Through The Bible in a Year - October 29, 2026

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. - Colossians 3:1-4

To be “raised with Christ” (which is resurrection language) requires that we first die. But how could the Apostle Paul write these words to believers still alive? 

Their death was signaled by their baptism, when they identified with Jesus for a new life. We rarely think of baptism as a death certificate, but it certifies that the values and priorities of a previous life are past. 

Those coming into the Christian faith from other religions know this is so. Their own families may say to them, “If you claim Jesus instead of our God, or our way of life, then you are dead to us.” 

But that is not end of their story. Their baptism (and ours) also signals a new life spiritually united to Christ. Since he is raised, we are. Since he is privileged to sit at God’s right hand, we are. Since the wrath of God for sin was exhausted in him, we are hidden from it. Because he will come in glory, we shall. 

We do not yet fully experience all of these blessings, but by the grace of God we can already taste them. The Holy Spirit is the foretaste of these “things that are above” as he confirms them in our hearts. Trials and temptations are still here, but they no longer determine your future or create your identity. As Paul proclaims, “Christ … is your life!”  

Prayer: Father, thank you for raising me from a dead way of life, and for uniting me to my Savior. Now when trials or temptations come, when failures or doubt oppress me, help me remember they are not my ultimate identity. Christ is my life! 

Through The Bible in a Year - October 28, 2026

“…It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment. So that you may [be]… filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.” -Philippians 1:9-11

Paul's ultimate desire is that believers would be filled with the fruit of righteousness — love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. This is not a call to a daily white-knuckle moral effort that we hope against hope will be sufficient to get us into heaven. Paul is careful to say this fruit “comes through Jesus Christ.”

God’s fruit grows in the soil of grace as Christ's resurrection power works in us, not only to pardon us from sin, but also to empower us for honoring Him. Our hope is not in our sufficiency but in Christ’s provision. We work with freedom and power to honor Him because we are so well rested in his grace, not because we are so much intimidated by His judgment of our faults.

A story from one church tells of a teenage girl, deeply wounded by abuse and addiction in her home, who carried scars from years of self-harm. Over a period of years, as she encountered God's unfailing love in a church that would not judge or reject her, those scars became — in her own words to her peers — reminders of the scars Christ bore for her. She eventually stood before dozens of peers not only to share her pain but to say she had forgiven her parents and everyone who hurt her. The fruit of grace in her heart became the power of grace in her life to break free of resentment and rebellion.

That is the fruit of righteousness Paul is describing: not a performance for approval, but a transformed life so evidently not the believer's own doing that it becomes, unmistakably, a testimony to God's grace and glory.

RESPOND: Is there an area of your life where you've believed real change is impossible — an old pattern, wound, or addiction? What would it mean to actually believe “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” in that part of your life?

Think of someone whose transformed life has pointed you toward God's gracious provision rather than their own effort. What made that testimony credible and powerful for you? Ask God today, specifically, to do a similar work in your life by his grace and for his glory. Trust that he will love you no more and no less on the basis of your performance. Then, rest in the assurance of His grace, knowing that you are most strengthened for the battle against past hurt or sin when you are well rested in Him. Christ's power is at work in you. Christ’s grace is sufficient for you. Believe that, by his grace, tomorrow can be different from yesterday, and let the grace of God for you become the power of God in you.

PRAYER: Father, thank You that the fruit of righteousness in my life comes through Jesus Christ, not my own strength. Where I've believed change is impossible, remind me that real change is possible in You. Help me to believe that your pardon and power are greater than all my sin and pain, so that the grace of God for me becomes the power of God in me. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 27, 2026

“…It is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment. So that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” -Philippians 1:9-10

The word “approve” here carries the sense of a metallurgist testing metal to determine its purity and grade. Paul is praying that the Philippians would be able to test their choices — not merely to avoid what is forbidden, but to discern and choose what is genuinely excellent, what is truly best for their good and Christ’s glory.

The early church sometimes spoke of the whole Christian life as an engagement period before the great wedding feast at the end of the ages when Christ claims His bride, the church, for eternity. Like any engagement, this season includes real joys — discovering more of who God is, being drawn closer to Him — but also, inevitably, some tears and trials – tests which deepen dependence for the greatest blessings of the future relationship.

These greater blessings that are the result of testing reframe our understanding of life’s hardships. Not every difficulty is evidence that God's love has failed; some hardship is simply part of the engagement, deepening trust and dependence by testing that helps us know the quality of faith that will secure our hearts for earth and eternity. Our joy, in the end, is not rooted in our circumstances but in the security of belonging to the One who endured every test on our behalf to show how genuine and excellent is his love.

RESPOND: Think of a recent hard season. Could it be reframed as part of an “engagement period” deepening your dependence on God for a deeper relationship with Him, rather than a sign of His absence?

Where do you need discernment right now to “approve what is excellent” rather than simply what is permissible in terms of living pure and blameless before God?

Take one specific decision in front of you and ask: is this simply allowed or, as I test it by the standards of God’s truth and love, is it excellent — the best thing, in light of my eternity and the eternity of those who look to me for understanding of Christ’s heart?

