Welcome to the very first “5 Minute Friday”, where together we stay equipped and encouraged as Godly wives and mothers.

It’s been exactly 3 months since I wrote my last blog post.

I didn’t stop for any other reason than God told me to. He had things to share with me and if I’m honest, He had some sin that needed revealing.  It has been some of the best months in my 7-year relationship with Him.  Every morning, I’ve found my coffee tasting a little sweeter because of who I was sharing it with.

I say all this because in the time spent sitting with Him, He made it really clear to me that I’ve been doing this whole blog thing my way.  Even when I was doing it with 95% Jesus and 5% Jill, it was still my way. I’m learning that anytime we throw our own fleshly desires in there and take our eyes off Jesus, it becomes our own. During this sweet time, He broke me, He changed me, and He put me back together again. But praising Him today because it was all for the better.

I believe the change started to happen in my heart when I became so burdened that my kids were growing up in this crazy world.  I had a heaviness I never experienced before that began in March 2020. I struggled in fear for the world I once knew.  I wanted to do something, and I took to all the wrong places to do it.  Not until I shut it all down, sat quietly with Him and addressed the sin in my own heart, did He whisper “light overcomes darkness.” (John 1:5) And with one parts frustration and another parts feistiness, I responded “but how Lord? How am I supposed to do that?”  And this was the birthplace of this newly adorned blog “Growing In Goodness.”

A few weeks in, He took me to the pages of Titus 2 and said “This is where it all starts.  Study it and be obedient to it. Next, share it and make it your life mission to teach the younger women about me and how to be the wife and mothers I want for the next generation! This is how you change the world.”  Tears filled my eyes, goosebumps covered my skin and just like they say “you just know” in the romantic movies, I just knew this was what God called me to do.  But one of the most interesting things I’ve learned through this is that this isn’t just what He called me to do. He has called all women, younger and older to do this too. This is the calling of a woman.

There is hope for the future and our commitment to it has a large impact. It doesn’t start by doing some grand event, historical march or protest, it starts right in our very own homes. So when we feel like screaming from the rooftops trying to make a difference, there is a more godly approach. And one I believe is much more impactful.

Maybe you share in this burden with me? Or maybe you just have always had a desire to be the mother and wife God intended. Either way, I believe it’s in these verses that we can find the gold and treasure we are seeking.

“Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.” -Titus 2:3-5

I truly believe here is how we change the world and here are the 5 ways we can do so:

• Be an example- Live a life of deep respect, not gossiping or indulging on alcohol but teach what is good. (Titus 2:3)-  I have to ask myself daily now “does my life look reverent?  Am I a woman who respects myself, my husband, my children and others? Do I teach what is good to younger women and live by that example? Do I dress with respect and behave that way?  We must first become what we teach.
• Prayerfully Pursue Self Control- (Titus 2:5) Self Control means “to control ones emotions, desires or expressions of them, especially in difficult situations.” Again, this is what older women are to teach the younger women. So in order to teach it we must be an example of it. I know I need the power of the Holy Spirit for this one. In most instances when it comes to controlling our emotions in difficult situations it can be hard. But we have the power of prayer.
• Teach Purity- (Titus 2:5) – Pure= “free from contamination.” I started listing out all the ways I have contaminated myself over the years. “junk tv, social media, alcohol, bad company etc..” All these things have contributed to a decaying world.  To stop the decay, we have to do the opposite and teach what impurity does.
• Be Busy at Home– It’s so important for our homes to be the safe place for our children and husbands to come home to. It should be a place where they feel the love of God and know His teachings. Perhaps one of the most important of all the things that would change the world is if the home was the most important thing to more of us today.  It’s where hearts reside, grow and learn what is good.  It should be amongst our top priorities.
• Be Kind, love your children, love your husband and be subject to him- (Titus 2:5) Scripture says “love is patient, love is kind.” Now because of this I’m constantly asking myself “was I patient today with my kids? Was I kind to my husband?” Does he know I respect him and that I am on mission with him to help him accomplish our goals and dreams instead of a woman who makes life harder on him?

Could you imagine if all of us set out to lead our homes this way and accomplished it? What a wonderful world it would be. What beautiful marriages would exist. And what amazing children we’d raise. Will you join me in this worthy call?

I’d love to hear your thoughts below.