Wherever you are in your story...
You are facing a challenge.
And you, like all of us, want a quick fix or three-step plan to get past it. God’s solution, while practical and effective, is not a quick formula, but an identity. There is always a you within the challenge you face, and a chance to grow in your understanding.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? —James 4:1
The good news is you have a great Dad.
How does that statement settle into your heart? God is your dad. Not your distant ruler. Not your earthly father. Your dad—in every heartfelt way you could imagine. He made you for relationship with Him, and even reveals himself as your Abba, translated “dad” (Rom. 8:15, Gal. 4:6). You can depend on him, even when he disciplines.
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. —Jeremiah 31:3
In Jesus, you are a new creation.
At the heart of the gospel is your brand-new identity. God performs a legal act when you make a profession of faith to Jesus Christ. He forgives you and removes the penalty you richly deserve. But there’s more good news. A real change takes place in you that redefines your being.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come. —2 Corinthians 5:17
The gospel is the way you grow.
When you become a new creation, it is not a period on the end of a sentence, but the start of a new story. The gospel covers your first step of faith. It is also the means by which you change to be more like Jesus and walk with him every day.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek.—Romans 1:16
Your ability to do, is built on what He has done.
God always gives a reason when he tells his people to do something. Usually, the reason is a joyful response to something he has already done. The scriptures are full of these Done-Do statements, either in the same verse, or a nearby chapter. Intentionally looking for this connection, and having the faith to apply His character to your circumstance and actions, will empower how you do life.
We forgive because God has forgiven us. —Ephesians 4:32
Joy keeps you going.
How magnificent the free gift of new identity in Christ! God is most glorified in you, when you are most satisfied in him (Piper). He created us to seek joy (Psa. 16:11, 43:4; Phil. 4:4). Obedience that comes out of a heart that depends on God for joy, produces obedient action that honors God. In contrast, sin is placing your joy/delight/filling in something or someone other than God.
If you love me, you will keep my commandments. —John 14:15
When you need to, you can repent without fear.
It’s easier to triumph over sin when we realize how good he is. That’s the point! So confess to God and to others. Hear this: your dad is not going to shut you out by your need to (again) repent. God does not put you in the “doghouse” to earn back his favor. It is his unchanging love that compels us to confess. Repentance is in fact a cause for joy, for we are becoming more like Christ.
But that is not the way you learned Christ! — assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life, and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. —Ephesians 4:20-24
So behold him.
We turn to what we really love. You, like a branch to a vine, need continual flow of life- giving nourishment; it is a long term process. Change in you is foundational to change in your relationships. You must relinquish control and turn your face toward Jesus to behold him and be transformed, and abide daily in the reservoir of love that is in him!
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. —2 Corinthians 3:18
Walk with intention.
Your kids and spouse are a blessing that makes you infinitely busy. In the chaos, it is difficult to remember his presence and put on the mind of Christ when looking at your next step. And how easily we forget the things God has done for us. Growth in the Christian life is not always about learning new info, but living in what you know.
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 3:14
Be faithful.
What does it look like to stay faithful to God’s Word? He does not require perfection, because Jesus was perfect in every way for you. Faithfulness looks like—reading the Word the way the Word wants to be read, memorizing passages about what God has done, praying those “done” passages, and having conversations that get to why we do what we do, because he does what he does.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. —Hebrews 10:23
Grow, together.
You can’t do this alone—as a person, or a parent. It’s important to remember the riches you have in Christ are often spoken of his people collectively. The ministry of the local church is not optional to the Christian. It’s not perfect, but is still the safe place where your family finds protection, comfort, and spiritual/practical care in a world that hates Jesus.
…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. —Ephesians 3:17b-19
