Today I'm Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. Are you facing a big decision? Maybe a big decision about money? Maybe about work or career? or more importantly, maybe a very big decision about a relationship.
How do you make wise choices? That's today. We're living in upside-down times, where our culture brazenly calls evil good and godly behavior evil. This moral chaos is rooted in faulty thinking that's been absorbed drop by drop, screen by screen, choice by choice. Today on Living on the Edge, Chip Ingram continues his teaching series called Leaving a Legacy That Lasts Forever.
In this study, I'll explain why exposing the cultural chaos is the greatest legacy we might leave our offspring. And then just after Chip's message, we'll explain how you can leverage your year-end giving through the match that's active right now. Until December 31st, every dollar given to support Living on the Edge is automatically matched and therefore doubled in size and impact because of this match. More later, but right now, the message from Chip Ingram. We make our choices and then our choices make us.
Some of our good choices have resulted in a happy marriage, a great job, and deep personal satisfaction.
Some of our poor choices have resulted in destroying a marriage, losing a job. and suffering shame and reproach. Few things will determine the quality and the fulfilment of your life more. than the choices you make. For better or for worse.
I've heard someone say that when it Okay. You boil it all down, you will probably make a half a dozen very major important choices about God, about future, about relationships, and about how to deal with some difficult things in your life that will determine all of your life. You just basically play out the rest. In fact, let me give you some time with yourself. I'd like you to think as fast as you can about the two best choices you've ever made.
Two choices that you say, some of the richest, deepest blessing. When I look at my life from where I am now backwards, I think about I made a couple choices, these were good choices. And some of you think back to a window of time and you chose to make a decision that was kind of counterculture and you ended up in a world and in a job that you were made for and you look back, I can't believe I got to do that. Right?
So, I just want you to mentally think about what are maybe the top two or three choices you've made, and some of you just need to remember you have made some good choices.
Okay, now I want to go to the other side. Just what's one choice? that you've made that if you could take this one back, you'd take it back. One choice you made in the past that you just thought, oh my. I mean, that was dumb.
In fact, that was worse than dumb. That was biblically unwise. In fact, that That choice cost me. A lot. And it could be a choice that cost you a lot of money.
It could be a choice that cost you a relationship. It could be a choice that, in a just quick moment of time, and it was like it's, you know, it promised a lot of pleasure, but it really delivered a lot of pain. Can you think of any?
Now, here's why I want you to get your emotions around that instead of just your head and your heart. In like manner, There are few gifts. that you will give. to those that are coming. behind you, okay?
This whole series is about passing on the things that matter most. And when you think about that person you're wanting to help grow spiritually, or that child of yours, or that grandchild, or someone in church, or someone who's looking to you, and you want to pass on what matters most. Few things. could be a greater gift. than you giving them the skill and the ability to make wise choices.
In fact, I'd go out on the limb and say, to give people wealth. without wisdom. is to sentence them to a life of folly. and failure in their future. And yet, I mean, the research is in.
Almost all followers of Christ have spent much more time thinking very carefully about how to transfer their wealth. to their kids and grandkids. Then they have their wisdom. And so, you know, it's not too late. But I mean, if if you take time to make an estate plan and to make a will to think about how important it is to give them your stuff.
What you want to do is Translate your soul. What are your values? Teach them how to make great, great. Great decisions. Great decisions about God, great decisions about relationships, great decisions about money.
Great decisions about how to respond to adversity. great decisions about how to resolve conflict. Make wise, wise decisions about opportunities that seem too good to be true because they are. Wise, wise decisions about how to discover who God made them to be. wise decisions about if they're parents, how to parent well.
Wise decisions about how to take care of their body. You know, the one of the greatest gifts you could ever impart To those that you care about the most is the skill and the knowledge and the ability. to make excellent, wise decisions. And so our transferable concept Is Teach them to make wise choices. And what I'd like to do now is say, I believe.
There's a place to start and if I was gonna just open the Bible In the middle here, and it opened to Proverbs like it did. Let me read one verse, sort of as a launching point. It's not in your notes. Here's the wisest man in the world. Past, present, future.
