EquippedMama

You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.

2 Timothy 3:14-16 , New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.

Once upon a time, I bought two beautiful powder blue cloth couches. They were a good deal, and I didn’t think my family with young children would actually use these pieces of furniture that often. But as all of you seasoned mothers can guess, I was wrong. Somehow young bodies, copious snacks and many cups of coffee made their mark on the fabric.

Stains everywhere.

My original vision for the room; a chic cross of rustic country and the simple clean lines of a modern home needed intervention. I needed slipcovers. I needed a stain stick. I needed tablecloths. And wet wipes. Lots of wet wipes. This simply wasn’t the season for a Pinterest-perfect living room. And that’s okay.

With four young children, I have learned that some things in my life can’t be picture perfect. However, embracing this season of life, with its bits of construction paper strewn across my schoolroom and the non-stop requests for mac-n-cheese does not mean I can neglect the important. Motherhood does not get a free pass from spiritual discipline.

In the book of 2 Timothy, the Apostle Paul encouraged Timothy, the recipient of this letter and a young pastor, to continue in his faithful work of teaching the Word and representing the Lord Jesus well. Paul was anticipating his impending martyrdom and was concerned about the lessoning fervor of Timothy’s faith (2 Timothy 1:6). He wanted to encourage his friend not to forget what truly mattered, to press on in the teaching and sharing of the Gospel.

To those of you with church backgrounds, likely vs. 16 sounds familiar.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16)

Paul encouraged Timothy in essence, to keep on digging into God’s Word. To keep relying on God’s Word. To keep using God’s Word as the tool for Spiritual growth and efficacy.

We need to be reminded to do the same!

It can be really easy in this season of try to “get by” on the spiritual growth we did before we had kids. We can try to squeeze in Christian Podcasts while doing the dishes or driving to work. Perhaps we post a Bible verse as the wallpaper on our phones because we “just need to get something” from the Word. We need so much more than this!

God’s Word has power, and we are desperately in need of the strength His Word can give. It’s okay to time with the Lord look different in this season of life, but we can’t merely put a slipcover on our faith and hope that no one will notice that we are struggling. God isn’t fooled.

So what am I saying? Am I putting one more habit on you to stress you out? No, I dearly hope not. But I am encouraging you to make being in God’s Word a daily priority. It probably will look really different now than it did pre-kids. Maybe your quiet time won’t actually be that quiet. But make it an important habit. Recognize that this is something you need. Continue in the things you have learned.

P.S. Did I mention that EquippedMama is releasing a book on 2 Timothy? More details to come!

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