PRAYER: Lord, teach me to test and approve what is excellent, not just what is permissible. When hardship comes, help me see it as part of a deepening engagement with You rather than proof of Your absence. Keep my joy rooted in Your love, not my circumstances. And may I test what is good and excellent in my priorities and choices by what most reflects the qualities of Christ’s heart. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 26, 2026

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment.” -Philippians 1:9

Paul's prayer is not simply for more love in a vague, sentimental sense. He wants love that keeps increasing — the verb suggests an ongoing, ever-growing abundance — but he pairs it deliberately with knowledge and discernment. Real love for a person requires knowing who they are and what pleases them; the same is true in our love for God.

Knowledge alone is not enough. Paul distinguishes it from discernment: knowledge is acquiring information about God and His Word; discernment is knowing how to use that information well, in the actual textures of daily decisions. It is possible, sadly common even, to accumulate knowledge about God that swells the head without softening the heart — to know a great deal and still lack gentleness, patience, or self-control.

The goal of this abounding, discerning love is not information for its own sake, but a love that actually shapes choices, behaviors, and attitudes. It’s the kind of love that helps someone recognize, in a real moment of decision or relational tension, what genuinely pleases God rather than merely informing our minds what is permissible.

RESPOND: Would you describe your walk with God as stronger in Bible knowledge or in godly discernment — and, if there is an imbalance, how does Christ’s love guide you into what honors Him?

Recall a recent decision. How did loving discernment guide your knowledge of Scripture into actions or attitudes that pleased God? Consider honing this discernment this week by wedding one act of learning (reading, studying) with one deliberate act of discernment — applying Christ’s love to a real choice in front of you.

PRAYER: Father, I don't want knowledge that swells my head without softening my heart. Grow my love for You so that it abounds more and more, joining the knowledge of Scripture to real discernment for the choices in front of me. Teach me not just to know You, but to please You by expressing the heart of Jesus as I consider the truths of Your Word. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 23, 2026

“For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.” - Philippians 1:8

The word Paul uses for “yearn” is the same kind of word used for panting — the picture Psalm 42 gives us of a deer panting for water. In the Psalms, it is the worshiper who pants after God. Here, astonishingly, Paul says it is He who pants but with the affection of Christ — picturing our Lord with a depth of longing love for His people that runs even deeper than our longing for Him.

Paul is careful to say this affection is not merely his own warm feeling for the Philippians; it is “the affection of Christ Jesus” flowing through him. What Paul expresses toward the people he loves and longs for is meant to be a window into how Christ Himself feels about His people — a love so strong it can rightly be described as yearning, longing, panting.

This matters because we all tend to be most motivated by what we love most – and we most love those who most love us. If we only know God's requirements without knowing His affection, obedience becomes duty without delight. But when we grasp how deeply Christ yearns for us, love for Him grows in response — not manufactured for personal gain, but awakened for loyalty and service to Him as a result of the great love He has for us.

RESPOND: Sit a bit with the image of Christ yearning for you the way a deer pants for water. Does that match how you typically imagine His posture toward you?

Where has your relationship with God felt more like duty than delight lately – his requirements more like qualifications than blessings? Bring that honestly to Him.

Ask God today to let the reality of His affection — not just His requirements — shape the decisions or attitudes you're wrestling with. Let His love for you ignite a passion in you for His priorities – letting love for Him be your highest motivation because He first loved you.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, it is hard to believe that You yearn for me the way Scripture describes. Let that truth sink into my heart, so that my love for You grows not from obligation but from being loved first. Then my decisions and priorities will not be begrudging obedience but loyalty that blesses my heart with the privilege of expressing my love in response to yours. In Your name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 22, 2026

“It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel.” - Philippians 1:7

Paul writes this letter literally in chains, bound to a Roman soldier. Yet he says the Philippians are “partakers” with him of grace — the word is koinonia, fellowship, with a prefix emphasizing a binding togetherness. Even shackled, Paul says, in essence, “I am bound to you, too, in grace.” Distance and imprisonment could not sever a fellowship rooted in something deeper than proximity – an eternal relationship with God and each other through Jesus Christ.

This partnership was costly for the Philippians as well. Paul had been a persecutor of the church before his conversion; now he sat in a Roman jail as a source of scandal. The Philippians could have quietly distanced themselves to protect their own reputations. Instead, they kept supporting him — risking their own standing to stand with a man in chains, because they, too, believed the gospel was real and worth the risk.

This is what grace-fellowship looks like: a Roman jailer, a Greek businesswoman, a former demon-oppressed slave girl, and an imprisoned former persecutor of the church — an unlikely company, held together not by shared background but by a shared covering of grace that does not depend on anyone's respectability.

RESPOND: Is there someone in your life whose reputation or circumstances make it costly to stand with them? What would grace-fellowship look like there?

Think of a time someone stood by you at real cost to themselves. How did that shape your sense of what the gospel actually means? The answer has to be shaped by understanding that the Lord of glory accepted humiliation and the shame of sin to stand for and die for us.

