Leaving a Legacy in Our Home Part 1 –
Becoming A Woman of Influence
A Woman of Influence Submits
A Woman of Influence Prays
A Woman of Influence Loves
2 Timothy 1:5
5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Acts 16:1
1 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
Slide 1
Last week, “Leaving a Legacy” begins with
Faith in God that needs to be growing
grows through
Knowledge,
Willingness to Obey and
Courage.
Slide 1
This week I want to begin talking about
specific roles we have and
how to apply the things we spoke of last week to our roles so we can leave a lasting legacy for the future.
Specifically this week we will be talking about
Being a Woman of Influence in the Home and
How to Leave a Godly Legacy for the future generations
Now guys don’t tune out here. You need to here this too. You need to understand that you have been given responsibility to help your wife achieve her full potential. We are going to look more at your role next week, but stay tuned in now too.
I want each of us to realize that how we live our life now affects
Our individual futures,
The future of our marriage
The future of our kids, and
The future of their kids
I want to take a look at Eunice today. You say who. Eunice, she was Timothy’s mother.
I want to look at the 2 passages of Scripture that mention her and the legacy she left and then see given her situation, what the scriptures say about becoming a Woman of Influence and Leaving a Godly Legacy.
Slide 2
Turn to 2 Timothy 1:5
2 Timothy 1:5 (p. 842)
5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Slide 2
Turn with me to Acts 16:1
Acts 16:1 (p. 784)
1 He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek.
Here we find that Timothy’s mom was Jewess, a woman of Hebrew birth and that she was a believer who was married to a Greek man who appears to not be a believer and from 1 Timothy we learn that she had a Sincere Faith
Eunice had an Influence on Timothy and Left a Godly Legacy in His life.
She left a legacy of faith for Timothy that continued on in Timothy’s life even after he left the home. And this occurred despite her being married to a man who did not share her Jewish heritage and was most likely not a believer.
How did she have this Influence and leave this legacy for her son given that she did not live with the most ideal circumstances?
That is what I want to look at today for you.
Slide 3
How can you be a Woman of Influence in the Home with the situation you find yourself in today and Leave a Godly Legacy for the Future Generations?
Slide 3
Two parents Are Best, but…
Now, I want to start out saying that the best hope for a child is to be brought up in a stable home with both parents who live Godly lives and love each other.
But for those women who are in situations that are less than ideal, who have been divorced or are married to a man who does not share your faith, all is not lost.
You, as a woman and a mother, can have a huge influence upon your children’s future, and even upon their children’s future, by being the woman that God wants you to be apart from those circumstances you find yourself in today, but the best chance of success for is to start with a stable home life with both parents living together.
Now I am first going to start off talking about your role as a wife. For those who are currently unmarried, you need to be listening to this to because it will greatly help you if you be the wife God wants you to be from the first night.
Eunice was in a marriage that appears like they did not share the same faith. What biblical principles, as a woman of sincere faith as Paul calls here, could she have followed to glorify God as a wife and help perpetuate this godly heritage to the future?
Slide 4
1 Peter 3:1-6
Slide 4 3:1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of
them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.
(from New International Version)
A Woman of Influence Submits!
Slide 5
1 Peter 3:1 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives
Slide 5 Titus 2:5 be subject to (your) husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God
Ephesians 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord
Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
What? How can you have any influence if you submit? Aren’t you just a slave?
Not at all.
Submission does not equal doormat.
Submission does not mean let yourself be abused.
Submission means that you put your husband ahead of your self.
Not your husband ahead of God
We always obey God first just like the apostles did
Acts 4:19 But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.
What submission really means is that you
Trust God to take care of you
Trust God to work in your husband’s life
Do you believe the word of God?
Live as though you do.
1 Peter 3:1-2 Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
1 Corinthians 7:16 How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband?
If you are married to a non-Christian, then you need to be concerned with the eternal state of your husband. You need to be living your life like Peter describes here with “a gentle and quiet spirit”.
