A Godly Legacy

Wow! It's been a long time!  It's good to be back.

I love it when you read a passage and suddenly God opens your eyes to a new world!  That happened to me this morning as I read 1 Timothy 2:15.  That has always been one of those unclear scriptures but I have been listening to a series of sermons by John MacArthur that shed new light and decided to read it again this morning.
"But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint."
It dawned on me that our legacy comes through raising godly children.  This is a question I often ponder: how do I raise godly children? I do know that they become like who I am, not who I want them to be or even teach them to be.  This requires my walk with God to be dynamic and growing. Growing how? In faith, in love, in sanctity and in self-restraint. 
Each of these deserves an in-depth study (stay tuned, I intend to follow up). But a quick overview of my life revealed this to me.
Faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Growing in my faith is to make my daily decisions in a way different from my usual, analytical thinking. It's to consider God's promises as I make plans for my day, instruct and train the kids and handle our finances.
Growing in love for me means to lose the immediate attitudes that seem to pop up and instead, serve, encourage, and uplift my husband, my kids, my friends and strangers.
Sanctity is a little elusive in its meaning but could it mean purity? Having a pure heart.  Wow, that's a tough one. That's going to have to come from the Spirit. 
Self-restraint, or discipline, is something that I have so little of  in every area.  God will not stop hounding me about this, thankfully.  Hard as it is, it is crucial in our walk with Christ.  I have seen growth this year in this area, which makes me thankful and hopeful.
I look forward to a deeper study of these four areas that will produce fruit in my children and myself!