“Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
My sister-in-law is fond of saying, “The life we live is the lesson we teach.” Let us believe it. It seems we learn more from example than from instruction, though both are necessary. Our attitude as mothers toward material things, other people, and the Lord will affect the lives of our children. When we read a chapter like 1 Corinthians 9, our conscience pricks us. Are we willing to suffer all things lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ (vs. 12)? Have we made ourselves servants unto all, that we might gain the more (vs. 19)? Are we willing to be made all things to all men, that we might by all means save some (vs. 22)? Is this our goal in life? Are we running the race of Christian living so as to obtain the prize? Or is our lifestyle telling our children that if we could, we’d just as soon pull down our barns and build greater, and saying to them, “Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:1919And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (Luke 12:19))? God called such a person a fool and said, “So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God” (vs. 21).
The Lord Jesus has won for us the most wonderful place in heaven, and He has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:66And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6)).
May this hope be the joy and form the attitude that flows from our lives to our children as we run the Christian race. As we keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus and have God-given goals before us, it will have its effect on us and then on our children.