Today we are back in our Fruit of the Spirit devotionals, talking about Faithfulness. This is a BIG topic today! There is a reason that “Faithful” is in the title of this entire ministry and podcast, because moms, if we get this right…then Jesus will absolutely be contagious to our kids!
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So, what does it mean to live a life of faithfulness? And how does it affect the type of mothers we are?
Those are great questions that we are going to answer today, because faithfulness is SO important in your personal walk with Jesus, but also for the little eyes you have watching everyday as a mom…
Now, if I’m completely honest, I have started writing this blog and stopped several times already…
You see, God is perfect in His faithfulness to us, but you and I, the majority of the time at least, are lacking in this fruit of the Spirit, because it does require full trust and dependency on the Lord…
And that’s hard for anyone, right? But especially for moms! Because we are used to controlling the family calendar and keeping the ships moving in our homes, but in our walk with the Lord, we have to intentionally slow down and focus on fully surrendering our control and trust and rest in Jesus, and let Him drive and lead us…
I think a good way to explain Faithfulness, is how we choose to live and respond to what happens in our lives, ALL because of WHO we have chosen to believe in and follow—and if you’re a believer in Jesus Christ—then you have chosen to follow the ONLY perfect person who has, and who will, ever live! A God that never leaves, never changes, always forgives and is perfect in all His ways, including His faithfulness to us…
He is a God that keeps His promises! So if we’ve made a commitment to believe and follow Him with our lives, then we need to be faithful and keep our promises too…
This is easier said than done of course! From small things, like staying faithful in daily reading God’s Word, (which we often fail at or get distracted from) to bigger things in our lives, like health scares, grieving a great loss, going through a divorce and so many others, that can leave you questioning or sad….
And I understand, believe me!
When I think about the events from the past 3 years of my life, there are a lot of really hard things there…with my mom’s health, moving to a new city, losing a baby and just recently, my husband had a blood clot that caused a heart attack at just 35 yrs.old! (and praise God he is alive and gaining his strength back now) It’s been hard to process it all, if I’m honest…
But I can tell you one thing I know for sure…
Never once, have I thought God was punishing me or that He’d left me…
In fact, I can say with 100% assurance that, had it not been for God’s perfect faithfulness, that never left me, I don’t think I could have gotten through it all!
And maybe you’re walking through something right now, or you have in the past, and you’re thinking, “that that sounds good, Mallory, but do you really mean it?”
And I can say, I’ve had some ugly cries and “Why?!” conversations with God over the last couple of years and some very imperfect moments, but at the end of the day, I know every time, I have only come out the other side stronger!..Not perfect…but stronger in my faith…
It’s like God audibly said to me…
Even if______(fill in the blank)….this happens….will you still follow me? Still trust me?
Because I’ll still be here…and I’m not going anywhere…
And when I’ve wavered, He stayed the same! His faithfulness stayed perfect through it all, even when mine doesn’t…
But through everything, I’ve learned to lean on Him just a little bit harder and trust him a little bit more each time, and through that my faithfulness has grown! So that’s a takeaway for you mom, in your personal walk with Jesus of growing in faithfulness through the everyday things and the hard things…
Pastor Adrian Rogers said, “If you’re not faithful at home, you can’t be faithful anywhere else. If following Jesus doesn’t begin at home, then it doesn’t begin.”
Adrian Rogers
This is because your family are your people—they know you the best out of anybody! Who we are with our kids, our spouse and the rest of our family, is really who we are at our core!
When tough things happen, are you surrendering your fight for control? Are you trusting in the Lord? Are you and I doing that? Are we modeling faithfulness to our kids? Believe me, they notice! They may still be too young to call you out on it, but they notice!
So, are you in God’s Word? Are you leaning on him and calling out to Him in prayer with your kids, with dependence and faith that He hears…that He keeps His promises…that He never leaves?!
Because let me tell this with you today…Your kids are watching! If you have littles—babies or toddlers—they can’t express this to you with words yet, but you really are the first dose of Jesus that kids ever see or hear!
That’s why it says in Deuteronomy Ch. 6:
“Impress God’s Word on your children…Talk about it when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."
So basically wherever you go…but it begins in the home…when you sing your baby Jesus Loves Me, or you teach your toddler to say the name “Jesus,” or teach your child the difference between right and wrong according to the Bible…
You are the first dose of Jesus they ever see, before they even know who He is or what He did for them! So quite literally, your faithfulness to the Lord, in how you show them Jesus…it is so so Important!
And if you have older kids, that know the Bible stories now and they are fully capable of talking back to you about Jesus, or they may even have already asked Jesus into their life, remember they are still watching you…
They notice when you are faithful—so when you keep your promises or when you don’t—even if they are just small things…Like you telling them they can’t say a certain “bad” word or watch something, and then they catch you doing those things..Or when you promise to play with them or get them something and you don’t come through….they notice…they are watching!
This is a big responsibility on us as moms, and you and I won’t always be perfect at it, but our kids equate our ability to keep promises, ultimately, with how they view God and how they can trust Him or not.…because we are the ones who have told them about God from a young age…
So why is this really important?
We must be faithful in the things that we say and do, like our theme verse here at Faithful 31 moms:
"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue." Proverbs 31:26
A quick takeaway for you to try with your kids today when it comes to faithfulness, is to ask them this question: “Has there ever been a time, when I was faithless or didn’t keep my promise I made to you?”
This may be a scary to you…but don’t be scared, because I think you will find that your kids will be so forgiving! They will only remember how intentional you were to correct any broken promises, and they will see your faithfulness and not your failures!
I actually did this with my kids…and my 6 year, James, when I asked him this question, responded very seriously:
“Yes, mom, you have broken a promise to me…You told me I could have ice cream the other night and then you came back and said it was too late and I didn’t get my ice cream…”
James Allen 🙂
And hey, if that’s all he can think of, I think I’m doing okay, right?! 🙂
But it really was a big deal to him, because he still remembered…So needless to say, he got ice cream that night!
But seriously, whatever it is, even if there are real wounds there, like with divorce or big let-downs, better to ask for forgiveness and let them see your faithfulness, even when imperfect, instead of them remembering your failure to keep promises—and letting that affect their ability to trust God as they grow older…
Because the truth is, if we don’t pass down our faith to our kids…they will find something or someone else that they can believe in or love!
And Remember, the little things matter, because they turn into bigger things…
Luke 16:10 says: "He who is faithful in what is least, is also faithful in much.”
If we are faithful in the small things, then when the bigger and harder things come along, we will be ready and only grow in our faithfulness and not turn away from the Lord.
This verse is usually shared to talk about money most of the time, but I think its really talking about just our faithfulness in general…
Same goes with our kids, if we model faithfulness for them in the little things, then they are more likely to listen to us in the big things, like believing and trusting in God with their life!
Thanks so much! Please be sure to share this blog with a friend and follow me on Instagram @faithful31moms. And remember to keep up the good work of pointing your kids to Jesus!
LISTEN TO THIS AS A PODCAST HERE!
CHECK OUT THIS FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT DEVOTIONAL REFERENCED IN THIS BLOG HERE!