Day 8 of the 21 Day Challenge

In John 8:31-47, Jesus started out by addressing some Jews who had believed Him. He said to them, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." They questioned how He could say they would be set free when they were descendants of Abraham and had never been slave to anyone. In verse 39, they say Abraham is their father. In verse 41, they say the only Father they have is God himself. Jesus then tells that if God was their Father, they would love Him (Jesus) because He came from God. Jesus then said something that I'm sure the people found quite harsh. In verse 44, Jesus tells them that they belong to their father, the devil. OUCH! These Jews prided themselves on who their ancestors were. They seemed to believe that because their ancestor was Abraham, they were automatically Christians. It made me think about my own family. My grandparents lived right down the road from us and were wonderful Christian examples to all who knew them. My parents as well are Christians. Did the fact that my grandparents, parents, and many of my aunts and uncles were Christians automatically make me a Christian? No! I had to ask Jesus to forgive my sins just like everyone else! I needed to seek His will for my life and not just assume that I knew what being a Christian meant and go through the motions without really getting to know Christ. We need to be careful to not become complacent and think we've "done enough" to make it into heaven. We can't rely on who our ancestors were or even things we've done in the past. We need to live each and every day for Him!

Proverbs 17:27-28 says, "A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue." It is evident from reading my blog that God has been dealing with me about watching what I say and how I say it. Verse 28 made me realize that I don't want people to THINK I'm wise or discerning. I want to actually BE wise. I don't want to be a fool and am only thought of as wise if I keep silent about something. I want to make sure I am always thinking first before I speak so that I truly am displaying wisdom and discernment. I also realized that when I need to correct my children about something, I often use too many words and "go on and on" about the issue. I guess in my brain, I think my kids aren't listening so I keep talking in hopes that they'll hear what I'm saying. I need to learn to get to the point immediately and then let it go. I think that would make a bigger impact and wouldn't cause my kids to tune me out so much. I don't need to bring up all the previous times they did the same thing. I can tell them point blank what they did wrong and what the punishment is. If adults tend to tune people out when they drone on and on, why do I think my own kids won't tune me out when I am the one talking too much?