Gentleness to All Men

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. ~Matthew 22:37-38

These are the verses that God has been placing in front of me this week, and they go so well with the word servant! Isn't it amazing how God does that?

I was reminded this week that the best way I can show God my love for Him is by obeying Him. When I obey the commands He has given me in His Word, I become His servant, and I also serve others.

Another verse that I have been thinking on this week is Philippians 4:5a.

Let your moderation be known unto all men.

Our Pastor pointed out on Sunday that another word for moderation is gentleness. This verse is commanding that we show gentleness to everyone. If I love God with my whole heart, I will show him with this action of love to others. I will show gentleness no matter what the present situation may be. I will not answer harshly to my children who have asked the same question 10 times and are not paying attention when I give the answer. I will not grumble under my breath when my mister points out something I've done wrong. I will not become irritated with the driver who just pulled out in front of me. In all of these cases, I may have the "right" to express my opinion, but is that showing God that I love Him? Is that becoming a servant? Am I placing myself under God's subjection and offering my life as my reasonable service to Him?

Now, do I always succeed in letting my moderation or gentleness be known to all men? Absolutely not!!! Is it always easy to respond this way? Unfortunately, no! Can I do this on my own, in my own strength? Never!!!

It is only by God's grace - His gentle prodding and teaching - that I can become a person who responds to every situation with gentleness. That is the woman I want to be. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm thankful for God's gentleness in teaching me. Isn't it a neat thought to think that God's grace shows me how to love Him. We could not even love Him without His help! How undeserving I am of all He has done for me. I pray I can show Him every day that I love Him, and I pray I can show God's love to others by responding with gentleness.

Dear God,
Please give me a heart full of love for You, and please help me show You that I love You by responding to others with gentleness. Thank You, God, for your grace and gentleness that guides me every day through my stumbling efforts.

A New Year and New Goals

I love the New Year, and the feeling of being able to start fresh again! I don't do New Year's Resolutions, but I very much love setting new goals for the year! :) I also enjoy sharing my goals because then I feel a little more accountable, and it makes me at least try to accomplish them so that I don't look like a lazy bum at the end of the year. So, this New Year, I am sharing my goals with all of the blogging world...hopefully, I don't regret this! :)

Goal 1: To become a better servant (You can see my previous two posts here and here for more about this.)

Goal 2: To become a more fun mom. I am very jealous of those moms who can spontaneously have fun with their kids. I'm not that kind of mom, but I'm going to try my best to become better at this.

Goal 3: To practice my voice and violin at least 2 days each week. This is nowhere close to what I need to practice, but I do need to be somewhat realistic....and hey! Two days is better than no days! :)

Goal 4: To read four books each month - only one of them being a fiction book. In my pre-kid days, I would have laughed at this goal, but I have found that I do not have much spare time anymore, and I do miss reading an awful lot! I told my mister last week that it would be "awfully nice" if he would watch the kiddos so that I could go "bask in the peace and quiet of Barnes and Noble." He looked at me as though I had ten heads! I'll keep working on him though! :)

Goal 5: To digitally scrapbook each of my children's first year of life. I was adding before their birthdays to this statement, but Mr. G's b'day is only six weeks away, and I don't think that's going to happen. So, we'll just settle for sometime before the end of the year.

Well, I think that about does it for me! I'm looking forward to this fresh start and can't wait to see what God has planned for me and my family this year! I hope you have taken a little time to make some goals for this year. I have learned that if you make big goals, you may not accomplish them all, but you will get more accomplished than if you never had any goals at all! So, here is to a great year full of service to our great God and fun and adventure with the people He surrounds us with!

More on Being a Servant

As I've begun this New Year with my "word," I have been struck by the enormity of the challenge and the difficulty of the task! I am thankful for this new focus God has given me, but it is hard work! I continue to remind myself that this is only my "reasonable service" to a God who has given me so much.

I've struggled through this idea of being a servant, and I've discovered that the kind of servant I am is determined more by my attitude than by my actions. There are many people who perform actions of service with a grudging heart, but there are not any who have an attitude of humility and have found no way to serve. I find myself performing many actions of service throughout the day, but I am also continually reminding myself to change my attitude from selfishness to selflessness. I am not here for me. I am here for my Savior. How can I best serve Him today?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. ~Romans 12:1

As I was reading the verse above, I had an AHA moment! I am a LIVING - every day, every moment, in the here and now - sacrifice to God! I am never only serving my husband or my children or anybody else. I am first and always serving Jesus! I am not cooking supper to serve my family only. I am cooking supper and serving Jesus by, prayerfully, giving my family a picture of a living sacrifice - a person who is living life God's way and bringing glory to Him. My number one goal as a wife and mother is to show my family Jesus. What better way can I do that than by serving them the way Jesus would? Will my family want to be a part of God's way if I am grumbling and complaining about all that has gone wrong while trying to cook their supper? Will my family want to draw closer to this God I claim to serve if I act as though it's such a labor? In the words of Henry Blackaby from his devotional book Experiencing God Day by Day:

"Every day, you are to offer your life to Him for His service. You do not serve Him in your spare time or with your leftover resources. The way you live your life for God is your offering to Him." (emphasis mine)

I love this quote, and it is a great reminder to me to serve my GOD continually all day. I don't know about you, but many times, it helps me to remember that I'm not serving the smart aleck three year old; I'm serving the God who daily LOADS me with benefits (Psalm 68:19). I'm not serving the husband who did not pick up after himself; I'm serving the God with whom there is no variableness or shadow of turning (James 1:17). I'm not serving people who do not notice what I do; I'm serving my sweet Jesus who came to minister to and to give His life a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28), and one of those many was ME!!! And that, my friend, is how being a servant becomes a joy! Isn't our God so good to us? Even His commands bring such joy and contentment and fulfillment! It also brings quieter voices, better attitudes and quicker obedience to your home!

It is a struggle to serve continually, and it isn't the easy path. It's daunting work, but it has rewards so sweet. I'll be praying for you as you serve in the way God has asked you to today, and if you think of it, pray for me because I sure could use it!