The Spirit In Us (5/13/2018)

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Do you know of any job that’s harder than being a mother? It has to be one of the most difficult jobs any woman will ever have. The amount of time, energy and love that’s required to be a mother seems to be limitless at times. Yet, somehow you ladies do it. For that, we say, “Thank you.”

However, as mother’s get older and gain some experience, they learn there are different, and perhaps even better ways, to be a parent. The following list comes from humormatters.com. It’s called

The Evolution of Motherhood

Yes, parenthood changes everything. But parenthood also changes with each baby. Here are some of the ways having a second and third child differs from having your first:

Your Clothes:

1st baby: You begin wearing maternity clothes as soon as your OB/GYN confirms your pregnancy.
2nd baby: You wear your regular clothes for as long as possible.
3rd baby: Your maternity clothes ARE your regular clothes.

The Baby’s Name:

1st baby: You pour over baby-name books and practice pronouncing and writing combinations of all your favorites.
2nd baby: Someone has to name his or her kid after your great-aunt Mavis, right? It might as well be you.
3rd baby: You open a name book, close your eyes, and see where your finger points.

Preparing for the Birth:

1st baby: You practice your breathing religiously.
2nd baby: You don’t bother practicing because you remember that last time, breathing didn’t do a thing.
3rd baby: You ask for an epidural in your 8th month.

Worries:

1st baby: At the first sign of distress-a whimper, a frown-you pick up the baby.
2nd baby: You pick the baby up when her wails threaten to wake your firstborn.
3rd baby: You teach your 3-year-old how to rewind the mechanical swing.

Going Out:

1st baby: The first time you leave your baby with a sitter, you call home 5 times.
2nd baby: Just before you walk out the door, you remember to leave a number where you can be reached.
3rd baby: You leave instructions for the sitter to call only if she sees blood.

At Home:

1st baby: You spend a good bit of every day just gazing at the baby.
2nd baby: You spend a bit of every day watching to be sure your older child isn’t squeezing, poking, or hitting the baby.

3rd baby: You spend a little bit of every day hiding from the children.

Of course, all of this is done in love.

No mother is perfect but there’s something special about the love and compassion mothers show their children. Fathers show love and compassion to their children also but the bond between mothers and their children can’t be duplicated by anyone else.

Although the Bible says God is our Father and Jesus is the Son, Genesis 1:27 says, God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.”

The love mothers show their children is a reflection of the nature and love of God that’s in them. It flows from their very being because God put it there. This makes mothers a good role model for how all of us should treat God and each other.

In addition to filling us with his love, God gives us something else.

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 says, Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.” (Romans 12:6-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:28 lists other spiritual gifts as well.)

The Bible teaches that every person who accepts Jesus as his or her Savior receives the Holy Spirit. This passage says the Spirit then gives each person spiritual gifts. What are we supposed to do with these gifts? Verse 7 tells us to use them for the common good.

We aren’t supposed to use the gift of wisdom just to get ahead in life. The gift of healing isn’t given to someone so he or she can make money off sick people. Miraculous powers aren’t for the purpose of impressing others. All of these gifts are to be used to build up both God’s kingdom and each other.

We’re to use our gifts for God – even if we don’t completely understand what God is doing with them.

When I was in 8th grade, I played center on our middle school football team. To say we were offensively challenged is an understatement. We played six games…and scored a total of twelve points. Yet we managed to tie two of the games. Our record was 0-4-2. Do you know how good you have to be to only score twelve points but still tie two games?

One of my fondest memories is that my mom made sure she went to every game she could. During every sad ride home after the game, she spoke encouraging words letting me know I’d played well -even though I knew that wasn’t always true. I’ll never forget one of these conversations. Right after she tried to build me up, she asked, “What do you all always kick the ball away after three plays?”

She didn’t even understand the basic rules of when you’re supposed to punt the ball. Yet, she was there to support me for my common good. This is a great example of how we are to use our spiritual gifts. We don’t have to understand what God is going to do with our actions. We just have to listen to God and do them.

Perhaps at this point you’re thinking, “I don’t have any spiritual gifts.” The Bible says you do. Most likely the problem is you don’t know what they are. (Please contact me for a spiritual gifts assessment form. We’re asking every person who attends SSVCoB to complete one so we can see what spiritual gifts God has given us.)

Just like mothers, we show love when we use our spiritual gifts. As we grow more spiritually mature and practice using them, we’ll discover that details we thought were important in year one won’t be so critical in year three. The important thing is that we love others by using them.