Category: Train Up A Child

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Daily Messages / Train Up A Child

Building Character- Self-Control

Take a breath….this is a longer one… but well worth it……

Self-control….the final and probably the most struggled with “fruit”. When we think of self-control I’m sure we all have immediate, obvious individual areas of struggle that pummel our thoughts. We each have “areas” of weaknesses that the enemy of our souls is very very aware of. And if you’ll notice, he will happily bombard our lives so as to get us to lose control in that very area of weakness. Let’s look at a couple scriptures that can surely help us grow and produce mature fruit in this area.

Luke 9:23, “And He said to them all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him DENY himself, disown himself, forget and lose sight of himself and his own interests, REFUSE and give up himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me (cleave steadfastly to Me, … Continue Reading

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Daily Messages / Train Up A Child

The Why behind the what

As I read about the great Exodus in Exodus chapter 12, it touches a little on the very subject I will be teaching on at our next women’s event coming up February 22.
Verse 25 begins with Moses informing the Israelites concerning God’s instructions. “When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall observe this rite. AND WHEN YOUR CHILDREN SAY TO YOU, “what does this rite mean to you? You should say, “it is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when he smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.”
These instructions are just that….instructions!! As parents and grandparents we are given the very very important assignment of helping our children and grandchildren understand the meaning of “why” we do what we do as Christians. The Bible teaches us to … Continue Reading

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Train Up A Child

Building Character- Gentleness

Gentleness….also referred to as meekness,  comes from the word praotes in the Greek.  It is described as a disposition that is EVEN TEMPERED, TRANQUIL, BALANCED in Spirit, UNPRETENTIOUS,  and that has the passions UNDER CONTROL.   Now let’s make sure and understand this word meekness, or gentleness as referred to in the New King James,  is not indicating weakness, but actually is indicating power and strength under control!  Whew….  now that’s a whole lot more intense than the simple word gentleness implies!   So we ask ourselves how do we get these very important Godly qualities embedded into our children?   How do we “train up our children” to be even tempered, to be balanced,  to be tranquil, to keep their passions under control?   Well let’s go back to all the teachings that we’ve talked about concerning the fruit of the spirit… Remember all eyes are on you as the parents or … Continue Reading

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Daily Messages / Train Up A Child

Building Character- Faithfulness

  1. Faithfulness….

In Galatians 5:22 FAITHFULNESS is in the last “grouping” of the Fruit of the Spirit which describes principles of Christian conduct.

When we think of this word or attribute, we think about God’s faithfulness TO US.  We think about how He’s redeemed us, we think about the things he’s pulled us out of (sin, sickness, a life of passivity),  we think about the things we’ve probably avoided BECAUSE of His love and mercy and protection!  But let’s look at it from a different perspective. Let’s look at at from a place of our faithfulness TOWARDS GOD!   Ask yourself….” Would I consider myself faithful toward God ….THE WAY I EXPECT HIM TO BE FAITHFUL TO ME”??  Ouch!!  If we’re reeeeally honest with ourselves I believe that every one of us would have to say …NO!  The word faithfulness (pistos in the Greek) means trustworthy, faithful, and RELIABLE!  In our Christian … Continue Reading

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Train Up A Child

Building Character- Goodness

Goodness….It is the sixth Fruit of the Spirit that is taught to us in Galatians 5:22.
Goodness is described as “As not a mere passive quality, but the DELIBERATE preference of wrong to right, the FIRM and PERSISTENT resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good.”
Now that has a completely different twist on what your average person would qualify as “Goodness”. Ask yourself what you would have defined the word “goodness” as. Maybe just being “good”, maybe just trying to make decent choices in life, or just plain ol’ “not a bad person”. Think about all the times you’ve heard “he’s/she’s such a good person”. Being a “good person ” does not qualify as the same definition here! It’s directly related to being MORALLY good or bad. Remember it’s a DELIBERATE step FROM WRONG TO RIGHT!! When we are ACTIVELY teaching our children … Continue Reading

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Train Up A Child

Building Character – Kindness

Years ago I started a prayer group – “Destinies”…. it was a group of praying mothers praying for the destinies of their children.  It was a group of mothers that KNEW that there was a much bigger call to each child then JUST BEING A NICE CHRISTIAN AND GOING TO CHURCH!!!  We knew that we had this incredible, impressionable, magnanimous responsibility of getting our children where GOD ORDAINED THEM TO BE!!  Each child has a destiny….one God has pre-destined before they were even born!!  It is our job to PRAY  them there and TRAIN THEM to get there!!!

Think about this, while your children grow and begin to participate in activities…it is OUR JOB to get them where they need to be!!  It’s OUR RESPONSIBILITY.   If they have practice at 5:00,  well, then it is our responsibility to arrange the schedule to get them there.  If they have certain attire … Continue Reading

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Train Up A Child

Building Character -Patience

Lamentations 3:26
“It is good that one should hope and WAIT QUIETLY for the salvation of the Lord”

This scripture is teaching us that to wait patiently is to wait QUIETLY and SUBMISSIVELY !!
A very key part of our children’s character is PATIENCE!
While Love, Joy, and Peace are fruits that dwell within and permeate outwardly from each of us as we grow.  Patience, Kindness, and Goodness, on the other hand, are virtues that we extend or better said, our children can “practice” acting out in their every day lives!
Now of course It can be quite the task to carry on a conversation with a young child tugging on your shirt REPEATEDLY saying “mommy” fourteen times!  I know none of you have ever encountered that 😂! And then we complicate matters worse by of course roaring, a snarky response to them to “just hang on 😳”!!  All the … Continue Reading

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Train Up A Child

Building Character- Peace

In study and in writing about the things of God it is crucial to “correctly handle the word of TRUTH” (2 Timothy 2:15). With that said, let’s take a look at some character building passages.

James 1: 1-7 (Complete Jewish Bible)

“Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations; for you know that the testing of your TRUST produces perseverance.  But let perseverance do its complete work, so that you may be complete and whole, lacking in nothing.  Now if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without reproach; for the doubter is like a wave in the sea being tossed and driven by the wind.  Indeed, that person should not think that he will receive anything from the Lord, because he is double-minded, unstable in all his ways.”

First, let’s understand that God is … Continue Reading

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Train Up A Child

Building Character – Joy

Galatians 5:22 “But the Fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL”

Ok gang,  We’ve already covered the first Fruit of the Spirit – LOVE.  Remember, our children have to be “rooted and grounded in LOVE” (Ephesians 3:17-18).  The NLT  says it like this, “Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s LOVE and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is”.   With God’s LOVE firmly established in our precious little warriors of God, there will be the beginning of a sprouting that stems from that unfathomable LOVE of their Father and JOY begins to emerge!  When we truly experience the aquaintancey of  THE LOVE OF JESUS, there will … Continue Reading

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Train Up A Child

Building Character- LOVE

Galatians 5:22 ” But the Fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS, AND SELF-CONTROL.”

At the foundation of every precious child there should permeate the endless beauty of the Character of God.  God is LOVE and from that place of LOVE should blossom the TRANSFORMING Fruit of the Spirit that changes the world!!  – SELAH

Let’s look at some foundational teachings starting with the Fruit of the Spirit.  When we teach our children, we need to keep it simple, so let’s always start with foundational principles.  1 John 4:8 “God is LOVE”.  Just as a mother and father love, nurture, care for and discipline their children out of the love for that child, so to does our Lord and Savior do the same.  Character has to be the building block of their christian walk.  So how do we parents (teachers) help them build … Continue Reading