Practicing what we Preach: Submission & Obedience

Since becoming a parent, I have learned a lot.

And I don’t mean about how to keep a tiny human alive and moderately happy.

I mean about faith.

And by faith, I mean submission and obedience to God.

Which brings us to this week’s message on practicing what we preach.

See, my daughter, she is part me and part my husband. We see traits of several different family members. Somewhere in there, she got some strong-willed stubborn genes. (I can’t imagine WHERE she got that from. Ahem.)

At the time of this writing, she is well over a year and a half old and pushing two (some day it is more like 21. Ms. Independent, party of HER.)

As a work at home mom, I am constantly on duty, teaching her general life skills (“No ma’am, we don’t throw our scrambled eggs across the dining room”) to big stuff, like how to love and serve Jesus.

When I am successful, I get all excited… for about 13 seconds until God reveals my semi-hypocritical shortcomings in other ways.

Example: Baby girl is ready for her meal and she is ready NOW. Patience is a skill that leaves much room for improvement, so heaven forbid I have to heat her food in the microwave for 30 seconds. I tell her that it will be in front of her in just a minute, but she has long ago since taken up residence in My-world-is-ending-ville.

I get frustrated. I become weary. The answer is just so simple. Why won’t she listen to me? I am her parent… Doesn’t she trust me?!?

And then, I hear God’s whisper (lovingly) calling me out.

Interesting that you bring up that fact, Sharita. How many times do you react the same way with Me? Why don’t you listen? I am your Father… Don’t you trust me?”

Ug. Sigh. Heard you, God.

See, here is the deal. God is Sovereign. And he is sovereign for a reason. He isn’t on a power trip. He doesn’t want to rule our world with an iron fist. He wants us to practice what we preach through humility and submission to Him.

So what does this look like in real life?

Practicing this message becomes more than words when we trust Him. Obey Him. Honor Him. When we love those around us as He loved us. When we make a conscious choice to NOT throw a hissy fit with our “faith microwave” doesn’t work as fast as we think it should.

For me, this comes to life in my role as parent. I am “preaching” to my kid all of these wonderful, Godly life skills… but am I being intentional about how I live those words out each day?

I preach to my friends, my followers, even my husband about how to honor God, submit to Him and what true obedience really looks like. But do my own actions match my words?

Friends, this is a convicting series for me. It really makes me analyze my heart and honestly, I have some serious work to do.

But God is right there with us.

Take a moment to consider: On a scale of one to ten, how well do you practice what you preach in this area of submission/obedience to the Lord? How can you boost that number? Where do you find yourself lacking the most?

I always love hearing from you. Leave a comment below.

As you ponder this practice what we preach message, I pray that you don’t stop at pondering– find ways to really practice it. Ask God to show you how to live in complete submission and obedience.

Remember… He is our Father. We can trust Him.

With ALL things, including our actions.

In Humble Obedience,