by Ruth Schwenk
[Jesus] said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
—LUKE 12:15
Watch out!” I yelled from our front porch. Unfortunately, my warning came a little too late. Sophia, our youngest child, was cruising down the side of the street on her scooter when I noticed the large pothole directly in her path. Just as I was warning her, she was hitting it!
As it turns out, moms are not the only protective ones. Even Jesus told His followers to watch out on occasion.
In one of those times, He warned us about greed. The desire for too much stuff is not always as easy to identify in ourselves as it is in other people. So we have to be on guard and watch out for the different ways we can desire to own too much stuff or allow our stuff to own us.
Jesus said we are to be on guard against “all kinds of greed.” This phrase implies that we can be stingy with more than just our treasure. We can hold too tightly to our possessions and our money. But we can also become tightfisted with our time, never giving away minutes or hours to others. We can also hold on to our gifts, not allowing God to use the talents and passions He has given us to bless others.
Each day we have countless opportunities to live greedily or generously. We serve a God who became poor to make us rich (2 Corinthians 8:9). He has given us far more than we deserve! Vow to live more generously today and to live with less so you can give more.
Father, You have blessed me more than I deserve. You have been generous to me. In Christ, You have saved me, forgiven me, and given me peace and hope. Help me give to others because You have given so much to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• Where do you struggle the most with greed? Is it with your time, gifts, or money?
• What are some ways you can live more generously today?
Friends Who Tell the Truth
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
—1 CORINTHIANS 13:6
I’m not sure I wanted to hear that,” I told my friend, “but I needed to hear it.” An older mom and dear friend had just given me a rare gift: the truth. I was struggling. Feeling exhausted. Honestly, I was hoping to have my thoughts and feelings validated. But instead of encouraging me and empathizing with me (which she did), she did something more, something far more valuable.
With compassion, my friend sliced through what I was feeling and thinking to speak truth to me. She gave me the reality check I desperately needed!
We all need friends like this friend of mine. Friends who will love us. Pray for us. Encourage us. Listen closely to us and help us carry our burdens when we feel overwhelmed. But one of the most loving things a friend can do is help us temper our thoughts, feelings, and actions with God’s truth.
Love desires to see a friend grow. It listens, feels, clarifies, uplifts, but always desires change. A friend who loves us and tells us the truth is willing to risk hurting our feelings for the sake of seeing us grow. Jesus taught that the truth sets us free (John 8:32). It sets us free from dangerous habits, toxic emotions, and unhealthy thoughts, enabling us to become better moms in the process.
Do we really want friends who only tell us what we want to hear? Is it really good for our own hearts, marriages, or families? The foundation of any good and God-honoring friendship is truth. Let’s build our friendships wisely by building them with love and truth.
Father, thank You for knowing the truth about me and loving me anyway. Show me where I am not walking in the truth. Are there actions, thoughts, or feelings that are not correct? Give me friends who will help me see, think, and feel clearly, enabling me to experience the freedom Your truth brings. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• Why is it not truly loving to say only what friends want to hear?
• What is one way you can begin building more truth, along with love, into your friendships?
More Than a Song
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
—ROMANS 12:1
I grew up singing, and still to this day worshipping God through song is one of my favorite things to do. But the New Testament instructs us that worship is bigger, more consuming than just singing songs. Worship is to be a way of life, a posture of the heart, set on loving God and loving others. This is “true and proper worship.”
Romans 12:1 is a reminder that a life of worship is a response. Paul wrote, “In view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.” It is a reaction to and for God. The only appropriate reaction to all that God has done for us in Christ is to give our lives back to Him. To worship Him.
We are to offer ourselves—our attitudes, speech, desires of our hearts, and the members of our bodies—in such a way that they are holy and pleasing to God. Every routine, seen and unseen, is to be an act of worship to the God who is worthy of it all.
In motherhood, countless moments seem ordinary. Folding clothes. Helping with homework. Doing the dishes. Teaching and instructing. Yet when done with a heart positioned to love God and love others, everyday moments are sacred. Just imagine how different today could be if we saw each moment as a moment meant for worship.
Worship God with your songs today. But don’t stop there. Worship Him in all you do, as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to the Lord.
Father, in light of Your great mercy, help me offer my body to You as a living sacrifice. Take my thoughts, my words, my hands, and my feet. I am offering all of who I am to You today. I want my life to be an offering to You, one that is holy and pleasing. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• In what area of your life do you most need the reminder that all of life is meant to be worship?
• What can you do to make the ordinary routines of motherhood moments of worship?
