Mary Cassat
Greater love has no one than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.
Let the little children come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.
I keep thinking about these verses. We want so much to give our lives to the “bigger” cause. We want to invest our lives for what is important. And yet, is there anything more important than the building of a righteous soul?
The laying down of our lives is not just about moving to the most impoverished country or preaching to thousands. But right in front of us, the child who would long to have our comforting touch and gentle voice of life-giving words, that he may imagine the voice and touch of God when He ponders faith as a young adult and chooses to believe because the reality of God was in his home.
The child who needs one more song to be comforted before sleeping, so that he might be able in adulthood to believe in a God who is patient and willing to answer prayer and hear our voice when we as his children cry out in faith.
The child who is lonely, confused, hormonal, who will feel the touch of God, the sacrifice of God as we give up the rights to our time and comfort to befriend and listen and show compassion and sympathy for what is on his heart.
Love is given through a candle lit and a special breakfast served one more time on Sunday before church as we open the gospel together, that the reality and beauty of God’s creativity is validated in how we live. It is shown with the sacrificial life of giving up what we wanted to do, or the job we hoped to have, in order to build a soul through the attention of ourselves. A looking into the eyes with true interest and compassion instead of looking at a screen while half-heartedly listening. These are the sacrifices of our love, the moment by moment giving up of ourselves, the constant, year end year out practice of worship as we serve those in our home in order to please His heart.
It is for Him, for His kingdom that we serve with willing, generous, life-giving hearts, as the building of His kingdom is one heart at a time.
Jesus could have done the big thing, and reached leaders all over the world and brought kings to their knees. But He gave his life to the personal, the love, encouragement, instruction, service of his twelve, the common people, those entrusted into his hands, that they might know and feel the love of God, the touch of God, hear the words of God. He laid down His life in the daily that they might live a life of faith and invest in His kingdom for eternity.
Your loving touch, patient service, sacrifice of time today, this week, is not in vain. It is a service of worship to the one who laid down His own life in moments of time, that we could imagine what God was really like by viewing the incarnate, servant king, providing Father.
Happy Sunday.
Beautifully said. Thank you for such a gracious and sweet way of reminding us to love our children and our husbands, too. No matter how old we get, and how many children we have, we still need to be reminded, haha.
I am a mother of 2 beautiful boys aged 4 and 5 and you brought tears to me eyes when reading this. You are so right … what bigger cause??? God Bless You for your inspiring words.
this is a beautiful post! what great truth!
Sally,
Every time I feel inadequate or am tempted by the world’s allure my gentle husband reminds me of these same truths. I am making a difference right here, in my home, one little life at a time. How often have we heard of great men throughout history who owe that greatness to a gentle praying and serving mother who gave of herself. Thank you for that reminder. You are one of those mothers. Have a blessed Sunday afternoon.
oh, how i needed to read this today! it could not have been posted at more a perfect time.
“It is shown with the sacrificial life of giving up what we wanted to do, or the job we hoped to have, in order to build a soul through the attention of ourselves….” ….my, this is the truth though the world says so differently. since i am a youngin’ and we had a little one much sooner than was expected
i daily need o remind myself of these truths. thank you so much for sharing.
many blessings!
Beautiful words, dear Sally. Thank you for being the fountain of gentle wisdom that you are.
Much much love to you and yours.
Just what I needed today. I linked to this post, I hope you don’t mind.
I can not thank you enough for taking time to invest truth into other mothers hearts. Your blog inspires me, and reminds me of this beautiful call the Lord has given me. I am a home schooling mom to 6, ranging in ages 16-3. We just recently moved back home to Tx to start a marriage ministry. My husband and I always dreamed we’d do Marriage Revolution together. I began home schooling after our four year move to Little Rock, Ar, where we we’re on staff with Family Life. I couldn’t wait to be back in Tx where I felt the schools were “good enough” to send my children to school. However, the Lord has clearly shown my husband and I that my calling is to disciple my children full time through home school. Thank you for being such an encouragement for my family.
How often my heart wanders — imagining the great things I want to do for God; the awesome ways I want to impact the world around me. And yet, not one of those visions involves cleaning up potty accidents (yes, 3 within 5 hours), playing hide-n-seek till I’m paaaast bored, or staying up past my own bedtime with my 5 yr old to talk again about what we did today, what we’ll do tomorrow, how her belly feels, how much she loves dancing — when I just want to collapse on the couch and read the next chapter in my book. So, a big Thank You hug to you for reminding me that there is no greater call — no greater impact I can have than right here, in these moments, with these future world-changers.
I can not thank you enough for taking time to invest truth into other mothers hearts. Your blog,conference, and books inspire me greatly.They all serve as a beautiful reminder of the call the Lord has given me. I am a home schooling mom to six children, ranging in ages 16-3. We just recently moved back home to Tx. to start a marriage ministry. My husband and I always dreamed we’d do Marriage Revolution together. I began home schooling after our four year move to Little Rock, Ar. I couldn’t wait to be back in Tx where I felt the schools were “good enough” to send my children as soon as we returned.However, the Lord has clearly shown my husband and I that my calling is to disciple my children full time through home school. Thank you for being such an encouragement for my family.
I can not thank you enough for taking time to invest truth into other mothers hearts. Your blog, conference, and books inspire me greatly. I am a home schooling mom to six children, ranging in ages 16-3. We just recently moved back home to Tx. to start a marriage ministry that my husband and I always dreamed we’d do together. I began home schooling after our four year move to Little Rock, AR, but I couldn’t wait to be back in Tx where I felt the schools were “good enough” to send my children as soon as we returned.However, the Lord has clearly shown my husband and I that He’s calling me to disciple my children full time through home school. Thank you for being such an encouragement for my family.
Thank you for this encouragement and guidance; it helps me to take steps in the direction God wants me to go. And to remember to take down the flighty dreams in my mind and step back into the reality of my everyday blessings, which God has given me. Thank you for following His leading as He guides you to lead others into lives of love, led by Him.