Living the Lesson: Parenting Investments and Dividends

As a follow-up to some of our parenting posts, Marv will include a Living the Lesson scripture search to help moms and dads dig deeper into the Word of God.  These questions are meant to help you think through the areas where God may be transforming in your life.

Related post:  Parenting Investments and Dividends

Continuing on parenting investments and dividends, it is good to remember that it is a lot easier to give to our children and others when our own physical, emotional, and spiritual tank is full.

John 10:10b – “I have come that (you) may have life, and have it to the full.”

• Have you received His life?
• What else do you need to have it to the full?

1 Thessalonians 5:23,24 – “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.   May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

• According to this,  when can I expect “blamelessness”  or “perfection” for myself…my partner, and my children?
• Whose job is it to bring me to “blamelessness?”

Proverbs 1:33 – “Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

• Does God promise “no harm” or rather “no fear” of harmful situations?
• What opportunities to listen to God’s wisdom do you make available for yourself? [daily, weekly, other]

Proverbs 3:24-26 / Proverbs 3:1-6 – “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.  Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep you foot from being snared.”

These verses are the promised result of living in God’s wisdom and trusting God’s wisdom for my life – “sweet sleep” and secure pathways of life.  To receive God’s blessing I need to . . .

Galatians 5:22,23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

• Since fruit from a plant or tree is evidence of the character of the life within ( i.e. tomatoes from tomato plants, lemons from a lemon tree, etc.), what fruit of the Spirit are evidences of the Holy Spirit in me?
• What are fruit from me that I need the Holy Spirit to help me grow?

1 Corinthians 3:16,17 – “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…God’s temple is sacred,  and you are that temple.”

1 Corinthians 6:18,19,20 – “Flee from sexual immorality.  All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?  You are not your own; you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor god with your body. ”

• What does God think of my body?
• What is one practical way to protect my body as God’s temple?
• Who do I really hurt when I practice sexual immorality?
• What resource do I have to flee sexual immorality?

Matthew 6:19-21 – “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

• Since earthly treasures have earthly potential to be destroyed, to deteriorate, or to be stolen by others, what is the advantage of investing in “heavenly treasures”?  How are your investments going?

Genesis 17:7 – “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God, and the God of your descendants after you.”

• Since God has promised to be faithful to you and your descendants, how does that inspire you to commit to a God who cares about long-term and eternal values?

Related post:  Parenting Investments and Dividends