And he says, verse 7: the fear of the Lord is the beginning. of wisdom. Only fools despise wisdom and discipline. The fear of the Lord. And the fear of the Lord is reverential awe for sure.
The fear of the Lord is a Emotional, he is awesome and powerful and all-knowing and pure, and you are actually afraid. You're afraid not to do life his way. The fear of the Lord, both positively and negatively, part out of admiration and part out of just actual fear. Is to say to God, I want to do life your way because you have designed it in a way for my good. And by the way, you're God, whether it's for my good or not, you are God and you created me and you say these things, and I am afraid to do anything other than what the one who created me and deserves to have rightfully, anything he wants, he can have.
He made me. And so, the fear of the Lord, and what I would like to suggest is: if we're going to learn to make wise decisions, we need to walk through a theology of holiness. And I've summarized, I didn't put all the verses there, but I've kind of summarized a theology of holiness.
Now, when you hear this word, please do not go to black robes, lit candles, prune-faced people chanting in the dark. or people who don't wear makeup ever. Or don't play cards.
Okay? I'm not talking about external holiness. Write next to this in your notes, a theology of holiness, put a dash and write the word wholeness, W-H-O-L-E-N-E-S-S. The root word of holiness comes from wholeness, it comes from health. The prerequisite For the universe that a perfect, holy God has made is for it to be whole and to be healthy, it must be holy.
And the fall is like cancer. And it's like eating away at the environment, at the world, at the structure that God created. And so his holiness is his standard that provides health. When we live a holy life, when we follow God's holiness, it not only Is what he expects because of who he is, but it's also his way of helping us get health in our relationships with him and with others, and what makes us whole and complete. And, you know, they didn't know all the scientific stuff that we know.
And when he gave multiple commands and it looked like just ceremonial holiness, I mean, they didn't know about bacteria and they're washing their hands all the time. They didn't know that the platelets clot at, what is it, when you circumcise a child. Purdue did a study that, you know, the platelets clot the most on that very day. But all these. Standards and all these laws that God gave His people to be this holy nation were for their health and for their good, and so they would reflect Him.
And so, what does it mean? What is holiness? Let's walk through it. First, God is high and holy, and the idea of holy means He's totally other. He's not a bigger, better category, he's completely different.
We are creation and he is creator. When we look at our little Milky Way with a couple billion stars and then try to imagine behind it, Maybe 200 billion other galaxies, we are speaking of one who spoke a word and it came into existence. He is a God that when people ever get even near His presence, they fall on their face. He's a God who's unapproachable light. He is absolute purity.
Absolute holiness. He's the source of all life. And so he's other. He's not the old man with the beard who nods at his children, and he's not a divine Santa Claus, or he's not a cosmic vending machine. He is holy.
God is absolute truth. John 14, 6 Jesus came, he said, I'm the way. The truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except by me. God is truth.
God's Word defines absolute truth. Mike Jot John 17, 17, the last prayer of Jesus. Sanctify them. By your truth, your word. Is truth.
And sanctified, that's our same root word for holistic. Set them apart is the idea.
Something special, not something regular. A theology of holiness includes God's law or morals is for our protection. When God lays out these commands, these guardrails, this is not from a A prudish God that is against sex, or someone that has all these rules to frustrate us, and anything that we like to do, you know, he comes up with a command to say, don't do that. They're for our protection. Therefore our boundaries.
Imagine, if you will, okay, this is a little word picture. For me, sometimes these things are abstract. I have this picture, because I struggled with all of this a lot. And I didn't grow up as a Christian. I never read the Bible growing up.
And all I knew was, even when I was a young Christian, if I liked to do it, I could find a command that said I'm not supposed to. And I spent probably the first five years of my Christian life with: I'm on this side, and God's on this side, and there's this big fence, and All the time he was telling me, Ingram, you can't do that, you can't do that. I thought he was against me. And I had a warped view of God. And what I came to understand is actually he's on the same side with me and this fence or this barrier of some laws that he gives me are that he's all-wise and all-knowing and loving and he cares about me.
