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HIS & HERS (GENDER ROLES SERIES)

By Hannah Helms Leave a Comment

HIS & HERS (GENDER ROLES) - New Identity Magazine

Amidst the unsolicited advice and passionate opinions from friends, relatives, and strangers on the street, one of the greatest challenges that prospective parents face is the task of sifting through the endless sea of information about parenting. Hopeful parents must contend with a wealth of parenting philosophies, mommy blogs, safety information and product reviews. It is further complicated for couples navigating the intersection of their Christian faith and the role that each parent will take on as mother or father of their potential children.

The way Americans parent is dynamic. The stereotype of the nuclear family with a breadwinning father and a stay-at-home mother is no longer the norm. Biblical interpretation and Christian teachings on the responsibilities of men and women in regards to childrearing have a profound impact on parenting. What are these interpretations and teachings?

It helps to begin with an understanding of the history and the current state of the American family. According to Josh Sanburn’s “A Brief History: The American Family” for Time Magazine, the pre-industrial American family of the 1700’s was primarily agrarian, where both parents were responsible for ensuring the success of a home based economy, and children were needed to both provide labor and actively participate in the family enterprise. In the Industrial Revolution of the 1800’s, industry moved to urban areas, work became more separated from the home, and the idea of the husband as the breadwinner took off. According to Sanburn, this idea was further developed during the post-WWII prosperity of the 1950’s, when the white suburban family with a stay-at-home mother and a father who worked 9-5 became the stereotype for the American family. This dynamic fostered the expectation that the father worked outside the home to financially provide for his family, and the mother was to care for the children in the home.

This baby-boom era stereotype is still firmly planted in the minds of many Americans as how families should be. However the reality of the present day American family is a far cry from this stereotype. According to the Pew Research Center, 60% of American households have a dual income, meaning that fathers are no longer filling the role of primary breadwinners. For many Americans, the roles of mothers and fathers are merging – women are taking on paid work outside the home, and men are taking on more direct child care tasks, and both mothers and fathers are conflicted about their work-life balance. In a survey, approximately 50% of fathers interviewed expressed a desire to be at home and spend more time with their children, while the other half expressed a desire to work outside the home, despite the time away from their families. The response from mothers was nearly identical. Both parents desire to spend more time with their children, but also have a drive to provide for them by working outside the home. How do we reconcile this juxtaposition? What should the priorities of parenting be?

With this tension between the history of family structure in America and its current status, Christians must determine what it means to parent, and that can include which partner in a marriage is responsible for which aspects of parenting. Christian parents can look for directives for childrearing in Scripture, specifically the book of Proverbs (a book of wisdom in all aspects of life). Apart from the obvious requirement of providing for the physical needs of children (1 Timothy 5:8), perhaps the most well-known verse pertaining to parents is Proverbs 22:6. It reads, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (ESV). This is not the only scripture that directs parents to be teachers of their children.

Deuteronomy 6:5-8 reads: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise..”

From these passages, it is clear that parents are responsible for the spiritual education of their children. Deuteronomy 4:9-10 and 11:18-19 echo similar commands.

Scripture also directs parents to discipline their children. Proverbs 13:24, 19:18, 22:15, 23:13, 29:15, and 29:17, direct parents to “use the rod of discipline” with their children. The intent of disciplining children is to keep them from folly and to further guide them in the ways of wisdom. In ancient Aramaic culture, according to The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament, discipline, including corporal punishment, was considered essential to a child’s welfare. While the belief and instruction for parents to be disciplinarians still holds true, the methods of discipline that parents use are diverse. There are some theologians and denominations that take the directive to use corporal punishment literally; other Christians believe that corporal punishment in the Bible was culturally specific, and that it does not mean that they are required to physically discipline their children. Christians who choose not to spank their children implement other forms of discipline, such as time-outs, removal of toys, loss of privileges, or choosing other consequences.

Interestingly, Colossians 3:21 and Ephesians 6:4 also tells parents to “not provoke your children.” The apostle Paul instructed Christians in the early churches to avoid over-disciplining children. Parents can perhaps reach a place of balance in the way that they approach childrearing by understanding the need for discipline as expressed in Proverbs, but to also enact discipline appropriately and in moderation per these passages. It is unclear if or how the responsibilities of discipline are to be divvied up.

