2025-05-11
Proverbs 22:6 KJV
Training your child is both challenging and rewarding. By shaping their underlying belief system, you help their developing brain establish permanent neural pathways that will guide their moral and spiritual growth. Neuroscientists Andrew Newberg and Mark Robert Waldman, authors of Born to Believe, tell us the most crucial years are from age seven to ten. That’s when your child has the greatest propensity to understand the concept of a God they can’t see, feel, or hear. What an ideal opportunity!
Newberg and Waldman also suggest that our most effective tool for belief building at this stage is storytelling, not preaching or moralizing. Stories that incorporate godly principles, moral behaviours, courage, faith, love, compassion, and forgiveness are welcomed, easily digested ingredients for building Christian character.
Storytelling was how God instructed the Israelites to teach their children His ways and Word. Stories of Adam and Eve, Noah, Daniel, Esther, Samson, Ruth, and David; of Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection; of Jesus walking on the sea, raising the dead, and feeding the five thousand, stir the hearts, interest, and imagination of young children and impart enduring, life-changing principles! In fact, studies show that the belief systems of adults are powerfully influenced by stories they heard growing up.
Implant stories that will become the underpinning for their character and the basis for a lifetime of faith. As a parent, it’s your job to encourage and stimulate their developing brain toward godly beliefs, decisions, and lifestyle!
Soul food: Exo 20:13; Gen 4:1-15; Matt 5:21-22
Spreuke 22:6 NLV
Om jou kind op te voed is beide uitdagend en lonend. Deur hulle onderliggende geloofsisteem te vorm, help jy hul ontwikkelende brein om permanente neurale weë te vestig wat hul morele en geestelike groei sal lei. Die neurowetenskaplikes, Andrew Newberg en Mark Robert Waldman, skrywers van die boek Born to Believe, sê vir ons dat die belangrikste jare die ouderdom van sewe tot tien is. Dit is wanneer jou kind die grootste geneigdheid het om die konsep van ‘n God wat hulle nie kan sien, voel of hoor nie, te verstaan. Wat ‘n ideale geleentheid!
Newberg en Waldman stel ook voor dat ons effektiefste instrument om ons kinders se geloof op hierdie stadium te bou storievertelling is, nie preke of moralisering nie. Verhale wat goddelike beginsels, morele gedrag, moed, geloof, liefde, deernis en vergifnis insluit, word maklik verteerbare bestanddele vir die bou van ‘n Christelike karakter.
Storievertelling is hoe God die Israeliete opdrag gegee het om hulle kinders in sy weë en Woord te leer. Verhale van Adam en Eva, Noag, Daniël, Ester, Simson, Rut en Dawid; van Christus se geboorte, lewe, dood en opstanding; van Jesus wat op die see loop, die dooies opwek en die vyfduisend voed, roer die harte, belangstelling en verbeelding van jong kinders en veroorsaak blywende, lewensveranderende beginsels! Trouens, studies toon dat die geloofstelsels van volwassenes kragtig deur stories wat hulle gehoor het toe hulle grootgeword het, beïnvloed word.
Vertel vir jou kinders stories wat hul karakter sal bou en die basis vir ‘n leeftyd van geloof sal word. As ouer is dit jou taak om hul ontwikkelende brein aan te moedig en te stimuleer tot goddelike oortuigings, besluite en lewenstyl!
Sielskos: Eks 20:13; Gen 4:1-15; Matt 5:21-22
2025-05-10
Romans 8:1 KJV
Once we understand that God’s love for us is based on what Christ did for us rather than what we do ourselves, the struggle is over. Now we can stop “performing,” and we can serve God because we know He loves us and that we don’t need to try to make Him love us. We no longer fear rejection by Him because of our mistakes. When we do something wrong, now all we do is repent, receive God’s forgiveness, and then refuse the condemnation that sin brings. Realizing we are loved and accepted even though we’re imperfect is such a relief!
Serving God out of desire rather than obligation is incredibly liberating! The moment you place your trust in Christ, God sees you as righteous from that point on. He doesn’t accept you because of your performance but because of your relationship with Him through Christ. And you need to decide to believe it and stand on it.
