In my last post I discussed the impact of my parent's decision to be faithful church attenders. I want to build on that in saying that they not only attended church, but they loved the fellowship with other believers. They were not legalistic in their attitude, but they lived consistent Christian lives - driving the speed limit, telling the truth, giving regularly - all practical evidences of their faith. They were the same at home as they were at church - there was no hypocrisy. What other people saw was the real thing.
My father was a quiet person who did not talk about his Christianity very much, but he lived it. My mother was talkative, had a beauty shop in our home, and influenced her customers - who were also her friends - for the Lord. At their 50th wedding anniversary celebration there were many younger people who gave testimony of the influence my parent's life had on them. One woman, a friend of my sister, said that my mother gave her the first birthday party of her life.
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In what way has the consistency of another believer influenced you?
Comments
We were talking about this exact issue last night at a monthly women's Bible Study. One of the girls in the group has a gift of discernment. She really keeps us on our toes but she does it in a loving way.
For example, at our last meeting we were talking about premarital sex and the teenagers of today. One woman mentioned that her and her daughter had a close relationship and that her daughter shared everything with her. Her daughter called her during her freshman year of college to tell her mom she was ready to have sex for the first time and she wanted to let her mom know. The mother was very touched that her daughter shared that with her and that the girl truly believed she loved this man and he loved her. To this story, our friend said, "And do you consider that a victory?" And the woman tried to justify it but in the end, we are called to bed with only our husband. And while it was wonderful her daughter felt comfortable with her mother enough to share this, in the end, getting through high school with out having sex is not enough. Our friend has a way of showing us to expect no less from His word and if we are willing to expect less on our end, are we expecting less of a blessing? Do we limit God's blessings on us or our children?
I attend a church where there are lots of families who have teenagers and young adults. It seems that the parents of these young people have almost as much peer pressure from this sort of thing as their children do.
One mother, in discouraging her son from moving in with a mixed male female group with one of the females being his girlfriend, actually had the girl's mother (supposedly a Christian) making her feel like she was wrong. The girl's mother thought she would be "protected" by living with her boyfriend!
The end result was that my friend stood her ground, not knowing if her son would resent it, but he was actually relieved that the pressure was now off him. How can we expect our children to take a stand if we are unwilling to stand against our own peer pressure - even among Christians.