Yielding in Love
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
—EPHESIANS 5:21
In the past, whenever I thought of the word submit, I had visions of an army waving a white flag in defeat. Submission was never a positive word to me. It was a sign of defeat. But nothing could be further from the truth. To submit simply means to yield.
Recently, we were driving to the store and someone coming into our lane decided to ignore the yield sign. The result was almost disastrous! Yield signs are necessary for preventing countless accidents and collisions.
In marriage, submitting is about learning to yield in love to your spouse. Failing to yield in love to each other can be as dangerous as two cars fighting over the right of way. In fact, many marital conflicts are birthed out of a desire to be right or get our way. Submission, however, requires learning to be a servant-lover of our spouses.
Jesus is the ultimate example of One who submitted His life to the Father. In love, Jesus yielded His desires and will to the Father’s in order to bring us life through His death and resurrection. In marriage, we are to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, yielding to each other out of love.
Today, follow Jesus’ footsteps. Be willing to serve. Resist the temptation to always have to be right or in control. Ask God to give you the power to live like Jesus in your marriage. Ask that He might give you a servant’s heart—a heart that is growing in love.
Father, teach me to be like Your Son. Help me yield to my spouse in our marriage. Help us not to expect perfection from each other, but humbly serve one another. Give me the grace to resist wanting my way all the time. Empower me to lay down my life out of love for my spouse. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• What is the biggest reason you struggle to yield in love to your spouse?
• What is one simple way you can begin yielding in love to your spouse?
Greater Than Darkness
You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.
—PSALM 18:28
On my way to the kitchen early one morning, I passed the room of my olde
st daughter, Bella. Stopping to pull the door shut so I wouldn’t wake her, I noticed a small glow of light.
As I peeked in, I noticed the book light clipped to her headboard from her late-night reading. The lamp had shifted in the night and now was shining, like a spotlight, on Bella, who was sound asleep. The light was just enough to carve out some of the darkness.
When we open the Bible, we discover that God has been pushing back darkness from the very beginning. When He said, “Let there be light” in Genesis 1:3, it is better to read it as, “There will be light.” It was literally a command for the darkness to flee.
No matter how old we are, darkness can be scary. The “lights” go out, and we find ourselves in a season of despair. We’re disoriented. Unsure about what to do. Afraid of what may be ahead. But in the darkness, God does not leave us. He is still pushing it back and filling it with light—filling the darkness with Himself.
When darkness threatens to overtake us and we can’t see, it’s important for us to remember who we are following. God gives us His Word. His promises. His heart. And ultimately He gave us His Son. Jesus called Himself the “light of the world” (John 8:12). He was, He is, and He always will be! If we are in Him, we are never truly walking in darkness.
God doesn’t give us a map, but He gave us His Son. We must turn to Jesus, the only One who can turn our darkness into light.
Father, You have promised never to leave me or forsake me. Your Word is like a lamp for my feet. Your Son is the Light of the world. Even when I can’t see You or understand what You are doing, help me hold on to these truths and keep trusting You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• In what ways can God use seasons of darkness to transform you?
• In what ways do you resist God when life doesn’t make sense or the path doesn’t seem clear?
Learning to Truly Love
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
—1 JOHN 3:16
Have you ever felt unappreciated as a mom? Have you ever felt frustrated by your kids’ seeming indifference about all you do for them? Guess what? You are not alone. And it’s tough to love when you don’t always get a return.
Of course, at times we get a cute card, a text message, or a thank-you. But more often than not, what we do seems to go unnoticed and unappreciated. So we need to guard our hearts against our quiet pity parties. We need to see that God is using motherhood to do something glorious in us: He is making us more like Christ. The heart work that God wants to do in us is to teach us how to love as He loves.
As we pour ourselves out for our children, God is changing us and giving us a deeper understanding of true love. With the help of His Spirit, God enables us to love for the sake of someone else. He is turning us outward when we could easily turn inward.
Yes, true love is costly and sacrificial. It requires that we lay down our lives for our children, and this kind of love gives—even if no one notices. After all, God first loved us, long before we ever loved Him back. May we as moms learn to love like that.
Father, I confess that I am still learning how to truly love. Forgive me for the times when I love with the expectation of getting something in return. I can’t love the way I want to love on my own, so give me Your strength to love sacrificially. Give me grace to love for the good of others and not just for what I might get in return. Help me lay down my life just as Jesus laid down His life for me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• Appreciation and respect are good things, but how can they become idols?
• Take a minute and read 1 John 3:16 again. In what ways are moms to imitate Christ’s love?