Christian parents may find it frustrating to learn that this is the extent of the Bible’s specific instructions regarding parenting and it doesn’t even mention certain roles for a mother or father. The Bible tells parents to educate their children in the ways of the Lord, to discipline them, to meet their physical needs, and to refrain from provoking them. Within these directives, there is little expounded upon in regards to method, strategy, or parenting technique. This, according to John Kimbell’s article “Biblical Commands & Wisdom in Parenting” for The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, “releases some of the pressure that we may put on ourselves regarding all that we ‘should’ be doing for our children.” This approach understands Scripture’s relative dearth of parenting directives as a positive, granting freedom in childrearing choices.

Despite the lack of clear instructions given to parents on the respective tasks of motherhood and fatherhood, there are still a variety of teachings and opinions within the Christian community as to what roles parents should take on.

The lack of specifics in Scripture allow for a wide variety of parenting practices, and may explain the overwhelming number of books and teachings on how Christians ought to parent. Christian teachers or parenting advocates present their method of carrying out Scripture’s instructions to parents as the correct means of doing so. Kimbell addresses this as well, stating, “It is crucial that we distinguish a biblical command that comes to us as parents from the application of that command which requires wisdom in particular circumstances and which may be applied in different ways in different families.” There is no-one-size-fits-all way to parenting biblically, but parents can rely on Scripture and prayer to guide them in childrearing.

[bctt tweet=”Parents can rely on Scripture and prayer to guide them in childrearing.”]

Though Scripture is vague in regards to the respective tasks of motherhood and fatherhood, there are still a variety of teachings and opinions within the Christian community as to what roles parents should take on. The complementarian view of male-female relationships results in specific ideas about motherhood and fatherhood. In short, the complementation view supports male headship in a family, with the wife submitting to the leadership of her husband and the children submitting to both parents. Complementarians hold that men and women are created with distinctive roles and responsibilities in relationships. This perspective on gender roles and relationships teaches that wives are subject to the rightful authority and leadership of their husbands, in the same way that the Church is subject to Christ. Husbands are called to submit to the authority of Christ and to love their wives. Philippians 2:3 provides a good overview of understanding submission in this context, as it states “do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Due to these views regarding male-female roles in marriage, many complementarians follow set roles for the mother and the father in a family. In an interview dated October 3, 2008, John Piper expressed his view on the different roles that mothers and fathers should take on. He asserts: “Fathers are given a unique responsibility in the marriage to lead, protect and provide for a wife, those three things. And the children are watching this, and they know that a special role is given to dad.” Piper sums up quite well the overall view that many complementarians have toward the role of fathers – that fathers are to be the leaders of a family, and that one of the greatest tasks that a father can take on is that of provider for a family. Because of this view, many complementarians subscribe to what Americans consider a “traditional” family model, with a father who is the primary breadwinner, and a mother who resides at home and takes on the majority of childrearing responsibilities.

While the Bible clearly instructs parents about their responsibility for the spiritual education and discipline of their offspring, these often fall to the wayside as mothers and fathers try to divide the childcare tasks.

In regards to the complementation view of what women are responsible for in a parenting relationship, many complementarians believe that marriage and motherhood are the primary calling for a woman. This is not to say that those who identify as complementarians do not support single women, or single mothers, or couples who cannot have children. Rather, there is a strong emphasis and reverence on motherhood as a biblical calling for women. In his May 8, 2005 sermon John Piper elaborates on this, encouraging women to the “biblical calling of marriage, the joyful support of a husband and his calling … and motherhood, the transmission of a God-centered, Christ-treasuring vision of life to your children.” The complementation view holds that one of the primary ways that women can submit to and honor their husbands is by supporting their husbands in work and ministry, and following their husband’s vision for marriage. According to the complementation view, gender roles with regards to childrearing are more clearly recognized. A wife is seen as primary caregiver and a husband as primary provider, usually monetarily.