This week, reach out to someone who might feel isolated by shame or circumstance, and simply let them know you are with them. You can afford it because Christ stands with them and with you.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for a grace that binds believers together regardless of reputation, distance, or circumstance. Give me the courage to stand with someone at cost to myself, the way the Philippians stood with Paul – and the way that you stood for and died for me. Let Your grace, not my comfort, shape my loyalties. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 21, 2026

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” - Philippians 1:6

Paul writes with confidence from a prison cell. Though he is uncertain when — or whether — he would ever be released from prison. He is confident that God will work in his people to complete the purposes that will advance the kingdom of Christ. Paul was not offering a vague hope when he spoke of God’s work continuing to completion; the apostle was stating a settled certainty rooted not in his own circumstances but in God's character. The God who started his work in the Philippians' hearts for the sake of the spread of the gospel was not finished, and would not abandon his purposes before they were complete.

The word Paul uses for “completion” carries the sense not only of finishing something off, but of filling it up. God is not merely bringing individual believers to the end of their own story. He is filling up and filling out His church, adding believer after believer, generation after generation, gift after gift, until his mission on earth is complete. God is fulfilling this mission through the church. Consider how this worked even through the church Paul is addressing at Philippi. The first-century house church in an obscure Greek town could not have imagined that its story would still be read, and still be multiplying disciples, centuries later. But even as you consider this devotion, that is happening.

Confidence in God’s completion of his mission matters most in hard seasons — for persecuted believers meeting in secret, for churches wrestling with tight budgets, for individuals wondering whether their own faith will hold. God’s promise is not that the road will be easy, but that the One who began the work is committed to finishing — and filling — it as He knows is best.

RESPOND: Where in your life do you need to trust that God is still completing a work He began, even though it feels unfinished or fragile right now?

Consider your own church or ministry involvement: are you thinking that “finishing” your task solely depends upon your effort or resources? If so, you will constantly be anxious about your future. But if you believe that you are part of God’s mission to fill up and fill out His church through many different people and places where the gospel is needed, then you can face worldly challenges and failures without ever doubting your usefulness to Christ’s cause. God will complete what you cannot.

Consider one area of your life, your family, or your church that feels incomplete right now and ask God to give you renewed confidence that He will finish His mission for your life as He knows is best for Christ’s glory.

PRAYER: Father, thank You that the good work You began in me is not left to my own strength to finish. I am sure of this: You who started the work will complete it as you know is best, filling up and filling out the whole church in the ways that will best serve the glory of your Son. Give me patience and confidence for the unfinished places in my life and the lives of those I love, as you bring to completion Christ’s kingdom as you know is best. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 20, 2026

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all, making my prayer with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” - Philippians 1:3–5

From the earliest days that Lydia's heart was opened to the gospel, she began using her business earnings to support Paul's ministry — not once, but as an ongoing partnership that continued for years. That is the pattern Paul is celebrating here: grace well received does not stay private. It reorders priorities and turns recipients into partners, eager to see what touched their own hearts touch others as well.

This partnership was not without real cost — the Philippian church, like many congregations, wrestled with its own limited resources. But the temptation to “fold the tent and pull in the wings” of the church during hard financial seasons was exactly what God’s grace pushed against. The times of struggle made the gospel's joy and peace even more precious – both to give and to receive.

Partnership in the gospel is not reserved for the especially gifted or visible. Paul is careful to say he thanks God for “all of you” — not just the standout missionaries and leaders, but also the ordinary members whose faithful, quiet contributions kept the mission of the church moving. Paul’s words should remind us that every believer who has tasted grace has something to offer for its spread.

RESPOND: In what tangible way are you currently partnering in the spread of the gospel — through giving, serving, praying, or simply telling others what God has done for you?

Is there a financial burden or season of struggle in your life or church where anxieties are causing you or others to pull back from Christ’s priorities? What would it look like to press forward in gospel partnership with confidence that God will bless as He knows is best because of His certain grace?

As you consider how God’s grace grants confidence for overcoming sin and circumstances, let the peace God grants also be the strength you need to partner with Him in the gospel provision He is making for His people.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for everyone who has partnered with me in faith, and for the chance to partner with others. Keep me from pulling back in seasons of struggle, and show me one concrete way to give, serve, or share today so that grace I have received can reach someone else. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 19, 2026

“Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” -Philippians 1:2

Paul's greetings repeatedly pair these two words: grace and peace. Grace is peace with God being provided; peace is grace from God being believed. Where grace is truly received and believed, peace inevitably follows — because faith in God’s grace means that we never will have to face God on the basis of what we've earned, but solely on the basis of the gift of His love.

A pastor once recalled a gruff and emotionally distant grandfather who unexpectedly gave him a treasured tackle box after a childhood disappointment. The gift was not earned or deserved, but provided purely out of the love in the grandfather’s heart. The gift did more than provide a welcomed joy for the child; it closed a distance. The crustiness the child has perceived in his grandfather melted away, and their relationship changed as a consequence of that gift. That is something of what grace does for us as God’s grace removes the distance we perceive between us and Him. Even when we rightly see our sin and know that we deserve judgment, the gift of Jesus Christ closes distance between us and God, removes our fears, and assures us of his love.

