead of feeling secure and loved, we become self-concious, self-focused, self-centered, and self-absorbed."  (p. 7)

The booklet goes on to address two big ideas:
The six false voices we allow to define our value and worth
The one way we are truly changed.

As part of my message I was going to share a personal experience in which God used His Word to change my thinking from self-focused to God-focused.
Here are two blog posts where I shared this time.

Part 1:  God spoke to me today!
Part 2:  Blessed by a forgotten Bible reading!

Now I want to remind parents of an important very practical point.
We need to model this God-focused thinking to our children AND we need to help them think this way.

Here is a quote and some Bible verses to help parents do this and teach this...
"How God thinks of us is not only more important [than how we think of him], but infinitely more important."  C.S. Lewis
Psalm 8:3-6
Psalm 139
Romans 5:6-8
Ephesians 1:4-5

Here is the bottom line.
All of us are worshippers.
Who are you worshipping?
Who are you training your children to worship?

Watch this video...

False Gods - A Gospel Principle for Parents, by Paul Tripp from Paul David Tripp on Vimeo.

Mercy: 14th Principle

This is the 14th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Mercy:
Principle:  No parent gives mercy better than one who is convinced that he desperately needs it himself.

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can sign up for 14 days of video devotionals and find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Rest: 13th Principle

This is the 13th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Rest:
Principle:  It is only rest in God's presence and grace that will make you a joyful and patient parent.

""As parents, we are called every day to faithfully participate in what is impossible for us to produce."  (185)


Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can sign up for 14 days of video devotionals and find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Control: 12th Principle

This is the 12th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Control
Principle:  The goal of parenting is not control of behavior but rather heart and life change.

"You are called to make use of every opportunity that God will give you to help your children to become aware of the grave danger of the sin that lives inside them."  (177)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can sign up for 14 days of video devotionals and find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

False Gods: 11th Principle

This is the 11th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

False Gods:
Principle:  You are parenting a worshiper, so it's important to remember that what rules your child's heart will control his behavior.

"God will use the normal stuff of daily responsibilities, opportunities, relationships and temptations to expose to you what is going on in the heart of the worshipers that have been entrusted to your care."  (158)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can sign up for 14 days of video devotionals and find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Character: 10th Principle

This is the 10th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Character
Principle:  Not all of the wrong your children do is a direct rebellion to authority; much of the wrong is the result of a lack of character.

"Your children don't so much need character management as they need worship realignment."  (146)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can sign up for 14 days of video devotionals and find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Foolishness - 9th Principle

This is the 9th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Foolishness
Principle:  The foolishness inside your children is more dangerous to them than the temptation outside of them.  Only God's grace has the power to rescue fools.

"Threat, manipulation, and guilt are tools that parents use to produce change in their chldren without having to deal with the heart."  (127)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Authority - 8th Principle

This is the 8th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Authority
Principle:  One of the foundational heart issues in the life of every child is authority.  Teaching and modeling the protective beauty of authority is one of the foundations of good parenting.

"In moments of discipline, do you often point your children to the hope and help that is to be found in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus?"  (122)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Lost - 7th Principle

This is the 7th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Lost
Principle:  As a parent you're not dealing just with bad behavior, but a condition that causes bad behavior.

Lost children need insight, compassion, hope, rescue and wisdom.

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Due to a scheduling error this post was not made on the correct day.
Sorry for any inconvenience.

Process - 6th Principle

This is the 6th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Process
Principle:  You must be committed as a parent to long-view parenting because change is a process and not an event.

"The message of the Bible is that God puts an uncompromising standard before us, then sends His Son to perfectly meet that standard on our behalf, so that we can be free to admit our failures and go to God for help."  (95) 

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Identity: 5th Principle

This is the 5th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Identity
Principle:  If you are not resting as a parent in your identity in Christ, you will look for identity in your children.

"It  never works to look to a broken, dysfunctional creation for identity."  (77)

"Now there are three things to say about trying to get your identity from your children.  First, it is a very natural thing to do and a very hard thing to fight.  In fact, probably every parent falls into this trap in some way.  Second, parenting is a miserable place to look for identity.  Think about it:  you are parenting lost, rebellious, foolish, blind, self-ruling sinners.  I'm not picking on your children.  I have just described every fallen human being born into God's world.  Third, it is a crushing burden for your children to have to get up every morning and carry the heavy load of your identity and meaning and purpose and all the expectations and demands that flow from it.  No child will carry that load well."  (77)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Inability - 4th Principle

This is the 4th of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Inability
Principle:  Recognizing what you are unable to do is essential to good parenting.

"Parenting is not about exercising power for change in your children. Parenting is about your humble faithfulness in being willing to participate in God’s work of change for the sake of your children. Parents, here’s what you need to understand: God has given you authority for the work of change, but has not granted you the power to make that change happen."

Read more about Inability, HERE.

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Law - 3rd principle

This is the 3rd of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Law
Principle:  Your children need God's law, but you cannot ask the law to do what only grace can accomplish.

"If God's plan really is to make his invisible grace visible by sending parents of grace to give grace to children who desperately need grace, then I am called not just to preach that grace but to live and model it for my children every day."  (56)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Grace - 2nd principle

This is the 2nd of 14 posts on the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Grace
Principle:  God never calls you to a task without giving you what you need to do it.  He never sends you without going with you.

