Preparing to Leave a Godly Legacy

Welcome! Thank you so much for joining us for our “Legacies” series!
Please take a moment to head over to the Encouraging Home for our giveaway!

 I’m excited to introduce Jami, from The Young Wife’s Guide. She is a blogger who has a heart for the Lord, and serving others. I’m always so blessed when I stop by her blog and I know you will be too!

As my husband and I prepare to have our first child this year, I find myself spending a lot of time wondering what it means to be a Godly mother.

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I dream about being able to do Bible studies as a family around the dining room table. I dream about having deep discussions about faith and life when our children reach their teens.  I envision a happy family who gladly gets up on Sunday morning and can’t wait to head to church and Bible study.

I know that it will not be this easy. I know that there will be Sunday mornings when kids are screaming and I want to stay in bed. And yet I wonder, pray, and dream about what it means to be a Godly mother.

How do I teach these things to my children on a daily basis when I fail as a Godly wife on a daily basis? I am not perfect and never will be. I fear that my own sin will get in the way and some how damage my children’s relationships with God.

But then I realize that God is the one who gifted me with this first child and hopefully more to come.

“Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.” Psalm 127:3

The Lord presents us with these blessings and gives them into our responsibility while they are on the earth. Ultimately though, if they grow in the Lord, they are His.

“But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:14

So while on this earth and in my care, I need to focus my efforts on training them up in the Lord and leaving a Godly legacy that they can pass on to their children. And I need to trust in the Lord that he will work through me to influence my children.

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6

As I learn on this journey I realize that my responsibility toward my children is to train them up in the Lord. This means being intentional about Bible studies and teaching them the Bible.

Leaving a Godly legacy starts with my character. I need to be loving, quite, gentle, having a feminine heart, and teaching them with humility and grace.

“and so train the young women to love their husband and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands” Titus 2:4-5

I find it interesting that God commands the older women to teach the younger women to love their husbands and their children, because I have a feeling that on the tough days, I may not feel very loving towards them. God knows this and he wants us to put that loving character and attitude on anyway.

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Leaving a Godly legacy and training our children up in the Lord takes an intentional, daily commitment to the Lord and growing in our own walk. It takes work. It will not happen overnight but God promises that it can be done.

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Deuteronomy 11:18-19

The idea that Moses shows us in Deuteronomy is that we would constantly be in God’s word and teaching it to our children. This means I need to cultivate and start the habit now, before I have this baby.

If I want to leave a Godly legacy and train my children up in the Lord, I need to spend intentional focused time loving the Lord, His word, and cultivating a Biblical Godly character.

But ultimately it comes down to the small daily tasks. Today I will choose to read my Bible. I will choose to memorize and meditate on His word. It starts with the small decisions and over time Godly character and a Godly legacy is established. I am a stay at home wife until we welcome our little one home, and want to take full advantage of the time I have now.

 I pray the Lord leads me in this new adventure into Motherhood and that he gives me the skills and knowledge to bring them up in the Lord.

*All scripture from the English Standard Version (ESV).

Bio: Jami is the proud wife of awesome Hubby Jason. She is excited to welcome their first bundle of joy in December 2012. In the meantime she is busy learning as many things as she can while she has time. Jami has a heart for hospitality and making her home an inviting place that reflects Christ. She loves sewing, scrap booking, cooking, baking, decorating her home, reading and taking bike rides with her husband.

Please click the following links the entire  “Legacies” series.

Day Two ~A Mom’s Faithfulness
Day Three~ Living A Legacy

Day Four~ What Will They Remember?
Day Five~A Legacy in a Jar


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