Not all Christians see parenting as clearly divided by gender as complementarians do. Another viewpoint (called egalitarian) holds that both men and women are created equally, and that the hierarchy that forms in male-female relationships is the result of the introduction of sin into the world. Egalitarians believe that men and women should submit to each other within the context of marriage and do not believe that gender pre-determines roles in childrearing.

In a blog entry entitled “Egalitarian Marriage: What it Looks Like,” Jonalyn Fincher emphasizes that, with an egalitarian view, there is room for more flexible roles. She writes, “Roles for the husband and wife follow from their gifts and abilities, not from their gender.” In an egalitarian marriage, the wife may be gifted with business savvy, and a husband may naturally have a caring demeanor and be nurturing. Because of this, it is not uncommon to see egalitarian relationships embrace the option of women playing the role of breadwinner, and men as stay at home parents. This does not mean, however, that egalitarian parents ignore differences between men and women. Fincher acknowledges, “sometimes our gender reveals our gifts: for a woman this may mean childbearing… But the role of a parent is open to both father and mother.”

Meredith Anne Miller echoes Fincher’s ideas in her article entitled “I’m an Egalitarian and a Stay At Home Mom” for The Junia Project blog. She writes, “The point is to use our giftedness to serve Christ and his Kingdom – in our families, our churches, and our communities.” Miller emphasizes that both men and women, fathers and mothers, are to first and foremost identify as followers of Christ. In the context of marriage and family, this means utilizing the unique gifts that each partner has been given for the spiritual instruction and rearing of their children. Miller summarizes this idea: “I became a stay-at-home mom precisely because I am an egalitarian. Egalitarianism reminded me that there is no set path I have to take because of my gender. I just need to steward the life and gifts God has given me.” Egalitarians see a freedom in marriage and in parenting based on individual gifts and strengths rather than one in which duties are predetermined on the basis of gender.

Despite the differences within Christianity regarding parental roles, both complementarians and egalitarians agree that the biblical directives are the primary guides to parenting, and that, regardless of what role they play, both parents bear the responsibility to live those directives out. In his October 3, 2008 interview, John Piper states: “Both mom and dad are responsible to give commandments and give teachings. The book of Proverbs talks about the teaching of a mother as well as of a father, so a parental team confronts this child with the will of God and with godliness.”

In an article for Sojourners (a faith-based, social justice magazine) entitled “The Struggles of Christian Parenting,” Stephen Mattson elaborates on Piper’s point and also touches on the challenge and burden that comes with this responsibility. While the Bible clearly instructs parents about their responsibility for the spiritual education and discipline of their offspring, these often fall to the wayside as mothers and fathers try to divide the childcare tasks. Mattson writes, “This is probably the hardest thing about Christian parenting: wanting our kids to actually live like Christ… Christ-like parenting requires us to eagerly raise our children with the expectation that they might be viewed as subpar, unsuccessful, and complete failures according to worldly standards.” This idea seems completely out of line with everything that American culture throws at parents. When faced with the task of raising children to emulate Christ, the question of navigating gender roles and parenting seems to pale in comparison. This is the heart of the matter: in the midst of questions about gender roles, the most important responsibility that a Christian mother or father bears is to emulate Christ and spiritually educate their children.

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Filed Under: Featured, Grow, Spotlight: In Perspective Tagged With: Issue 26