God Loves the Real You
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
—1 JOHN 3:1
A parent’s voice is powerful, isn’t it? I love that we belong to a Father who is not silent. He is a Father who not only speaks to His children, but speaks over His children. In 1 John 3:1, I find it interesting that the apostle John added the phrase, “And that is what we are!” We might not always believe, feel, or truly comprehend that God loves us enough to call us His children, but our Father says we really are!
Our Father doesn’t just love us; He loves the real us. We can act as if we have it all together when sometimes we don’t. We can pretend we aren’t struggling when we really are. If we’re honest, we can hide those areas of our lives where we are still growing. But we don’t need to do that with God. Because we are in Christ, forgiven and righteous through His sacrifice, we are loved. Completely. Our Father knows us—all of us—and still loves us.
To make sure we remember our Father’s love when it gets hard to hear His voice, He put His Spirit inside us (Romans 8:14–17). The Spirit helps us hear the truth about who and what we really are. His voice reminds us that we are not only forgiven, but we are accepted. We are adopted into God’s family. We are His daughters.
If you are in Christ, look and see what great love the Father has lavished on you. This love calls you “My daughter.” You are family. May His love for you ring loudly in your ears today: you are His. He loves you—the real you.
Father, thank You for loving me. You know everything about me. You see the areas where I’m still growing, and You are patient, kind, and compassionate to me. Help me not to run from You, but to run to You. Your grace and love are what I need. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• In what ways do you hide or pretend you are doing okay when you really aren’t?
• Why is it so freeing to know that God loves you, the real you?
Weak Spots
Do not give the devil a foothold.
—EPHESIANS 4:27
Our family set out with great enthusiasm. We lathered up in sunscreen. Put on our sunglasses. Made sure our life jackets were securely fastened. And off we went down the river in our kayaks.
I realized later, however, that there was a problem: I failed to put sunscreen on the tops of my knees. Four hours later, I could barely touch them. They were torched. To this day, when we are on the water, I put sunscreen on my knees first.
I learned a lesson that day: we can be almost completely protected, but all it takes for damage to be done is exposure in a single spot. That’s all our enemy needs.
Part of what makes the spiritual life challenging is that we have a very real spiritual enemy. He is not indifferent to us, nor is he apathetic toward our calling as moms. First Peter 5:8 says Satan “prowls around . . . looking for someone to devour.” All he needs is one spot to get a foothold.
The enemy doesn’t need all of your emotions. Just one. He doesn’t need all of your relationships. Just one. He doesn’t need all of your pleasures. Just one. He doesn’t need all of us. Our enemy needs only one weak spot. With only one area unprotected and exposed, Satan can get a foothold in our lives.
We don’t need to be scared, but we do want to be wise. In your parenting, be alert and stand firm in your faith.
Father, give me Your grace to stand firm. Fill me with Your Spirit, who I know is greater and more powerful than the enemy. Give me wisdom to know where I am vulnerable. I ask for Your power and protection over my marriage, family, and home. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• What does it mean for the devil to get a “foothold” in your life?
• What do you need to do today in order to walk wisely and be protected from the enemy?
Friendships Need Forgiveness
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
—COLOSSIANS 3:13
Friendships without forgiveness will never last. Conflict inevitably arises in even the best relationships. We say things we regret. We act out of pride, insecurity, or the desire to be in control. These are just few of the reasons why forgiveness is so important in every friendship.
We are commanded to �
�bear with each other.” To bear with one another means to endure. We are to be the kind of friend who sticks with the relationship. We don’t give up early or easily when a friendship gets messy. And key to bearing with each other is the willingness to forgive.
Understand that forgiveness doesn’t mean sweeping hurt under the rug. We don’t minimize an offense. If we have been wronged, we acknowledge the pain and go to the person, seeking to reconcile and make right the wrong that was done. At that point, forgiveness is a decision to let the offense go. We make a conscious choice not to make that person pay for what she has done to us.
Choosing to forgive doesn’t mean we no longer remember or feel the hurt. But when we ask God, He will provide the strength we need to allow our love to cover over a sin, misunderstanding, or conflict. Forgiveness enables us to maintain a relationship we value or treasure.
Is there someone you need to forgive? Do you struggle to stick with a friendship when it gets hard? I encourage you to be a friend who endures. Bear with your friends out of your love for one another. Be quick to acknowledge your own sin and quick to forgive when you are sinned against.
Father, thank You for Your grace. Thank You for the gift of friendship. I pray that You would help me be patient, compassionate, and always willing to forgive when my friendships get messy. Fill me with Your Spirit so that I might be able to show the same kind of love and forgiveness You have shown me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
• Why do we often find it difficult to have long-lasting friendships?