Session 1: Power—Either Dangerous or Good
“Older women likewise are to ... teach what is good, and so train the young women ... that the word of God may not be reviled.” Titus 2:3-5
You faintly hear crying as your head is nestled in your pillow along with the accompanying drool from finally getting to sleep. You roll over wishing you had more sleep and realize that’s your baby! The crying only gets louder and you stumble out of bed to go nurse that sweet, little one. Of course, you find him crying and laying in the poop that leaked out of his diaper while his two-year old, big sister found daddy’s pen and colored on the wall. “Yook, Momma. I yike pens!”
Much of your day looks like this with very little adult interaction. You love your children, but wonder is this really worth the time it takes to stay home from a “real” job. You often wonder, “Does this all really matter? Does my husband even value what I do for the kids and for him?” You feel lonely at times and unfulfilled. Most moms are asking the same questions and wondering will any of this make a difference. The answer is a loud and solid, “YES!”
Recently, the world witnessed the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. While leadership has still failed to own the obvious aberration of poor surveillance, another gaffe stands loud and replayed over and over in social media—the goofy, out-of-shape and unintimidating secret service women attempting to protect President Trump after being shot. How they passed the strict criteria established in the past can only be explained through woke, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) hires. You can only imagine that every qualified secret service man wants to say to those women, “Don’t tell anyone you are secret service.” Why? Is it unkind? Absolutely not. They hold a high position and should have achieved high standards to have this job. They completely ruin the name of the highly esteemed and distinctly trained secret service men. Their weakness and lack of adhering to the standards ruin what the world thinks about our country and makes the U.S. look weak. There are certainly political actions breaking the U.S. down from within that put these ill-equipped women in those roles, but the message still communicates a breakdown and a weakness.
In Titus 2:3-5, the Lord gives young mothers direction on how to live and commands older women to teach young moms the things that really matter. I love how the Lord doesn’t leave us to wonder about what we are to do but is very clear on what matters and what makes a difference. He leaves plenty of wiggle room for lots of things, but He is also very clear about some things. As a matter of fact, He sums it up by saying if we don’t follow what He says, that our very lives will ruin the what people think about God and His Word. You might think how you live is private and all up to you and no one else’s business, but as a Christian, it matters. When it says, “train the young women to (do certain things so) ... that the Word of God may not be reviled,” that means when you don’t live out the standard, your life communicates a breakdown about God and His Word—whether you intend to or not. It means you blaspheme and ruin what people think God and His Word by how you live
On the other hand, just as your life has the power to dangerously degrade God and His Word if you don’t live according to His design, you also have the ability to powerfully reflect Him. He has designed you to be intricately involved in how the world views Him. You represent Him. What an honor! How do you do that? There are clear ways in the Scripture for young moms that will equip you and take you from dangerous living to powerfully living for Christ. That is what is ahead in this GenMom study. We have an exciting journey together!
Premise of this Power
This particular instruction is to women who have turned from sin and yielded their life to follow the Lord and became new. Have you come to the place in your life, where you have repented and turned from your sin (because sin separates you from God), and in faith, asked Jesus to save you? Did your life change and did you become a new person as a result of that? Or is God bringing you to that place? 1 Corinthians 5:17, says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” If your life has never changed, don’t let yourself be fooled and believe a false American, easy gospel. Its not real. The gospel that’s real, is life-changing. If the Scripture says you become new, then you become new, or you are lost and don’t know Christ. Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Just saying you’re a Christian isn’t enough. It means turning from your sin, denying yourself, and trusting Jesus as your Lord to save you (Acts 3:19, 1 John 11:9, Luke 9:23, Romans 10:9).
If you have never turned from sin and trusted Jesus to save you and became a new person, please consider it. Are you wiling to give him your all for the rest of your life and follow Him? His ways are better but following Jesus in a world that hates Him is hard. Turn to Jesus. Tell your Genmom leader and find a church home.