Hello and welcome to the first official Moms
Weekly podcast. In case you missed it last week,
I talked about how we are changing the name from
the Live Out Loud podcast to Moms Weekly. This
just goes so well with everything else we're
doing with the Moms Weekly Collective, the platform
we have for moms who want to connect and talk
about intentional living and grow together. So
if you have been around for a bit, this is the
same kind of content. We will be talking about
intentional living, obviously still that. We
will be talking about parenting and the joys
and the struggles, the highs and the lows of
all of that. And of course, all of that from
a biblical perspective. If you are new here,
welcome, welcome, welcome. I am a mama four from
ages nine through 15. And let me tell you. Every
day is a learning curve for me. Every day I am
sitting at the feet of Jesus, begging Him to
speak life into my days and give me wisdom. Honestly,
give me wisdom to deal with the things that I'm
dealing with with my children. But as they say,
parenting is a process of sanctification and
That is what this has been. And so I share these
things from my perspective and I share them with
you so we can grow together. And talking through
them out loud, it helps me see the things that
I also need to work on in my own life. And it's
just a beautiful thing to have these conversations
with you. So again, welcome to this place. Alright,
today's conversation is going to be a culturally
challenging conversation, which is another word
for hard. but also good because I think that
whenever we dissect them in accordance to scripture,
we're going to see why it is good. And I believe
that at the end of this conversation, we're going
to leave with some eye -opening points. And I
believe it can change our family lives if we
shift this small little thing, which we're going
to talk about today. So you're going to want
to stick around. Let's go. Don't you love words
like culturally challenging and hard? Yes, they
are not fun to talk about but they will produce
so much growth whenever we lean into them and
Today is gonna be no different today I'm going
to ask you to lean into the hard and to really
ask yourself some questions And while they are
maybe some harder questions, the topic is fairly
simple We're going to look at sayings that we
have adopted in our culture and things that we
say without giving them a second thought Now,
there are some sayings in our culture that ring
true and we say them often and there's no harm
in them. For example, an apple a day keeps the
doctor away. It's a good reminder to eat healthy
or don't put all of your eggs in the same basket.
Another good reminder. But have you ever considered,
really considered the things that you or your
kids or people you're having conversations with,
the things that they're saying and what they
truly mean? Here's some examples for you before
we get any further on this. We have the common,
follow your heart. Oh, that sounds lovely. Follow
your heart. We also have, this is me, take it
or leave it. And you guys, some of these I had
to look up because I could not pull them out
of just my head, but let's go through the list.
You are all the good things. I actually saw this
one on a shirt recently. I was thrifting and
I saw this. You are all the good things. That
one I had never heard. You do you, baby. You
do you. Be the best version of yourself. I'm
not your maid. It doesn't matter. No one will
see it. I'm not good at that. I'm so overwhelmed.
I'm always tired. It's just my hormones. And
you guys, the list could just go on. But maybe
you get the point here. The point is there are
some one -liners that we throw out there and
that are accepted in society that we do not give
a second thought to because we have been saying
them for so long. I mean, they go back years.
And of course, if everyone is using them, they
must be good, right? That's where we're wrong.
I think that so many of these one -liners that
we throw out there casually are actually hurting
not just our hearts and our spirits and our minds,
but our children's hearts and their minds. But
don't just take my word for it. How about we
do a little bit of digging, a little bit of searching
in the scripture as to why some of these sayings
on the surface can seem harmless, but are actually
harming our spirits. Let's look into this together.
All right, let's take the whole trust yourself
and follow your heart taglines. There are so
many verses that talk to this, but let's only
look at a few. Let's go to Proverbs 3, 5 through
6. Where in the world does trust yourself fit
into this? It doesn't take reading between the
lines to know that it just doesn't fit. Let's
jump over to Proverbs 14, 12. There is a way
that appears to be right. but in the end, it
leads to death. This is a challenge to the idea
that doing what feels right may not always give
us the outcome that we want or the outcome that
we think because we do not hold our days in our
hands. We do not know everything about our lives
and trusting in ourselves is so small a thing
compared to trusting in God. Let's look at Philippians
2, 3, and 4. Do nothing, nothing out of selfish
ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility,
value others above yourselves. Not looking for
your own interests, but each of you to the interests
of others. This challenges everything about you
do you. It emphasizes putting others above yourself.
And every time we say, you do you, who are we
saying to think about? Themselves, ourselves.
If I'm talking to my child, I'm saying, you do
you. Think about yourself. Don't think about
how it will affect anyone else. Just do you.
Do what feels right for you. Along those same
lines, we have a line that we say, which is,
do what makes you happy. On the surface, this
sounds like an amazing line. Do what makes you
happy. Who doesn't want to be happy? And who
doesn't want their kids to be happy? I know I
do. But if I'm looking at this from God's perspective
and from scripture, let's look at Luke 9 .23.
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves
and take up their cross daily and follow me.
This does not sound like a do whatever makes
you happy because I can tell you picking up my
cross every single day does not make me happy.
It is a hard thing to do. What makes me happy
are easy things. What makes me happy would be
sitting at the beach with a nice cold drink in
my hand, a book to read, the sound of the waves
crashing, and nothing else for me to have to
worry about. That would make me happy. Would
that bring about growth in change in my life?