When that grace is truly perceived — not just recited as a religious phrase — it produces peace even when our circumstances are hard. Paul said it produced peace for him even in a prison cell. Grace received and believed produces peace experienced, regardless of circumstances, because peace on earth is not rooted in the always challenging circumstances of a fallen world but in the always faithful God who gives the gift of eternal life by His grace.

RESPOND: Where in your life do you relate to God more on the basis of earning his love by your performance rather than receiving his love as a gift? What would it look like to receive His grace today the way a child receives an unearned present?

Recall the tackle-box story: has there been an unearned gift in your life — from God or from someone else — that unexpectedly closed a distance in a relationship? If you are currently anxious about a circumstance, consider whether that anxiety is the result of concerns competing with the assurances of God’s grace that secures your future eternally. Confess the anxiety. Then, rest in the grace.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for grace I did not earn and peace I do not deserve. Close the distance between us that my sin and anxiety create and let the reality of Your gift settle my heart today, whatever my circumstances. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 16, 2026

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi.” -Philippians 1:1

To any Jewish reader, calling this mixed Philippian congregation “saints” would have sounded strange. In the Old Testament, that word — which means “holy ones” — belonged to the covenant people of Israel alone. Now Paul applies it to those he has ministered to in this Greek city that include a former demon-possessed slave girl, a Greek businesswoman, a Roman jailer, and everyone else who has gathered into Christ’s church. Note that Paul is careful to say the title of “saint” applies to everyone in the church, not merely to the officers or those most outstanding in Christ’s service.

How could that possibly be true? Not because all these people had become morally perfect, but because they were “in Christ Jesus.” Picture a set of nesting dolls: each is enclosed in the body of the first that covers the rest. Similarly, our righteousness is not based on our individual characteristics being exposed, but on our being enclosed within Christ’s provision and protection. His righteousness covers us as our faith unites us to Him.

Paul uses phrases reflecting our being “in Christ” roughly twenty times in this short letter — as though Paul's joy and understanding of his relationship to his Savior cannot be separated from this single truth. We are not saints because of our performance. We are saints because we are hidden in Christ Jesus.

RESPOND: Our human instinct, our default perception, is that our standing before God is determined by the sufficiency of our performance – by the degree of our righteousness. The gospel, by contrast, proclaims that our position before God is “in Christ.” Day by day, we are in a constant need of reminding ourselves of this essential gospel truth: our standing before God is not based on what we have done but faith in what Christ has done. We are loved not because we are sufficiently good, but because we are united to the One who was perfectly good. Only when we are confident that we are united to Him do we have the joy that is the strength to live for Him.

How does any other perception enter into our hearts? Consider if there someone in your church or life you have quietly considered a “lesser” Christian. On what basis do you think of them as less important or less precious to God? While there may be much in their behavior or attitude that needs correction, you will never be fully confident of your own standing before God until you acknowledge that person, despite their flaws, is equally precious to God because of being as much “in Christ” as you are.

Spend time today simply resting in the truth that your standing before God does not depend on today's performance, but on being nested in Christ. Such security will not only be your comfort; it will bring the joy that is the strength of the Christian life for the trials and temptations you must face for Christ’s sake.

PRAYER: Father, thank You that I do not stand before You on the basis of what I do, but because I am hidden in Christ Jesus. When I am tempted to measure myself by performance, remind me: I am a saint not because I am perfect, but because I am in Him. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 15, 2026

“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons.” - Philippians 1:1

Paul opens this letter alongside Timothy — an unlikely pair. Paul was an aristocratic, highly trained Hebrew of Hebrews; Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother and Greek father, a young man with no real standing in either community. In the culture of their day, these two traveling together made little social sense. Yet, here they are, side by side, both calling themselves servants — literally, slaves — of Christ Jesus.

It seems strange that a slave would write with joy. But Paul's joy makes sense once we see who his Master is. Servitude to a harsh master produces resentment; servitude to a Master who has given up all honor and privilege for you produces loyalty and gratitude. Paul's identity as a “servant” is not resignation to the burden of bondage — it is a response to the privileges of grace already received.

This is a pattern worth noticing in our own partnerships and friendships: the gospel routinely binds together people the world would never expect to walk side by side — different ages, backgrounds, pedigrees, and social standing — because their deepest bond is not similarity but a shared Master whose sacrifice has made them equally precious to God.

RESPOND: Think of a partnership or friendship in your life that exists mainly because of a shared faith rather than a shared background. What has that relationship taught you about how precious that person is to God, how precious you are to God, and how precious that should make you to each other?

Does your service to Christ feel more like resignation to a burden, or gratitude to a gracious Master? Sometimes the honest answer to that question is the result of considering those to whom Christ now binds us in His family. Our hesitations and hatreds must be so consumed by gratitude to Christ that we love all that He loves. Such loyalty stirred by His grace towards us bridges all the separations of humanity and our hearts with His heart.