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New Identity | Exploring Faith
We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 We're happy to announce that the Fall/Winter 2020 Issue is out today! There are some great articles inside that we hope you'll love! Enjoy! 🤗 #linkinbio⁠
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Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishl Prayer isn’t about making the things we selfishly want happen; it’s about making us want what God wants.⁠
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✍🏽: @sarahjoysly in "Prayer - The Alignment of Our Souls With God"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it th “The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair, and though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, it grows perhaps the greater.” – Haldir⁠
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In Lothlorien, Haldir is encouraging a downcast Fellowship with a glimpse of the larger story in which they find themselves. His words reflect the apostle Paul’s encouragement to the church, that we “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thess. 4:13). For there is a form of grief from which there is no recovery – one in which there is no resurrection of the dead. If death is the final word, then we must suffer grief without hope, grief that diminishes our love for life because of the crushing weight of the loss we’ve experienced. But Tolkien believed that death was not the end; therefore, we may experience the beautiful juxtaposition in our own lives of deep sorrow mixed with rivers of joy. Instead of crippling us, our grief may actually help to cultivate in our character the virtues of faith, hope, and love that are necessary to continue to carry our heaviest burdens. ⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
#faithhopelove #lotr #thefellowshipofthering #thelordoftherings #middleearth
The Bible stresses that despite our differences we The Bible stresses that despite our differences we are called to love each other above our political positions. “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14). You may feel like how politics and religion intersect in the public sphere communicate the exact opposite of this, and you’d be right. Media outlets report drama and conflict. Gracious and loving political opponents are not newsworthy.⁠
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✍🏽: Matthew Hamilton in "Our Identity In Christ Is Always Greater"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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#politics #voting #love #loveyourneighbor #loveyourneighbornotmattertheirpolitics
The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest The trees, with their bark, the skin of the forest, with its scars and wrinkles, lean toward me, and brush me with their limbs. The leaves beg me to examine their veins. “Have you seen this?” Each different, but each spectacular. The infinite busy creatures. The carpet of green, the dome of blue.⁠
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A few moments later, I feel like an amazing creature in a world amazingly made. I feel the astounding power of God, where the smallest thing around me, a leaf, an ant, is more complicated, and alive and amazing than anything humanity has ever thought of.⁠
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Really, there is nothing like it. The author C.S. Lewis noted that the best place to take a non-believing scientist or a real thinker is nature.  Eventually the noise of God in nature is deafening.⁠
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Once you’re in that place, just a few minutes into your walk, your mouth will hardly be able to keep from pouring out praise to God. It becomes so easy. Connecting to God like that, in praise, as a consequence of observing nature, is so freeing and so empowering that you will return to your office balanced and ready, clear headed and encouraged.⁠
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The prayer that most blesses God, most blesses the one who prays it. And there is almost no easier way than from within the sanctuary of nature, which itself raises up its branches to him in prayer with every sunrise.⁠
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✍🏽: Tom Koel in "Muting The Noise of the World - Deconstructing The Prayer Hike for City Dwellers"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own Each person comes to a Bible passage with his own culture, language, and historical understanding. Sometimes we use these to interpret the Bible, but the hard work of bible study requires that you get rid of those things and interpret the passage by allowing it to speak for itself in its own language, cultural context, and historical background. In other words, interpretation is hard work because you are trying to to discover what the passage meant to its (original) audience 2000 years ago (even though we are reading it today). ⁠
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✍🏽: @the_christopherscott in "How Anyone Can Study The Bible"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
#biblestudy #biblestudytools #growingingod #godsword #spendingtimewithgod #biblejournaling #holybible #christianliving #biblescriptures #dailybiblereading
Everything we do should be done for the ultimate e Everything we do should be done for the ultimate enjoyment of God. For instance, our enjoyment of a loving relationship with our spouse is a reflection of our relationship with God, and is therefore something God uses in order for us to better understand his love and how we can love him better.⁠
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This entails that God has given us the Bible as a means to an end. The point of reading the Bible is to come to enjoy God better and more fully. It might seem odd, or even a little sacrilege to think of the Bible as a means to an end. This is because we rightly think of the Bible as holy or sacred. But, it is not God. It is holy and sacred insofar as it is the word of God, given to us so we can better understand who God is. ⁠