And I began to see those as guardrails. And so here's the word picture that I came up to that really helped me want to obey. Imagine, if you will, this little chalet at the top of a mountain. And there's this windy, windy, windy road to get up to it. But when you get up to it, I mean, the refrigerator is stocked.
There's a workout room. The view is absolutely glorious. All your closest friends are there, and they can stay forever and ever and ever. I mean, it is life at its very best. And that's the trail, this quote, abundant life that God has for us.
But you need to go on this trail, and it's windy and it's dangerous. And so all along the trail, you know, you get near the edge and there's like a thousand-foot drop-off, so he puts these guardrails. And the guardrails are his laws and his decrees, so that when you bump into them, you realize, oh, don't do that, or you could go over the edge. But if you stay inside those guardrails of his moral decrees and laws, he wants you to get to that chalet. He wants to enjoy you.
He wants you to have the very best. He cares about you. You're the object of affection.
So they're for you. And so, I mean, especially in those college years and those post-college years, I mean, I didn't grow up as a Christian, and I learned for 18 years how to relate to girls. And then I become a Christian right before I leave for college, and there's four girls for every guy. I mean, ugly guys were getting good girls where I went to school. I mean, you didn't even have to try, you could get a girlfriend.
And, you know, this is the early 70s.
So, I mean, everybody's sleeping with everybody. I mean, I remember, you know, the co-ed dorm thing was starting to come in, and I'd walk out of the bathroom, and a girl's going, whoa, you know, I mean, just this is wild. And now I got this new Bible, and God telling me: now you need to be sexually pure. And I'm thinking. Boy, you must be very powerful.
You think that can happen. And I made a commitment to be. But it was always like, you know, God, I'm missing out. God, I'm missing out. And then And I've done a lot of research in this area.
And I've learned, you know, the most sexually fulfilled people in all the planet. are highly religious, monogamously married people that have no other partners. That believe in God and that He created marriage, and they have 31%, how they measure this, don't ask me, but they have 31% better sex than all the rest of the people.
So um I I I dare not ask how that happens, you know. Uh those people who live together prior to marriage, have a 50% higher divorce rate. They have about a 75% more likelihood of adultery. Um Sexually transmitted diseases can lie dormant for over 10 years before they Pop up to let you know that what you did on a fling back then Can come back and visit you, or you can pass it on to your partner or other people.
Now, God knows all that. And so when God says the marriage bed is holy, and when He says don't have sex outside of marriage, I mean, I didn't even get to the spiritual implications, I didn't get to any of the issues emotionally, I didn't get to the baggage in the back of your mind when you're making love with your wife. The pictures of the past can come up, or vice versa. And so all I'm saying is, when God says things like, don't have sex before marriage, this isn't a prudish God that doesn't understand that we have hormones. This is an all-wise, all-loving God going, you don't want that second-rate stuff with all the baggage, emotionally, physically, right?
Okay. I got chalet sex for you.
Okay? I want you to be completely committed, without guilt, free of shame. You'll still have your struggles. But you know what? When he has a command about money, You ought to give here, save here, and do it this way.
Same reasoning. When he has a command about telling the truth and speaking the truth in love rather than gossiping, every one of his moral commands, because he's holy, is for your health. And when you can ever get your arms around, his commands are for my good. That's why, read Psalm 119. David, despite his struggles and his failures, his commands are my delight.
I rise in the middle of the night, like someone, you know, waiting for the dawn. I love his word. Why? Because he got it. They weren't prohibitions.
They were the pathway, they were the guardrails to get the highest and the best. That's what holiness is about. It's about wholeness and it's about health, and it reflects God's character. God's ultimate aim is to make us holy. You know, we quote Romans 8:28 quickly when life's bad, right?
For we know that God works all things together for the good, you know, the car wreck and the down economy and the struggle with one of our kids and the tension in our marriage and circumstances. He works it all for the good. And we quote 28, well, verse 29. Is the purpose behind how he takes every situation, every person, every circumstance, every difficulty that you'll ever face, and what? Verse 29 says that in order that he might conform us to the image of his Son.
