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A lot of us are familiar with the usual Bible verses directed at parents:
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:7
But have you ever heard Malachi 2:15(a) thrown at you?
I hadn’t spent much time in the minor prophets, but one summer I decided to tackle them. Why I waited so long to discover the nuggets of goodness in them, I don’t know. When I got to Malachi I was pleased as I approached the end of the Old Testament, anxious to move on to something new.
Then I hit the first part of verse 2:15. It was during this time that God was convicting me of starting what would become the TGMT ministry, and I was struggling with why I wasn’t being a good steward of the gifts and talents He had given me toward that end.
In the passages leading up to verse fifteen, the prophet Malachi is chastising Israel for their unfaithfulness toward God. Their people have intermarried with those of other gods, causing them to turn away from the one true God. They weep and wail because they think God has abandoned them, only they don’t understand that it’s because of their own behavior. Even if they did marry outside their faith, God should have been first and foremost in their marriage. Instead, countless Jews found themselves unfaithful even to that spouse.
And why is it that faithfulness to both God and spouse in marriage is so important to the Lord? Read what the first part of Malachi 2:15 says, and what I’ve italicized to highlight the point:
Has not the Lord made them [husband and wife] one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring.
That line just grabbed me. It put so much into perspective. Our marriages are sanctified by God, but not for our benefit. They’re so we can create a legacy of God in our family line by passing on the truths of God to our children. It keeps coming back to the same ol‘, same old.
It’s not about us.
I was so impacted by the depth of Malachi 2:15 that I made it my theme verse for the TGMT ministry. You’ll find it located at the bottom of this page.
I hope you consider this verse and make it the foundation of the missions work you do within your family. Creating a legacy for God within our homes is the entire reason God blesses us with children, however they come to us. I pray the words provide focus and motivation for teaching your child about the God of the universe.
Please share the instruction and encouragement you find here at the TGMT ministry with others. Email a link or direct your friends on various social media to visit The Greatest Mission Trip. You’ll be helping other parents consider the legacy God wants them to create in their families.
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Deuteronomy 6:7
But have you ever heard Malachi 2:15(a) thrown at you?
I hadn’t spent much time in the minor prophets, but one summer I decided to tackle them. Why I waited so long to discover the nuggets of goodness in them, I don’t know. When I got to Malachi I was pleased as I approached the end of the Old Testament, anxious to move on to something new.
Then I hit the first part of verse 2:15. It was during this time that God was convicting me of starting what would become the TGMT ministry, and I was struggling with why I wasn’t being a good steward of the gifts and talents He had given me toward that end.
In the passages leading up to verse fifteen, the prophet Malachi is chastising Israel for their unfaithfulness toward God. Their people have intermarried with those of other gods, causing them to turn away from the one true God. They weep and wail because they think God has abandoned them, only they don’t understand that it’s because of their own behavior. Even if they did marry outside their faith, God should have been first and foremost in their marriage. Instead, countless Jews found themselves unfaithful even to that spouse.
And why is it that faithfulness to both God and spouse in marriage is so important to the Lord? Read what the first part of Malachi 2:15 says, and what I’ve italicized to highlight the point:
Has not the Lord made them [husband and wife] one? In flesh and spirit they are His. And why one? Because He was seeking godly offspring.
That line just grabbed me. It put so much into perspective. Our marriages are sanctified by God, but not for our benefit. They’re so we can create a legacy of God in our family line by passing on the truths of God to our children. It keeps coming back to the same ol‘, same old.
It’s not about us.
I was so impacted by the depth of Malachi 2:15 that I made it my theme verse for the TGMT ministry. You’ll find it located at the bottom of this page.
I hope you consider this verse and make it the foundation of the missions work you do within your family. Creating a legacy for God within our homes is the entire reason God blesses us with children, however they come to us. I pray the words provide focus and motivation for teaching your child about the God of the universe.
Please share the instruction and encouragement you find here at the TGMT ministry with others. Email a link or direct your friends on various social media to visit The Greatest Mission Trip. You’ll be helping other parents consider the legacy God wants them to create in their families.
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2 comments:
Great post Deb. It's easy to get caught up in our lives and our perspective. However we need to seek His Kingdom first and that involves looking at things from an eternal perspective. Decisions in our lives should not be just about what is best for us right now but first what is best for the furthering of God's Kingdom. We won't be here in not too many years from now but hopefully what we've invested in our children and done in His name while we were here will continue to bear fruit.
r,
I couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for leaving your comment.
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