This week, look for someone very different from you within your church community and invest a few minutes getting to know their story. When your motivation is loyalty to the Master who gave Himself for you and that person, then the time and effort will not be a burden, but a privilege for Christ’s sake.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You that You bring together people the world would never pair — different backgrounds, different pedigrees, united only by You. Make my service to You a response of gratitude, not mere duty, and open my eyes to partnerships You want to grow in my life for the sake of expressing and experiencing more of Christ’s heart. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 14, 2026

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” - Ephesians 6:4

When it comes to instructions for children’s behavior, we might readily assume that Scripture would begin with rules for children to follow. Instead, the very first instruction in this passage is aimed at parents: do not provoke — or exasperate — your children. The word was used in the Old Testament for the Heavenly Father’s own exasperation with the constantly rebelling children of Israel. However, in the New Testament, Paul reverses the direction, warning fathers not to give their children cause for anger or resentment because of responsibilities the fathers have not carried out. Parents are not to require of their children what they themselves will not do. For example, whining at a child for whining, or raging at a child for anger at a sibling, or requiring a child to honor the Lord while showing no evidence of honoring Him yourself. Children have a finely tuned instinct for this kind of inconsistency. It exasperates them!

Only after giving that prohibition against parental hypocrisy does Scripture turn positive, telling parents to bring children up in the discipline and instruction — some translations say the nurture and admonition — of the Lord. Notice the pairing in each translation. Parental care provides correction of what is wrong and instruction of what is right. Discipline and nurture function together and both are required. A home that only corrects crushes; a home that only nurtures leaves a child unprepared and unguided for life’s challenges.

Parenting that rightly balances discipline and instruction requires real spiritual discretion. There is no universal formula – no cookie cutter guide for our unique children and their varying circumstances. Rather God tells us that balance is needed and the grace that we have received in appropriate proportions of discipline and instruction is the grace parents are to dispense. Different children need different measures of firmness and grace — what wounds one child barely registers with another though they are both in the same family. So, parents are meant to apply God's wisdom with discretion and love for each particular child, seeking the Lord when the path isn't obvious, and resting in His pardon when we get it wrong.

RESPOND: Is there an area where your children could reasonably call you inconsistent — requiring of them what you do not require of yourself? If so, consider each child in your care individually and ask yourself whether your dealings with them have leaned too far toward correction, or too far toward permissiveness? Then, ask the Lord for renewed care and discretion with that particular relationship. Ask Him for the wisdom to know when to correct and when to instruct so that each one entrusted to your care knows and experiences God’s grace as you have experienced it.

PRAYER: Father, keep me from exasperating those I love by asking of them what I will not do myself. Teach me the balance of discipline and nurture that brings to godly maturity, and give me discernment for nurturing it in each child You have placed in my care. Thank You that when I get it wrong, Your grace still covers me. Please provide grace to guide me as I nurture others in the godly path that honors Christ Jesus.  In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 13, 2026

“Honor your father and mother... Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:2, 4

The instructions in this passage are addressed to parents — not to daycare, not to grandparents, not to teachers, coaches, or youth leaders. Those people can be genuine gifts, part of the wider body of Christ helping to raise a child, but Scripture places the primary, eternal responsibility for a child's heart on the parents themselves. There is no biblical stopwatch measuring exactly how many hours parents must be “present” each day — but there is a clear expectation that parents order their lives so as to be the primary influencers of their children’s growth in godliness.

That influence may be costly. One couple in our church, both highly trained professionals with high incomes, realized they were coming home each night too exhausted to give their children real attention. They chose to restructure their careers and their spending around family priorities, accepting a smaller income and a smaller home to be attentive and “present” in their children’s lives. Years later, their grown children reflected on how their parents’ choices provided a beautiful, settled faith as the context for their childhood and the priorities for their own faith and families. The sacrifice was not wasted. Parents who exhibited God’s grace in their priorities, passed on God’s grace to generations that followed.

The instruction that the Apostle Paul gives to parents is addressed specifically to fathers, underscoring the instruction’s importance by giving it to those accountable for spiritual headship in the home. This does not mean that mothers are exempt from such care. Children who are precious to God must be seen as such and treated as such by each parent.

RESPOND: Where in your current schedule or spending would someone conclude that children are, or are not, a genuine priority for you?

Is there a specific choice — relating to income, schedule, or activities — that you sense God may be calling you to reconsider for the sake of your presence and influence with your children? Consider if there is a recurring block of time (a meal, a bedtime, a commute) you could reclaim for some unhurried presence with your child that could be God’s means of shaping his or her heart forever.

PRAYER: Lord, You have entrusted the eternal nurture of my children primarily to me, not to substitutes. Give me courage to make the hard choices that presence requires, and forgive me for the times I have let lesser priorities crowd out this one. As I have received your grace, help me to be the parent You intend to pass on your grace to those that I love and that you have given me to nurture in Christ’s love. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 12, 2026

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” - Ephesians 6:1

Obedience is right — but Scripture assumes obedience “according to capacity.” The instruction in this text is to “children.” The wording should remind us that a child is not just a short adult, but someone we should expect to be growing toward maturity. A young child processes the world with an understanding that is genuinely different from an adult's in ways that can be surprising, even funny, but are entirely appropriate to that stage of development. Expecting adult reasoning and adult self-control from a five-year-old is not the same as holding a child to a biblical standard of holiness; it's simply a misunderstanding of how God designed children to grow.