The game plan is to make you like Jesus. That's what holiness really is: Christ-likeness. In Ephesians chapter 4, we get the picture of what the church is all about. And in verse 11 through 13, we're told why God gives leaders in the church. He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers.
Why? For the equipping of the saints, for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ. And then, why is the body of Christ supposed to be built up? Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, of the standard of the measure of the fullness of Christ. Maturity.
Paul said, My goal in life is to present every man perfect. It's the same word, teleas, or mature. You know what that is? That's called being holy. That's called being Christ-like.
That's his aim for you.
Now, a byproduct is, as you walk that way, you'll have great joy. But happiness has to do with circumstance. Joy is the byproduct. of relationships. And you know what?
Your happiness can go up with the stock market. And it can go down with the stock market. Up with your in love. down with your heart broken. God's aim is to make us holy and to reflect His Son.
It's a winsome, pure, not weird, religious out there. You people are where are you coming from? Holiness. It is a holiness that is loving and winsome and pure and approachable and Christ-like. When you're holy, you're like Jesus.
And that's God's agenda. The Old Testament roots are we get Exodus chapter 3. Verses five and six, Moses sees the bush. God says, don't come any closer. Take off your sandals.
For the place where you're standing is, remember? Holy ground. Then he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. We've lost a generation of people that are afraid to look at God.
We're casual with God. We think God's going to wink at stuff. I've got a lot of friends in churches all around the country, and as we kind of compare notes, I will tell you the average single person. In the average evangelical church, and I'm just going to throw a statistics out, it's probably higher than this, but the average single person in evangelical churches is sleeping around about 80% of the time. And people will just look you in the eye and say, well, you know.
I don't think God really expects that anymore. I mean, like eight out of ten commandments, that's pretty good. Like isn't that like an 80 on a test? Yeah, and we've it's We have really lost the sense. of the awesome holiness and purity of God.
Here we have a situation with Moses. God says, take off your lie. Nothing artificial, man. Wherever I am, it is holy. You find John meets Jesus, right?
Revelation chapter 1, bam, he's on his face. Joshua meets the angel of the Lord. You know, we've lost the sense of God's transcendence. He is not our buddy. He is approachable, he's imminent, he's loving, he's kind, but he's unapproachable light, and purity, and holiness.
We'll hear more from Chip Ingram's message in just a moment. First, we're inviting you to multiply your year-end donation through an exciting match that's active right now. Because of the match, your donation will be matched dollar for dollar in the month of December. And when you support this match, you're not funding yesterday's methods. You're investing in a discipleship strategy that actually reaches the smartphone generation right where they are.
Will you give to the next generation? Double the impact of your gift at livingontheedge.org. from his series called Leaving a Legacy That Lasts Forever. in our Bible teacher, Chip Ingram. Isaiah caught it in Isaiah chapter 6.
Listen to the verse: In the year that King Uziah died. I saw the Lord. What was he like? High and exalted. And the train of his robe filled the temple.
Above him were seraphs, these special Angels, each with six wings. Two, they covered their faces, and with two, they covered their feet, and with two, they were flying. And they were calling out to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is full of His glory. This is the only time you ever find.
God addressed as three different things. In Hebrew, they don't have um I can't remember what you call them in English. Like we say very good or best or better. They don't have that in Hebrew. The way the way you make A stronger statement: it's holy, or you go holy, holy, or if you want to make it holy, holy, holy, it's a majestic exponential.
And that's what the angels are doing then. And according to the book of Revelation, that's what they're doing now. And there's going to day come where they're going to keep doing it, and we're going to get in on it. But that's who God is. And these are perfect angelic beings that are of the higher ups.
I don't understand all cherubs and seraphs and who knows how all that works, but I'll tell you what. They are in the very presence of God night and day. Later, we find out they have eyes all over them, and there's all this wisdom, and they're innocent and they're pure, and yet in the presence of God, they hide. their face and they cover their feet. And they declare who he is.
I will tell you, you get a glimpse. of who God really is, it changes everything. You know, everyone throws around that. You know, it's not about us, it's not about us. It's not about us.
And it's not about being in control. It's not about making your little life work out, or my little life work out, and our plans work out, and what other people think. When you see God for who He is, it's just like, whoo! All that stuff goes away. And then at the sound of their voices, the text goes on: the doorposts and the thresholds they shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.
