Parenting: Am I Doing This Right? | So You Want to have a Baby?
Friday, May 22nd 2020
Before jumping into parenthood, commit to adulthood!
1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
Before jumping into parenthood, commit to adulthood!
Grow Up your conversation
Proverbs 18:21 ESV
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Ephesians 4:29 ESV
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Grow Up your thinking
Philippians 4:8 NLT
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.
Grow Up your decision making
“In light of my past experience, my present circumstances,
and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do?”
Andy Stanley: The Best Question Ever
Proverbs 3:13,17-18 CEV
God blesses everyone who has wisdom and common sense…Wisdom makes life pleasant and leads us safely along. Wisdom is a life-giving tree, the source of happiness for all who hold on to her.
James 1:5 NIV
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
You can’t be a child and have a child…
How you talk.
How you think. As an adult you must become responsible, consequences for actions, no one owes you anything.
How you process: why you do what you do, how you justify your actions, how you spend your time and money, wise or foolish.
I believe the reason that God takes 9 months to craft a baby is not because it takes him that long, but because he’s giving you time to get ready!
Before jumping into parenthood, commit to adulthood in these 3 ways: grow up your conversation, grow up your thoughts, and grow up your decision making. Just as 1 Corinthians 13:11 states.
Why your conversation?
Because words are powerful and influential. Words are used for good or evil. Proverbs 18:21 Conciously choose to use them for good. Ephesians 4:29
What do you thoughts have to do with anything?
Average person produces between 35,000 and 50,000 thoughts a day. In a 24 hour period, there are 86,400 seconds. So if we take the average, of 45,000 thoughts, we are thinking a new thought every 1.92 seconds!!!
Many of us don’t realize the relationship between our thoughts, our feelings, and the actions that we ultimately take
“What are thoughts? They’re made up of our memories, our perceptions, our beliefs. They’re glimpses, even snippets, of ideas. Our thoughts determine the orientation of everything we do. They evoke the feelings that frame our world and motivate our actions. And they have the power to change the way we feel. Each behavior begins this way: A thought stimulates an electrochemical response, which produces emotion; emotion results in an attitude; attitude produces behavior. This process affects the way we think and feel physically. So negative or toxic thoughts produce toxic emotions. Those produce toxic attitudes, which result in toxic behavior.” – H. Norman Wright
Philippians 4:8 instructs us to fix our thoughts on what is pure, lovely, and admirable. And to think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Because a negative thought will never produce a positive action.
What is it about your decision making?
Wisdom is the application of knowledge tempered by experience. There are experiences you just don’t have yet. So how do you make a wise decision without the experience?
“In light of my past experience, my present circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what is the wise thing for me to do?” Andy Stanley: The Best Question Ever.
And don’t forget to ask God. Proverbs 3:13, 17-18 and James 1:5