The biblical pattern for parenting through the stages of childhood may run opposite to our natural instincts and the patterns of our culture. If we are not attuned to Biblical perspectives we may tend to be relaxed and open-handed about misbehavior when children are small. We may perceive the consequences of their disobedience as minor or, even, “cute.” However, this is the very stage of childhood in which parents have the most opportunity to shape their children’s hearts and behavior. Failure to provide consistent discipline in early childhood, almost always means parent will try to clamp down hard as their unruly children enter adolescence. At that time the consequences of misbehavior become so serious that parents discipline out of their panic and pain, insisting on behaviors and attitudes that have not been developed in earlier stages of childhood. Scripture suggests the reverse: guide with a firm hand so that “children” obey while they are little. Then, as understanding and character mature, open the hand — staying present to support, catch, and love, but allowing increasing room to exercise the patterns of judgment and behavior that God intended for parents to instill at earlier stages.

Biblical parenting does not use the childishness of a child to excuse genuine disobedience. When children truly defy what they are capable of understanding and doing, then God’s insistence on obedience must apply for the good of the child. We all must remember that a disobedient child only sees the world’s frown – what we would desire for an enemy. Still, recognizing a child's actual capacity — rather than expecting adult thinking and composure from a mind, body, and set of emotions that have yet to mature — is itself a mark of parental wisdom and love.

RESPOND: Where might you be expecting adult-level reasoning or self-control from a child who isn't developmentally there yet?

Reflect on your own parenting patterns: are you more open-handed about obedience when children are small and clamping down later, or are you guiding closely while your children are young and opening your hand as they grow?

This week, consider speaking with other parents or grandparents about the difference between genuine disobedience and what are simply age-appropriate limitations — and how godly parenting should reflect God’s grace in responding to each differently.

PRAYER: Father, give me wisdom to see my children as they truly are — not miniature adults, but children You are growing stage by stage. Help me guide closely while they are young and release wisely as they grow, always present, always loving, always more concerned for their good than mine. Loving and maturing them in the grace in which Jesus is loving and maturing me. So please mature me so that I can wisely guide my children toward the godly hearts and lives that honor you. In Jesus' name, amen

Through The Bible in a Year - October 9, 2026

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother.” - Ephesians 6:1–2

Paul pairs two words carefully in his instructions to children: “obey,” which describes action, and “honor,” which describes a heart attitude. The combination should remind us that a child can comply outwardly while inwardly resenting every second of obedient behavior — obeying a parent’s command to sit down on the outside while, as the old joke goes, standing up on the inside. Scripture will not settle for that split. It is not only concerned that a child's hands do the right thing, but that a child's heart be turned toward God.

This matters because, as Scripture says elsewhere, out of the heart flow the issues of life. Good behavior purchased through fear, belligerence muted by guilt-tripping, or compliance won through intimidation may look like success, but it is not the obedience God has in view. A parent can win a battle of behavior and lose the far more important battle for a child's heart.

This is an important spiritual perspective for parents who feel they are constantly disciplining for good attitudes as well as proper actions. Your concerns are not misplaced. God cares about both hearts and hands – attitudes and actions. His grace is forming a whole person in your child — someone whose obedience to parents becomes, in time, the seedbed for a heart that delights to honor the Lord in both actions and attitudes because of the mercy he has shown us.

RESPOND: Think of a recent moment of “disobedience” in your home. Was the heart behind it addressed, or only the behavior?

Are there ways you, too, comply with God outwardly while resisting Him inwardly? What would it look like to bring your heart, not just your actions, into alignment with His grace this week?

Life is complicated and discipline of children often must occur without a lot of conversation or forethought. But, in the aftermath of the storm – perhaps in the calm of a bedtime routine – consider talking with your child about the difference between actions designed to gain personal approval and attitudes that are a response to God’s mercy.

PRAYER: Lord, You see past my actions into my heart, and You are not satisfied with outward compliance alone. Shape my heart to truly desire and honor Your grace, and give me wisdom to nurture not just the behavior but the hearts of the children You have placed in my life. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 8, 2026

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right... Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:1, 4

Every parent carries a quiet fear: did that one mistake, that one lapse in judgment, that one day of uncontrolled anger or impatience ruin my child forever? Which reward choice, which discipline choice, which sharp word in a hard moment will do lifelong harm? We replay such decisions in sleepless nights as though a single misstep could or did undo everything. But Scripture does not put that kind of weight on any one moment. It calls parents to build patterns of life, not to achieve a flawless record. That’s why Paul talks about the responsibilities of church, community, worship, husbands, and wives before dealing with the issues of parenting. Parenting is more about a pattern of life than a mistake-free home life.

One parent recalls the day he angrily scolded his teenage son for pulling out into traffic too soon — then, years later, made the identical mistake himself and called to apologize, ashamed of the present error and the past discipline. His son had no memory of the incident at all. Children often do not remember the details of the momentary failures we agonize over; some they don't recall at all, and some they “remember” in ways that never happened quite the way their childish minds have recorded. All this should help parents understand that what shapes our children over time are the larger patterns of our lives — how humility, repentance, grace, and character are expressed through the years, rather than an isolated slip in moment of tiredness or frustration.