And this is what happens when you see God afresh. Woe is me, I cried. I'm ruined. This is a prophet. This is the statesman of the day.
This is a man who heard from God. This is a guy that his righteousness, I'm sure, compared to most of ours, his is here and we're here. But he sees God, I'm ruined. For I'm a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. And then we get this powerful picture of the seraph who flies with the coal, takes it from the altar, touches his lips.
And you have this process that I think needs to happen. The old word for it is repentance and renewal. But it's this process where we get into the scriptures and in community and in worship, where we again get a glimpse of who God really is, which leads to an accurate view of ourselves, which leads to a realignment of our agenda with His. And that process is over and over and over in Scripture, and that has to happen with us. And it's painful.
Sitting quietly before God, worshiping God for who He is, versus just asking and telling and whining and complaining, we can do all that. But we need to come before God and worship him for who he is. And remember who he is. and then ask him to By his searching light. Pray the prayer that David prayed.
Search me, O God, into my heart. Test me. Examine me. See if there's anything in me. And you know what?
Then sit quietly. And unless you're living on a different planet than I am, he'll show you stuff. And for some of you that are very mature and walk with the Lord far longer than me, it probably won't be, you know, outward external stuff. Hit me that little self righteous attitude. It'll be that little judgmental thing of how you think about so-and-so.
It'll be about issues like motive. when everyone looks to you and yet what you know is You play into the crowd just a little bit too much. You're liking the praise of men just a little too much. You become a little bit of a people pleaser a little too much. You've allowed your faith and how you live to be sort of a little badge.
And you know It's you're human. And you just need to get the fiery flame of the holiness of God to purge you and me purge me and allow him to do that. And then we recognize with a new level how unworthy we are. And guess what that does? The work of Jesus then becomes very precious.
Because you realize without him, you you're in big trouble. And so the cross takes on new meaning. The biblical profiles are Moses and Stephen. I like the Hebrews passage where it says Moses chose to be mistreated. for a time.
Then live in a pagan culture. and enjoy the pleasures of Egypt. There's a price tag to be holy. And Stephen, you have this, you know, when they chose Stephen, remember Acts chapter 6? Choose from you.
Men who are full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. And the very first name is Stephen. He's a holy man. He's filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom. And then chapter 7, what do we have?
We have Stephen making this defense, and they bring these trumped-up charges. And as he's looking up, God gives him a vision of Jesus next to the throne. And you have courage when you're holy, and you have boldness when you're holy, and you know the word of God because he goes through the entire history of Israel when you're holy, and then he gets to the end, and you have a forgiving heart. Father, forgive them. Please don't take this into account.
That's what a holy life looks like. Not people who dress funny or put praise the Lord on the back of their cars or have big black Bibles. Holiness is a quality of life that is winsome and loving and word-centered and deeply caring and morally pure. The New Testament command is 1 Peter 15 and 16, but just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in your notes where you circle the word all in all you do. For it is written, Be holy.
Because I'm holy. in all you do. in what you watch. in what you put into your mind, in what comes out of your mouth. and what goes into your mouth.
In what you say. In what you think. Be holy. in all that you do. Holiness is not an option.
The scripture says, without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Holiness is not external religious activity. Holiness is a condition of the heart. A purity of the mind that expresses itself in a righteous lifestyle. And then notice the great promise: blessed are.
The pure in heart, because what do they get? I see God. And even at the end of the day, that's God's heart's desire, and you'll never get a greater reward. Just see God. Know him for who he is.
And by the way, that's how transformation occurs. 1 John will tell us, we don't know exactly what we're going to be like, but this is what we know. 1 John 3:2. When we see him, we'll be like him. And Paul would say in 2 Corinthians 3, when he's talking about the difference between the old and the new covenant, he goes, But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed, processed from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit.
And his point is, as we get these glimpses of who God really is. How loving He is, how holy He is, how pure He is. You know what? And when they have that attitude, it's not like I get, okay, I can read a chapter a day to keep the devil away. Or I read five chapters, I feel really holy today.