There is a beauty about women whose hope and trust is in the Lord. Be the beautiful woman that God wants you to be and wants to help you to be.
This is not easy ladies. It takes tremendous courage to submit, to put your husband ahead of yourself. Our pride does not want to let us.
Overcome that with the strength of God and be courageous and submit.
Secondly
A Woman of Influence Prays!
Slide 6
As Paul wrote Timothy, he said he was reminded of the sincere faith of his mother and grandmother.
Slide 6
Those who have a sincere faith Pray.
Prayer is not something you just do, it is something that goes hand in hand with faith. If you do not have faith, you will not be praying. If you do have faith, you will recognize your need for God more and more and you will pray more and more.
Eunice was a woman of Sincere Faith.
Eunice certainly then was a woman of prayer.
If you want your kids to be left a Godly legacy by you, you need to be praying.
You need to pray for them.
You need to pray for yourself, for the wisdom and strength and guidance to live your life in a way that exhibits godliness.
You need to be praying for your husband.
The Scriptures are filled with exhortations to pray.
Ephesians 6:18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.
Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray continually
Why should we be praying? So that we and our kids can live a life worthy of the Lord and experience the blessings that come with that.
Colossians 1:9-10 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way:
And as we live our lives in the strength of the Lord in obedience and pray, our prayers are effective.
James 5:16 The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
A woman of Influence in the Home Submits and Prays and finally
A Woman of Influence Loves!
Slide 7
Love is required if you are going to leave any positive legacy to anyone.
Love is the basis of all that we do.
Slide 7
Eunice loved her son Timothy enough to pass on a legacy of faith. To pass on your faith, there must be love.
Titus 2:4 train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
Wives need to love their husbands and children. Without love ladies, it will impossible for you to leave a godly legacy because God is Love (1 Timothy 4:8, 16)
Nobody will knowingly follow a person that did not love them!
Think about that, If you are hated by someone or abused, you are not saying to yourself, I want to be just like them.
Love means sacrifice.
Throughout the Scripture there are some telling portraits of motherhood in scripture. There is the picture of Moses’ mother who cared so much for Moses that she broke the law to keep him safe and teach him the faith of his people. There is the picture of the mother who appeared before King Solomon who loved her child so much that she was willing to give him up forever rather than see any harm come to him
Love means we sacrifice
God loved us so He sacrificed
We show our love and leave a legacy by sacrificing
Ladies, this is how you are going to leave a legacy.
Slide 8
Submit, willingly put your husband above yourself
Pray, spend time asking for strength for yourself and wisdom for your husband and children
Love, Be willing to do anything within the will of God for your family
Slide 8
When you do these things, you will leave a legacy that will last not just during your lifetime, but into your children’s lifetime just like it did with Eunice’s son Timothy, and even beyond.
"Four scholars were arguing over Bible translations. One said he preferred the King James Version because of its beauty, eloquent old English. Another said he preferred the American Standard Bible for its literalism, the way it moves the reader from passage to passage with confident feelings of accuracy from the original text. A third man preferred Moffatt because of its quaint, penetrating use of words, the turn of a phrase that captures the attention of the reader. After giving the issue further thought, the fourth scholar admitted, ’I have personally preferred my mother’s translation.’ When the other scholars chuckled, he responded, ’Yes, she translated it. She translated each page of the Bible into life. It is the most convincing translation I ever saw.’" (Charles Swindoll, Family Life, Multonomah Press, Portland Oregon 97266, 1988. pg. 72)
I want leave you with some of the things you will be able to hear in your own lifetime if you apply these principles to your home life.
Do not get discouraged if this is not how it currently is, because Becoming a woman of Influence is not an overnight process.
Proverbs 31:28-30
28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 29 "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Let’s Pray.
Gentlemen and ladies, you are going to want to make sure to be here next week when we talk about how to be a Real Man!