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By reading Scripture we learn more about God, his work in the world, his plan for us, and his expectations for us. This is one of the means God has provided for us to enjoy him more. In fact, St. Augustine of Hippo believed that if a Christian could hypothetically enjoy God perfectly in this life, that they would no longer need to read the Bible. Of course because we will not come to love God perfectly in this life, reading, meditating on, and yes, memorizing scripture, will regularly be a source of knowledge that help us to love God more. However, Augustine wants his readers to remember, that knowledge is not the goal for reading the Bible.⁠
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✍🏽: Jeffery Porter in "How A Roman Bishop Changed The Way I Read The Bible"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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People with unbelieving hearts only seek after wha People with unbelieving hearts only seek after what prospers them. Apart from Jesus, we set in motion lives filled with harm, with no hope and no future. A person can only have hope and a future when life is lived out for Christ. We get light through reading the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with other Christians. This light of life can be obtained through an open line of communication with the one who gives it—Jesus. Apart from him, life can appear meaningless. Our purpose in life is to glorify God with who we are and what we have. –Steven Butwell⁠
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"No one who trusts in you will ever be disgraced, but disgrace comes to those who try to deceive others." –Psalm 25:3 NLT⁠
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✍🏽: Steven Butwell in "The Light Christ"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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What’s your favorite article in the new issue? F What’s your favorite article in the new issue? Follow the link in our bio to read it online or download it free to your tablet. ⁠
Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to Even as God demonstrated love by sending Jesus to die on the cross to take punishment for our sins, God reminded people of the importance of fearing him. God is not only our savior, comforter, and friend who promises to be with us always (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20), but also the most powerful being in the universe. There is a place for the right kind of fear—the reverential awe and respect—in our lives.⁠
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✍🏽: Délice Williams in "Fear The Lord?" Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Like the Psalmist, John describes Jesus as God’s Word who brings light and life to the darkness. Jesus is God’s Word that comes to us, to those who are dwelling in darkness. In fact, this is exactly what Jesus declares his mission to be in John 12:46: “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” This Light and Darkness imagery pervades the gospel of John. People love darkness because they don’t want their actions, thoughts, motives to be exposed by the light. But the truth is that deep down we need (and want) to be seen. We want to be loved despite our dirtiest deeds and foulest feelings. We need to restore the relationship that Adam and Eve once had with God–complete openness, and deep love–but we can’t do it on our own. Only God can (and did through Jesus) bring that relationship back.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "The Light of God's Love"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener a In John 15:1 Jesus says that God is the gardener and he prunes every branch that does not produce fruit. A person stuck in his or her ways of sin is like a prickly shrub growing a lot of branches with no fruit. These branches must be removed so good fruit can grow. In the same way as a bush is unable to prune itself, a person who is living in sin is unable to remove all the unfruitful branches in life. Paul described this condition in chapter seven of Romans when he called himself a wretched man and realized only Jesus can change him.⁠
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Jesus provides the essential elements for growth; he gives us his Word (the Bible) for fertilizer, other believers for sunshine, and the Holy Spirit for water. When our roots begin to receive this new water, sunshine, and fertilizer, new branches begin to grow. This time the branches are not prickly bushes, but beautiful new branches adorned with the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control,” (Galatians 5:22). Our old acquaintances will marvel at who we have become. When we allow God to be the gardener, he will shape us into his design.⁠
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✍🏽: Delbert Teachout in "God The Gardener"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
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As new creations, those who have been forgiven by As new creations, those who have been forgiven by and reconciled to Jesus, we now have the task of being reconciled to each other. As Christians, we are not just called to forgive others in our hearts but keep them at an arm’s length away. No, we are called to be of one heart and one mind (Acts 4:32) with our brothers and sisters—we are called to be reconciled.⁠
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✍🏽: Brandon Hurlbert in "Repairing Broken Bridges"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
We are faced with a challenge: to make God the cen We are faced with a challenge: to make God the center and purpose of our lives in a world of demands. God asks us to listen for his voice, and it’s no wonder why he chose to speak to Elijah in a “still, small voice” in 1 Kings 19:12-13. He doesn’t always shout at us because he wants us to choose to listen, to put other things aside so that all of our focus is towards discerning his will in the specifics of our lives. We have his will for us in general, as communicated in the Bible, which is to make disciples of all nations, to glorify the one true God, to serve no other gods, to love our neighbors as ourselves, etc., but sometimes we need to figure out how those general plans fit the specifics of our lives. Hearing God’s voice is part of how we relate to him, but in those moments of uncertainty, quieting ourselves becomes even more important.⁠