Not really. Not if that was every single day.
That's what I had to do. It would bring about
zero growth. So telling my kids or telling myself
to pursue only the things that make me happy
is shortchanging myself to the things that could
make me grow. And speaking of growing, let's
talk about serving. The saying, I'm not your
maid. And I don't know if you have said that
or you've heard someone say that in passing.
And sometimes we laugh it off when someone says,
I'm not your maid. And it implies like you can
do your own things. You can take your dish to
the sink. You can pick up your shoes. I'm not
your maid, but let's take a deeper look at these.
Let's go to Galatians 5 .13. You, my brothers
and sisters are called to be free, but do not
use your freedom to indulge in the flesh. rather
serve one another, serve one another humbly in
love. Let's not stop there. Let's go to Mark
9 .35, one that I think we could all probably
quote. Jesus called the 12 and said, anyone who
wants to be first must be the very last and servant
of all. If we remember the life of Jesus, he
came to serve. The Bible tells us that. We know
this about him. We can just read his stories.
He is serving people all the time. And then what
does he tell us to do? He tells us to follow
his example. His example was one of servanthood
towards others. Never once, never once did he
say, I'm not your maid, do your own things. But
moved by compassion and love, he always turned
to help the people around him. How about one
that can so easily pass in our society as okay?
The saying, it doesn't matter, no one will see
it. And sure, there may be things we are doing
that no one's going to notice. But what happens
inevitably whenever we start slacking on a job,
we start being a little bit lazy here and a little
bit lazy there, it will always happen. We become
more and more lazy with bigger and bigger things.
And again, let's compare it to scripture. Let's
go to Colossians 3 23 through 24. Whatever you
do, work at it with all of your heart. As if
working for the Lord, not for human masters,
since you know that you will receive an inheritance
from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord you
are serving. Or Luke 16 10, whoever can be trusted
with very little can also be trusted with much.
A great one to teach our children, especially
instead of saying, it doesn't matter, no one's
going to see it. How about we push our children
to work as if unto the Lord? You guys, we could
go on with so many of these sayings and find
scriptures to back them up, why they are hurting
our minds, our hearts, and our spirits. You are
all the good things. No, we're not. We are not
the good things. Jesus Christ is the only good
thing. And to say that someone, you are all the
good things, while it may seem like an accolade
or a very pleasant or nice thing to say, it is
so wrong. The only thing good that comes from
a person is the life of Jesus Christ. This is
me, take it or leave it. We are to be transformed
by the gospel, by the words that have power to
transform us, by the spirit. We are not to stay
the same and to say, this is me, take it or leave
it. It means I'm never willing to grow, I'm never
willing to change and be transformed into the
life that I can fully grow into. What about it's
the hormones talking? That would be saying, I'm
not gonna take responsibility for my own actions,
for my words, for whatever came out of my mouth.
It was the hormones. And I'm not going to own
up or change or seek to be better in this moment
or in this situation because it's just a part
of life. And while yes, it absolutely is, we
are called to have self -control. It doesn't
say when you're not hormonal. It doesn't say
whenever life is great to have self -control.
It just says a fruit of the Spirit is self -control.
And here's where the hard part comes in for us
today. I'm going to ask you to think through
the things that you say, the things that you
hear other people say, and really dissect them.
Ask the Holy Spirit to point out any words or
saying that you or your kids are using that does
not line up with the full life that He wants
us to live. And the hard part is going to be
taking the time to be intentional about this
and really thinking through your conversations.
Throughout your day, before you go to say something,
think about it. This takes so much work. And
because we're so used to saying some of these
things, they're gonna roll off so easily off
of our tongue. But if you want to flourish in
your family life, if you want to grow in intentionality
with your words in your family life, this is
a crucial step to doing so. But the hardest part
is going to be shifting your language, your vocabulary,
your thoughts to those things that bring life.
It is so easy to say, do what makes you happy
instead of asking the hard questions. Have you
sat with it with the Lord? How will this impact
your life? How will it impact the lives of people
around you? These questions mean that you have
to sit and wait for an answer. They take time
from your busy schedule. But we are either emphasizing
our own security, our own growth, our own happiness
in this world, or we are emphasizing the life
of Christ with our words. Mamas, friends, this
is not meant to discourage you. This is meant
to encourage you to pursue the full life Christ
has for your family. This is meant to encourage
you to be intentional with your words because
your words have so much life and so much power
in them. And it is meant to help you break the
cycle in which we've all been a part of. and
we pass it on to our kids of just saying these
things because society accepts them. In thinking
through this content for today's recording, just
this week, I have caught myself several times
stopping or saying something and not realizing
until after the effect of my words. Is it going
to look perfect? No, a hundred percent no. But
is it going to look intentional? Yes, it is.
And that is the point. Is living intentionally
for the Kingdom of God? I pray for insight on
your conversations. I pray for wisdom as you
are teaching this to your children. And I pray
for life to come from this for you and your family.
And so dear friends, before signing off, I would
love to leave you with this scripture. Let the
words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
Have a blessed week, sweet friend. Until next
time.