Terrie Chappell, in her book, "It's A Wonderful Life" lists these three things that she learned from Dr. John Goetsch, as ways to impart God's truths to others. I've been thinking on the three statements in relation to myself and raising my own children, and have expounded on them here...
♡ Hide God's Word in your heart
When we think of hiding God's word in our hearts we typically think of memorizing scripture. When we memorize scripture the words of God are then hidden within our hearts. No one can take them from us. I believe it's also safe to say that God wants his words to be written upon the tables of our heart. In the Bible, when things were written on tables it signified importance and was meant to be permanent. It was written in/on tables of stone. There was a permanency related to writing something in stone. God spoke often of writing his law on the tables of the heart. Psalms 119:11 says, "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee" We can memorize a scripture and have it be in our memory. A scripture memorized may not neccesarily keep us from sin... but when it's truly written upon, or hidden within, our heart... we believe it, we live it and it is part of who we are. The heart is the grand central station for all choices, emotions, what keeps us going and what determines our very being. For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Prov.23:7).
So, it's so important that we hide God's word in our hearts....that His words are written upon the tables of our hearts. For, all that we are, all we say, do and believe comes from the heart.
♡ Highlight God's Word in your home
The word "highlight" means: "pick out and emphasize" or, "make visually prominent". Some synonyms of the word highlight would be: spotlight, call attention to, point out, single out, focus on, underline, feature, play up, bring out, accentuate, accent, give prominence to, zero in on, stress, emphasize.
That's a pretty good list of definitions and synonyms for the word "highlight". If you add "God's Word" after each of those definitions, that is exactly what we should be doing in our homes.
I think it's great when we can "make visually prominent" God's Word by framing it throughout our homes, and having God's word just about everywhere we turn. I've always believed this is a great way to highlight His word within our homes... But what about "giving prominence" to His word? What about "zeroing in on, calling attention to," and "emphasizing" God's Word? Is God's word talked about throughout the day? Is there a special scheduled time for "Bible Time" or is our day immersed in God's Word? Do we take opportunities to teach biblical character throughout the day and in different circumstances? These are questions we should be asking ourselves to be honest about whether or not we truly highlight God's Word, according to the lengthy definition above.
How about "play up"? Can God's word be exciting, enthusiastic, and fun? Of course it can be! It ought to be!!! What else is there to be more excited about in this world than what Christ has done for us and the blessing of the abundant life he wishes to give us!?! Let's truly highlight His word in our homes!! We honor God by highlighting His word, and we show our children that there is sincerity in our love for His Word!
♡ Heed God's Word in you habits
"To heed" is to "be mindful of, mind, mark, consider, take into account, follow, obey, adhere to, abide by, observe, take to heart"... our habits and our daily actions should take into account and be mindful of God's Word! Are we training our children to just follow a set of rules, or are we building their character to be Christ-like, so they will Heed God's Word in their habits? Are we, as individuals, mindful of God's Word in all that we do? We should, as the definition states, "adhere to" God's Word and "consider" His word as we go about our day, as we face temptations, as we face trials and hardships, as we face decisions of what to do and not to do, and as we live out our days upon this earth.
A habit is a "settled or regular tendancy". Our tendencies should obey and follow God's Word. It doesn't just happen though, does it? They say it takes 21 days to start a new habit~ or 21 days to break a bad habit! New habits don't just happen overnight. It takes time, work, dedication and consistency in order to change. So, if you happen to have areas that you do not heed God's word (we all have them!) then, take the time to recognize those areas and make changes. Most of all, pray. Ask God for help. Ask Him for wisdom and direction. Ask him to point out the areas that you don't currently heed His Word...and then work to make new habits!
As for our children, we cannot come up with rules for every given scenario, but we can raise them and equip them to respond to any given circumstance with godly character and Biblical principles.
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