"There is nothing more important to consistent, faithful, patient, loving and effective parenting than to understand what God has given you in the grace of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ."  (34)

"Instead of approaching [my children] with self-righteous outrage, I moved toward them as a sinner in need of grace needing to confront a sinner in need of grace." (39)

Read more about the disciple-making mission of every parent in this post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

Calling - A Gospel Parenting Principle

Over the next 14 days, we are going to post the 14 principles in Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family

Calling
Principle:  Nothing is more important in your life than being one of God's tools to form a human soul.

"Your church was not designed to replace you, but to assist and equip you in this essential [disciple making] work.  Your government was never designed to replace you, but to protect you as you do this core work.  The school near you will never replace you; at the very best it will support you as you do the work that only you can do.  You could argue that the chief reason God puts parents in children's lives is so that they would know him.  The most important thing that a child could ever learn about is the existence, character and plan of God.  If you know this fact, it will alter the way you understand and interpret every other fact in your life."

Read more about this calling in yesterday's post "THE most helpful parenting passage in the Bible..."

You can find out more about the book HERE.

You can read other posts on this blog about parenting HERE

THE Most Helpful Parenting Passage in the Bible is...

From Paul Tripp's new book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family.

If I were to ask you what the best, most practical, most helpful parenting passage in all the Bible was, what would you answer?

Most biblically literate Christian parents would run to Ephesians 6:1–4: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (ESV)

Those are wonderfully helpful verses, but there's another passage that's almost never mentioned in the context of parenting. These words, straight from the mouth of the Messiah, contain everything you need to know and understand in order to experience the rest and courage of heart that fuels good, godly, perseverant parenting.

"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

The Great Commission? Yes! I cannot think of any directive more appropriate to every Christian parent than this one. Here's why:

Your job as a Christian parent is to do everything within your power, as an instrument in the hands of the Redeemer who has employed you, to woo, encourage, call, and train your children to willingly and joyfully live as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To read the rest of the post, click HERE

The Greatest Human Tragedy & Sodom & Gomorrah

This Sunday, November 15th, Dr. Jason Lee from Cedarville, will be preaching this Sunday on the Greatest Human Tragedy (2 Thess. 1:5 - 12).
This week in our EKIDZ lesson we are at the tragic story of Sodom & Gomorrah.

So, with the 1st - 3rd graders we are going to watch Dr. Lee's sermon in the children's chapel and help the kids learn how to attentively listen and take notes during the service.

The live feed of the sermon is ready.
The white board to help with notes is set.
All we need are the kids (Parents, you are more than welcome to come in the children's chapel with your child).
We plan and promote times like these to help you disciple your children.  This is specific part of our Kids in Church training time.

Here are a couple of things you could do to help your child and yourself get ready for this Sunday.

1.  Read some passages about Man's sinfulness and God's judgement to your children.  Here are some to read

• 2 Peter 2:4 - 10 connects Bible stories we have covered and will cover to God's judgement and grace.
• 2 Thess. 1:5 - 12 is this Sunday's passage.   For believers now (5 - 7a); For non-believers (7b - 9);  For believers when Christ returns (10)

2.  Pray that you and your child would truly hear what God has to say in His Word about the seriousness of sin.

3.  Spend some time this upcoming week talking about sin and its consequences.  The Family Devotional guide has some great talking points.  Click HERE to find out more about these devotional guides.  Here are a couple.

•  The people of Sodom and Gomorrah violated not only hospitality but also God's design for marriage.  The verdict was clear:  Sodom and its neighboring cities deserved to be destroyed.  
• God showed compassion on Lot by sending the angels to force him to leave.  Compassion is feeling bad for someone who is hurt.   God exemplified justice as a compassionate judge and God showed the severe consequences of sin.
• Day 5's devotional is "Jesus will one day punish with eternal fire (Jude 5-7).  The final question for the week is "How should believers respond to the fact that Jesus will one day punish with eternal fire?"

4.  Learn this week's memory verse together.  "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."  1 John 4:4.  Here is a great talking point.  All this talk about judgement can be scary and it is IF you are not a child of God.  IF YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD, you don't need to fear this judgement because you are on the winning side.  God is THE WINNER!!

Lessons, Tips and Don'ts for Parenting!!

Here is an post with 39 Lessons, 20 Tips and 10 “Don’ts” For Parenting
http://9marks.org/article/39-lessons-20-tips-and-10-donts-parenting/

Here are a couple of the lessons from the article:

• Ordinary times make for extraordinary memories.
• On some days, it’s just fine to accomplish nothing more than keeping your kids fed and safe.
• God elects. God saves. Parents cannot do this heart-changing work. At best we can pray and point to the One who can cause our children to be born again.
• Fight materialism by teaching your children to have a thankful heart (1 Thes. 5:18: “…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”)

Moms, Are You Mom Enough?

Mom Enough is a new book from Desiring God.  Here is what DG posted on their blog about the book:

Our new book cuts through the nonsense of competitve mothering.  Eight bright women expose the spiritual corruption of it and explore how gospel grace is relevant for the daily trials and worries of motherhood.  In the trenches, these moms have learned to redirect their hope and trust from the shifting sands of popular opinion to the unchanging all-sufficiency of God.

You can read more about the book and how to get free electronic copies and purchase paperback copies at www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/mom-enough-new-book

Sanctification parenting vs. reputation parenting

Sanctification parenting is primarily concerned with the spiritual growth of your children. You do what you do as a parent with the goal of seeing them become mature believers in Christ.

Reputation parenting is primarily concerned with the spiritual reputation of the parent. You do what you do as a parent with the goal of having others see you as a respectable Christian parent.

To read the whole article click HERE