This is not license for carelessness. Still, it is a genuine comfort: the gospel patterns that ordinarily are forming our children are not shaped by our worst moments, but by the daily routines and expressions of a home regularly turned toward the Lord and concerned for his honor. Such an orientation includes patterns of worship, care, and selflessness that reflect the priorities of the gospel — including a parent's willingness to say, “I was wrong, please forgive me.”

RESPOND: All conscientious parents can name a mistake that hangs in our memories and burdens our hearts with guilt. But the Bible’s instruction gives us the privilege of asking honest questions about that mistake. Does it characterize the pattern of your life, or was it a momentary lapse? If it’s the latter, don’t let it define you or your child. The gospel patterns of our lives are more strong and formative than the momentary mistakes we all make. The eternal grace of God is greater than our momentary failures.

If there has been a parental failure, grace can still triumph through an apology offered to your child — even an adult child — for something you may never have named out loud.

If there is guilt from a past failure hovering over your heart, consider an alternative to endlessly rehearsing your failures privately. Tell your child about the guilt you have felt and about the grace you believe the Lord provides for you. If your child remembers the mistake, you may want to ask your child’s forgiveness, too. But above all, ask God to make your confession a key aspect of the pattern of humility and grace that characterizes your home – a pattern that your children will actually remember because it has shaped their hearts forever.

PRAYER: Father, thank You that You do not measure my parenting by my worst moments. Forgive the specific failures I carry, and help me build a pattern of humility, repentance, and grace that will shape my children far more than any single mistake. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 7, 2026

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh... let the wife see that she respects her husband…. Fathers do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” Ephesians 5:31, 33; 6:4

Before the four verses on parenting in the book of Ephesians, an entire chapter is devoted to marriage. That is not an accident of order. The most important gift any parent can give a child is a secure relationship with the Lord; the second most important is the example of a husband and wife who genuinely love one another. Children learn how to face life, how to relate to the opposite gender, and how to experience and express the gospel — largely by watching the love in their parents’ relationship.

When this priority of relationships shifts, even for the good intention of loving children well, the spiritual foundations of the whole family destabilize. For example, when a marriage is struggling, it can be tempting to turn to a child as a comfort and confidant instead of working things out with a spouse. A friend once confided that, during a hard season in his mother’s marriage, she began sharing her frustrations with him rather than her husband. Though he was an adolescent at the time, he began advising his mother how to relate to his own father. Not surprisingly, the marriage suffered, and the father-son relationship became permanently strained. Children were never designed to carry the emotional weight of the strains in their parents’ marriage.

Marriages will have rough patches; every single one does. Yet, what best sustains a family, is not turning to children for counsel or consolation but returning to God for forgiveness and help. Marriages and children are healthiest when spouses keep working on their relationship to provide the security and example children need to understand how the grace of God claims them – and will help and heal family relationships in their own future. Ongoing forgiveness, selflessness, and love between a husband and wife are the most life-transforming sermon children watch every day.

RESPOND: In what ways are your children currently watching you love — or fail to love — your spouse well?

Is there any way, even a subtle one, that you have leaned on a child emotionally in a way that should be directed toward your spouse instead?

With the realities of your children’s spiritual needs in mind, take a moment now to consider one deliberate step to “treasure your spouse in God's way” — an act of affection, patience, or forgiveness your children can see. They will be spiritually strengthened by it. So will you.

PRAYER: Father, thank You for the model of Your own steadfast, forgiving love. Help me love my spouse in a way that gives our children security, and keep me from ever asking a child to carry the relational weight that you designed for the bonds of marriage. Let our home show the world, and our children, the heart of Christ. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 6, 2026

“...that Christ's body, the church, would be so powerful that the gates of hell would not prevail against it... we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:1-4

Before Paul writes even one word about parenting, he spends most of his letter describing the church — the body of Christ, made up of different people, gifts, and backgrounds, united in God's mission. That is not incidental to the passage on parenting; life in the church is the context for life as a family. God’s ordinary plan for the spiritual nurture of children is not for families to raise children alone.

When our church baptizes a child, it is not only the parents who make vows to raise that child “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” — the whole congregation vows to provide prayer and a Christian example for the child. That vow is not mere sentimentality. It is a defense. Children who grow up surrounded by adults who know and love the Lord are being provided a spiritual fortress against spiritual enemies that constantly arise from the world’s circumstances and priorities.

The church’s spiritual protections are also a gift for parents, not just children. In seasons of stress — that can be intensified by feelings of isolation and uncertainty — parents need other believing parents to support them, to debrief with, to be corrected by, or to laugh and cry with as we face the hard and silly moments of raising kids. Of course, we are called raise our own children in Christ’s love, but, in the life of a real church family, we also support one another and, in doing so, help raise each others’ children.