A noted minister writes: “We become what we believe we are; therefore, as we become convinced that we are right with God, our behaviour will improve. We will do things right and with less effort. No matter what other people may have told you that you are not, God delights in telling you in His Word who you are in Him – loved, valuable, precious, talented, gifted, capable, powerful, wise, and redeemed. Take a moment and repeat those nine things aloud. Say, ‘I am loved, valuable, precious, talented, gifted, capable, powerful, wise, and redeemed.'”
That’s how God sees you, and it’s how you need to start seeing yourself.
Soul food: Heb 1-4; Mark 6:14-29; Ps 18:1-29; Prov 11:19-21
Romeine 8:1 NLV
Wanneer ons verstaan dat God se liefde vir ons op wat Christus vir ons gedoen het, eerder as wat ons self gedoen het, gebaseer is, is die stryd verby. Nou kan ons God dien omdat ons weet dat Hy lief is vir ons en dat ons nie sy liefde hoef te verdien nie. Ons vrees nie meer verwerping deur Hom as gevolg van ons foute nie. Wanneer ons iets verkeerd doen, is al wat ons nou moet doen om ons te bekeer, God se vergifnis te ontvang en die veroordeling wat sonde meebring, te weier. Dis ‘n groot verligting om te besef dat ons ten spyte van ons onvolmaaktheid steeds geliefd en aanvaar is.
Om God uit begeerte eerder as verpligting te dien, is ongelooflik bevrydend! Die oomblik wanneer jy jou vertroue in Christus plaas, sien God jou van daardie oomblik af as geregverdig. Hy aanvaar jou nie as gevolg van jou prestasie nie, maar as gevolg van jou verhouding met Hom deur Christus. Jy moet slegs besluit om dit te glo en daarop te staan.
‘n Bekende predikant skryf: “Ons word wat ons glo ons is. Daarom sal ons gedrag verbeter wanneer ons begin glo dat ons deur God aanvaar word. Ons sal dinge op die regte manier en met minder moeite doen. Maak nie saak wat ander mense al vir jou gesê het nie, God geniet dit om deur sy Woord vir jou te vertel wie jy in Hom is – geliefd, waardevol, kosbaar, talentvol, begaafd, bekwaam, kragtig, wys en verlos. Neem ‘n oomblik en herhaal hierdie nege dinge hardop. Sê: ‘Ek is geliefd, waardevol, kosbaar, talentvol, begaafd, bekwaam, kragtig, wys en verlos.'”
Dis hoe God jou sien en dis hoe jy jouself moet begin sien.
Sielskos: Heb 1-4; Mark 6:14-29; Ps 18:1-29; Spr 11:19-21
2025-05-09
Genesis 1:27-28 NKJV
A pastor writes: “When God created man, he made him ‘in his own image.’ That was God’s original plan, and it has not changed. He wants to make us like himself… godly. He does it by working on our character through his Word, through his Holy Spirit, and through circumstances. The Greek word for ‘character’… means ‘tested and proven reliable.’ It brings to mind the work of a blacksmith, describing something that has gone through the fire, has been beat on… but has stood the test.”
Notice, one of the first things God said to man was, “Be fruitful.” And Jesus tells us how: “If you stay joined to me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit” (John 15:5 CEV). But fruit takes time to ripen. When you try to rush the process, it doesn’t taste as good. Have you ever tasted gassed tomatoes? You buy them at the grocery store. If farmers picked ripe tomatoes and shipped them, they would get smashed en route to market. So, they pick them green, spray them with ethylene gas before they go to market, and the gas quickly ripens green tomatoes into red. Nothing is wrong with those tomatoes, but if you have ever tasted a vine-ripened tomato, you know there is no comparison.
Similarly, it takes time for spiritual fruit to grow in your life. You can’t take a crash course and graduate with spiritual maturity. It requires a lifetime of walking with God, leaning on Him, learning from Him, and loving Him with all your heart. God wants to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life, so cooperate with Him.
Soul food: Titus 1-3; Mark 6:1-13; Ps 150; Prov 11:16-18
