Welcome to my “Month of Encouragement for Moms” sponsored by D6 and Proverbs 31 Ministries. If you found your way here from my P31 devotion, I’m so glad you stopped by. And if you’re one my regular blog readers, thanks for being here each day. Your comments encourage me when I don’t know what to write; your thoughts and thanks let me know it’s making a difference. I am loving this journey with you as we find practical ways to connect spiritual truths with everyday life experiences – for us and our families.
In last Wednesday’s post, I talked about God giving me hope as a mom by giving me a new perspective of parenting. He challenged me to stop focusing on my kids’ habits and invest in their hearts by looking for ways to notice and nurture their character. From that day forward I looked for ways to learn and live God’s truths in everyday life lessons. Today’s devotion came after that commitment. One day I was reading about Davids passion for treasuring God’s Word in His heart, and thinking about my kids passion for a treasure hunt. I decided to combine the two and encourage my boys to approach reading the Bible like looking for a treasure in a field, and find ways to share that treasure with others. One night around the dinner table, we talked about the character trait of KINDNESS. Here’s a little family devotion I wrote as a result:
Todays’ Treasure of Truth:1 Thessalonians 5:15, “Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”
Kindness means being nice to others with your actions and your words.
The Map of God’s Word:Read John 1:43-49. While Jesus was walking down the road with his disciples, Philip saw his friend Nathanael. He was so excited to tell Nathanael that they had met Jesus. Nathanael’s first response was sarcastic and unkind. As soon as he heard where Jesus was from, Nathanael said, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Instead of returning Nathanael’s comment with an insult, Jesus responded with kindness. When He saw Nathanael coming toward him he told the others that Nathanael was a person of character, true on the inside and out. Nathanael was surprised by Jesus’ kindness. He wondered how Jesus knew about him. When Nathanael saw the kindness in Jesus’ heart that formed the words on His lips, his sarcasm turned into faith. He returned Jesus’ thoughtfulness with kind words of his own.
A Nugget of Wisdom:Kindness is easy when others are being nice to us, but Jesus wants us to be kind no matter what.
Making Character Count:Developing God’s character isn’t just about doing good things; it’s about being Christ-like in our attitudes and actions. Talk as a family about the importance of having a heart like Jesus, remembering that before we can offer others what God has given us, we need to take time to acknowledge and thank him for His kindness towards me and
Prayer: Jesus, thank you that your love is patient and kind. Please help us to be kind to each other and those outside of our family. Help us to think of ways we can show kindness each day. And please remind us of how kind you were with your words and actions to those who were not kind to you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Ways to live and give the treasure ofKindness:
- Say thanks when someone does something kind or gives something to you.
- Say please when asking for something.
- Offer to help a friend or sibling with homework.
- Tell someone else what you like about them.
- Let someone in line before you.
- Be friendly by saying hello and smiling at people.
- Give a thoughtful gift to someone for no reason.
Copyright 2009, Renee Swope – All rights reserved.
Today’s Mom Give-Aways
Today we are choosing winners from the comments and giving away two D6 mom resources – a copy of my “Mining for Gold in the Heart of Your Child Chart and George Barna’s “Revolutionary Parenting”. Please include your email so we can reach you if you win.
We’ll be giving away gifts every weekday, so be sure to come back for more mom encouragement and resources from D6 and Proverbs 31 Ministries!
Renee, your blog has become one of the highlights of my day, it blesses me so much. Last Sunday while wearing my “1/168” t-shirt I informed members of my church at both services that we were going to become a D6 Family church (I am the chair of Christian Education)- I am so passionate about this and your blog encourages me even more. I want so much to attend the Sept. conference! I am going to share your ideas with my church family as well as my own. Thank you so much, God bless you always.
Kelly in Gahanna, OH
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RAK… is something that we are trying to instill in our kids with each other .. on their level.
Trying to get them to be kind to each other is not always easy.. but there are times when they suprise us…..
We really want to fine tune this in the home so that they will carry this with them to preschool/church.
Chrissy
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Kids: 5, 4 and 2
I really enjoyed today’s post and reminded me of a plaque I have hanging in our kitchen simply saying “kindness matters”.
Kristy
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Thank you Renee for sharing your family devotion on kindness with us. I look forward to sharing it with my family around the dinner table. I am feeling very convicted to focus on my daughters’ hearts–to better discover what drives their positive and negative behaviors and to help shape godly character in them. [email protected]
Father God,
Thank you for Renee and the women of Proverbs31 who share our struggles and ensourage us along the way. Please bless them especially for being the beacons they are.
I lift up the moms struggling through the everyday roller coaster and pray You will bless them with strength and courage to continue. Bring joy to their hearts today and help them see their children as You do.
I lift up those moms hurting from the real pains of life and I pray Lord, that You will hold them close and let them feel Your presence today. Remind them Who they belong to and help them know for certain that You care and are with them through these difficult times. I pray for their children and families that they may see You through their perserverance and come to know You in the midst of their pain.
And Lord, I thank You for the moms who share their struggles. They teach us so much and offer us the opportunity to serve one another and lift each other up in prayer.
In Jesus precious name,
Amen
I think it is a really good idea to focus on building positive character traits in our children rather than focusing on getting rid of the negative. Yes, we need to deal with the things they do wrong but most of the time if the focus is on what they should do right then there are less wrongs to deal with.
Renee,
I wanted to let you know Sandy at God Speaks Today has quite the GNO recap on her blog. She wanted to tell you herself but the winter storm hit them in Kentucky and they are without power for possibly a week. She's having blog withdrawal already.
Paula G. <><