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✍🏽: @sarahjoysly in "Listening For A Whisper"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Jara from Pexels⁠
Imagine if every Christian started praying to God Imagine if every Christian started praying to God and asking for him to bless us with gifts of encouragement for the sake of the world around us. The Church would make an immediate impact on the lives of people.⁠
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✍🏽: @lukegeraty in "The Gift of Encouragement from the Great Encourager"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Lum3n from Pexels⁠
Everything sad will come untrue because we are not Everything sad will come untrue because we are not doomed to be forever parted with those we love, nor will our souls simply turn to dust and fade with the memory of those we leave behind.⁠
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✍🏽: @slimkeman in "Memorable Middle Earth - Why I'm Always Tolkien In Movie Quotes"  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com⁠ by visiting the link in our bio and tapping on the image.⁠
📷: Photo by Dirk Förster from Flickr
"Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness a "Remembering God's promises and his faithfulness as a community will help us to endure our sorrows for the night, for joy comes in the morning." @slimkeman from his article The Beauty of Community & The Beast of Isolation 🌤 Can you name some of God's promises that keep you encouraged and grounded? We'd love to hear in the comments below - and just maybe it might be the hope someone else is needing right now! 🤗⁠
“Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors “Every night I lie in bed, the brightest colors fill my head. A million dreams are keepin’ me awake. I think of what the world could be, a vision of the one I see. A million dreams is all it’s gonna take. A million dreams for the world we’re gonna make.” ⁠
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As P.T. Barnum sings these words to Charity in the beautiful montage of their young lives, we are captivated by the hope that they share, the possibilities of their bright future, and the chance of their love overcoming the wall between privilege and poverty that keeps them apart. The Greatest Showman asks us to wrestle with the quest for the holy grail of our modern world: success and happiness. ⁠
What is the good life? If a million of our wildest dreams came true, would we truly be happy?⁠
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In Jesus, we find a man who invites us into his presence with these words: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He is the only one who can fill “the infinite abyss” of desire in our souls. When you have fully devoted yourself and your dreams to your Creator, you will discover that “everything you ever want” and “everything you ever need” is “right here in front of you” in Christ Jesus.⁠
{Steve Limekman}⁠
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✍🏼: by @slimkeman in “The Greatest Showman”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: from newidentitymagazine
Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten Every day in sub-Saharan Africa, one child in ten under the age of five dies of a preventable cause, and nearly every day in America eight in ten adults consume coffee. What do these numbers have to do with each other? A lot, according to the One Cup Project, which is using America’s love for coffee to reduce the number of children dying in Africa by converting coffee profits into life-saving aid.⁠
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The One Cup Project started in 2010, when Christian Kar, the founder of an award-winning Seattle-based coffee company, partnered with the Christian humanitarian aid organization, World Vision.Remarkably, every dollar spent on One Cup Coffee generates a dollar of aid for Africa.⁠
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Buy some coffee, put up a post on your Facebook page, ask your church, local café, or workplace to change their coffee, or run a One Cup Fundraiser. In doing so, you just may help hurting people find healing, hope, and life. Change the world for the better, one cup at a time.⁠
{Thame Fuller}⁠
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✍🏼: @thamefuller in “One Cup Project”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio or click on this link to take you directly to the One Cup website: https://onecup.org/our-story/⁠
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📸: by @AftaPuta from Pexels
When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old p When someone accepts Jesus, they leave their old priorities behind and make Jesus the center of their life. Jesus calls each of us to share the good news with the world. He came to give living water to a thirsty world, and we have the honor and privilege of sharing his message by the power of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).⁠
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The most important thing you can do is enter each conversation with a posture of prayer. Pray for the person you’re sharing with, that God would open their heart to accept him. Pray that God would give you the words to say. And a loving way to say them.⁠
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Expect God to work in your relationship and use you to share Jesus through your friendship in his own timing. No matter how long you have been a believer, you can share Jesus with the confidence that he is with you and that he will use you for his glory.⁠
{Eric Gulley}⁠
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✍🏼: Eric Gulley in “Sharing Your Faith”  Continue reading at newidentitymagazine.com by clicking on the link in our bio ⁠
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📸: by @OliverSjostrom from Pexels
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