RESPOND: Who are the other believing adults currently speaking into your children's lives — or, if there now seem to be none, who could you invite in? Over the course of a child’s maturing, there will be times that parents seem to have less credibility (especially in teen years). So, are there other mature believers, that your children will love and respect, to give guidance and care at those times?

By God’s grace, your family's involvement in the church can be so much more than a habit to maintain appearances or socialize your children. A genuine relationship with the body of Christ can be one of the greatest provisions God gives for the spiritual nurture and eternal security of your child.

Consider how God has designed the mutual support we find in the church to help us “raise each other's kids.” Then, consider how a conversation, a prayer, a lunch with a friend, can be an honest check-in for mutual support that we and our children need.

PRAYER: Lord, thank You that You never meant for us to parent alone. Thank You for providing the church as a fortress of prayer and example around our children. Give me the humility to lean on other believers, and the faithfulness to be that kind of presence for someone else's family. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 5, 2026

“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

One sermon illustration told of a mother who followed every parenting book faithfully, expecting a calm, easy infant in return — and instead found herself furious in the middle of the night when her son would not cooperate. Her anger was not really at her child. It was grief that her idols of control and success had failed her. Every parent knows some version of that fury.

Fathers and mothers often discipline out of two very different postures. Due to unacknowledged or unrecognized insecurities, a man may over-discipline, feeling his reputation or control is threatened. By contrast, a woman fearing the rejection or disappointment of an unruly child may under-discipline to maintain a child’s approval or affection. Neither of these approaches comes from a heart made secure in God’s love by Christ’s grace. Hearts made secure by the provisions of grace correct our children with the certainty that we can express whatever sternness or tenderness our children need without risking the love of the Savior who will never leave or forsake us. Such spiritual security frees us to love a child’s spiritual good more than we love that child's good mood.

This is real talk for the hard seasons that parents may face — seasons of relational tension, employment anxiety, or personal exhaustion. Insecurities, fears, and pride may cause parents to react to these seasons by putting greater pressures on children – pressures designed to keep children under control more than understanding the gospel. Of course it’s not good for our children to be out of control, but we may recognize our insecurities are out of control if our corrections are only some version of “remember to obey” rather than “remember whose you are.” A parent secure in God's fatherhood disciplines to build up the spiritual security of a child, not simply to vent or prevent upset.

RESPOND: Ask honestly: when you correct your children (or those under your care), is it more often coming from security in God or from your own insecurity or embarrassment?

Though it may be painful, recall a recent moment of parental anger. What idol — control, reputation, fear of disapproval — might have been underneath it?

Now take just a moment to consider how you might have expressed that anger (which may have been totally justified) “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” rather than in frustration — explaining the why, not just enforcing the what.

PRAYER: Father, You have never once disciplined me out of insecurity or embarrassment. Forgive me for the times I have provoked those I love to anger because I needed to feel in control or respected by others. Make me secure enough in Your love that I can discipline with the sternness or tenderness that is needed for my child’s spiritual good rather than my personal needs. Let the gospel assurances provide for my spiritual security rather than my child’s behavior. In Jesus' name, amen.

Through The Bible in a Year - October 2, 2026

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ (this is the first commandment with a promise), ‘that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.’” Ephesians 6:1–3

Paul roots this instruction to children in the same soil as everything else in Ephesians: what it means to be united to the Lord. Children are not told simply to obey their parents, but to obey them “in the Lord.” Honor of parents is not a bare social nicety, nor a rule for keeping the peace or getting rewards — such honor is one of the earliest ways a child can express trust in and honor for God Himself.

Paul calls this parental honor “the first commandment with a promise.” That promise — that it may go well, that life may be long — is not a magic formula guaranteeing a problem-free life. It is a picture of the ordinary blessing that comes when families are oriented toward the Lord rather than toward selfish satisfaction or self-absorbed interests. Such families experience the stability, trust, and mutual support that God designed to help us weather the hard seasons of life together. Godly parenting is not a guarantee of old age for our children, but a path to the relational and spiritual strength that lasts through all the life that God grants.

For parents, this verse is a reminder that what we are cultivating in a child's obedience is not our own comfort but our children’s understanding of how honoring God is life’s greatest preparation for life’s greatest challenges. For children old enough to hear it, and for the adult children we all remain, honor of spiritual authority is never outgrown — it simply matures to the degree of devotion needed for the trials and triumphs of each stage of life.

RESPOND

How is honor being taught in your home right now — as compliance to keep peace, or as a practice that points each heart toward God?

If you are a parent, consider specific ways you can explain to your children why obedience matters, not just that it matters. How does honoring a parent’s authority help a child to understand, be protected, and be blessed by God’s authority.

If your own parents are living, is there a step of honor — a call, a visit, a kind word — that this passage also prompts you to take for your parent’s sake or for God’s honor?

PRAYER: Lord, thank You for ordering our families with gospel priorities, not just behavioral demands. Teach the children in my life — and teach me — what it means to honor those You have placed in spiritual authority over us. Help us to understand how that honor is rooted in honoring You more than in the perfections of any parent. May the gospel guide us all in honoring those You put in spiritual authority in our lives, not because of their deserving but because of the grace you are maturing in us.  In Jesus' name, amen.