When Truth Enters Your Home

You know it. You can feel it. It is strong and full of life. A breathing message that speaks to your heart, you’re whole body. Because the dwelling place of God’s spirit knows when it hears it’s own language. Truth. It’s a bitter sweet song to your soul because it identifies brokenness and proclaims hope in the same breath.

And it demands a response.

Rejection or reception. That’s the decision. To embrace the message and live into the truth. Or turn from it, and live as you always have.

From the lips of one we love, truth was spoken in our home this holiday. We all sat and listened as it spoke of a broken reality. Sin manifesting itself in the parent child relationship. Nothing surprising, even ordinary for this culture, but outlandish and offensive to most others. A blurry line between relationship and authority.

A spirit of disrespect has entered our home, and I’m allowing it to take root in the heart of our children. The boys are getting older, trying new boundaries and testing new attitudes. And the littles are watching. Imitating.

It might be the sin of my children, but I know my part in it.

If I deal with every act of disobedience or disrespectful behavior in my home, I won’t get much else accomplished. I won’t enjoy my children. I will be exhausted. I don’t have very disobedient children. But I have five of them! A span of ages with unique discipline issues. Do they begrudge work? Yes. Do they speak disrespectful to me? At times. Do they have tempers? Some of them. Do they fight with each other? Often.

But I have good children. Really good children. And I am confident in my relationship with them. We enjoy each other, we play together, school together, read together, laugh a lot and survive the countless hours we spend together every single day. We are rarely separated, these children and I.  That’s the blessing and curse of homeschooling. There’s more opportunity for us to shape each other, more opportunity for us to fail each other.

I’m a good mother to these good children, but even good mothers fail. And I have failed my children through my lack of consistent discipline lately. To much grace? Not possible. What I’m giving my children is pardon. Because grace without truth isn’t grace at all.

Because truth is the bringer of grace. Truth leads and grace follows. They’re partners in redemption.

Our family chooses to receive truth so genuine grace will pour out of us. We choose to submit to the hope that we can change and relate differently. That habits can be broken and new ways of living can victoriously root in our home, in our heart.

For three days I will feast on Jesus to discern a way forward. To welcome this truth. To prepare my heart for change.  To prepare my heart for Jesus.

For this is what Advent is all about. Anticipating the Christ and being open for his truth to shape you. To change the way you live.

Jesus. The message of Truth who enters. Homes and hearts, he enters and dwells. And when he does you know it. He is the message that identifies brokenness and proclaims hope. For he is Truth. The Truth that leads, the Grace that follows. What is your response to him? Rejection or reception?

What ways do you plan to anticipate the coming of Jesus this Christmas season? How will your family or home prepare for his birth?

Advent began yesterday, but it’s never too late to begin anticipating the Christ.

I look forward to discovering how to faithfully receive this spoken truth. Faithful receive The Truth in our home this season. There is so much working against us. But I am confident that it’s possible to celebrate Christmas in a way that glorifies God, while honoring particular cultural traditions that are meaningful to us as people of flesh.

To help focus our thoughts for Advent, our family uses the Jesse Tree Advent Family Devotional. Ann Voskamp’s poetic writing brings life to Old and New Testament scriptures that point to the coming of Jesus.

Let’s anticipate together.