God, what do you think? Can I get a little star in the refrigerator up there? I prayed for 15.7 minutes. I fasted for two whole days. Those are all performance mentalities.
I read because I love you. Would you speak to me? I fasted because I'm not clear and I don't know what to do, and I want to eliminate the distractions. I get no brownie points. I'm not better than anyone else.
I just need to pull away from the world because I need to hear your voice. Will you speak to me? I love you. I want to sing to God because He's my Savior and what He's done, and I forget that. That's what holiness looks like.
And then you begin to pass on and give to others what God has given to you. On the application, it says, I. I like You, if you would be so bold to write your name in there, commit to learn how to discern good from evil. That's the heart of becoming holy. See, the problem is, we have a real, real hard time in our day.
You're living in a mirage. and a mirage of lies. and appearances. And Paul would pray, we'll look at it a little bit later in Philippians 1. He would pray that God would grant them the ability to discern.
Good. from evil. Isaiah in his day would say the world and the religious leaders, he would say, you know, what's happened is now we're calling evil good and good evil. And I don't know about you, but I see that today everywhere.
So How Do you pass this on? And how do you pass on This view of God, this sense of holiness, because if holiness has to do with being whole and health, and if God, because of the nature of who He is, demands holiness for the health of His universe, and when people violate that holiness, there's consequences because God is pure. When a parent lets anyone do something that's harmful for them over and over without consequences, you don't love them. Proverbs says the evidence of love, and Hebrews 12 says, the evidence of real love is when a parent disciplines.
So when we step outside of God's moral law and boundaries and He brings consequences, what He's saying is, I love you because you keep doing that. You're going to get hurt badly. You're going to get hurt real badly. That attitude is going to bring pain. That behavior is going to bring pain.
You keep logging on to that site, you're going to lose affection for your wife. You keep chatting around and reading those romance novels and creating this ultra world that you hide in and have this virtual world. I'll tell you what, it'll ruin your marriage. You keep letting your kids hang out with that group, I will tell you, they're going to land in the ditch. And so he says there's the standard of holiness, but the standard of holiness is built out of blocks or bricks of love.
To bring about health and wholeness.
So let's talk about maybe some practical ways. How do we pass this on?
so they can make wise decisions.
Okay. Number one, encourage them. To saturate their mind with truth. The Bible, Great books, videos. You have in your notes, this is one of my favorite passages: Romans chapter 8, verses 5 through 8.
It says those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.
And those who are controlled by the sinful nature of the flesh. cannot please God. All I want you to get is Where do you set your mind? Where do you set your mind? First and foremost, we have to model this, but Boy, we have got to pass on to our kids, to those that we're discipling, to our grandkids, to the groups that we hang out with.
You mean, I'll tell you what, I've been in small groups where the Bible is never opened, truth is never discussed, but we know a lot about, you know, what's on sale, what sport teams are doing different. We have a good social time, and I think that social interaction is great. It just doesn't transform your life. The great majority, I don't do counseling per se, and you know, I was kind of joking, but when I get done speaking at different places, they'll usually align. long line of people and they come up and tell me stuff, I don't know why, that I'm thinking I would never tell anybody that.
And they tell me all kind of really painful, horrendous, difficult. Marriages, homosexual affairs, drugs, addicts, on and on and on and on. And many very sincere believers who never dreamed this could happen to them. And I Despite what I told you about myself when I first meet people, I ask God for great compassion and I listen attentively and I ask questions and I try to discover what's going on. But I have learned over the years, I always ask one question: Would you tell me?
I mean, I know you've been a believer so long. I know you never thought this could happen to you, and you know that someone like you could never have an affair and you're a leader in the church, et cetera, et cetera. Would you tell me right now a little bit about your personal time in God's Word? And I almost know the answer 100% of the time. And I will tell you, it goes like this.
Well, I used to, but Well, I go to church regularly. I didn't ask if you went to church regularly.
Well, I listen to Christian radio now and then well, they're great. God bless you, you know, some of those guys are okay. I ask you about your personal time in God's Word. Where God speaks to you and it's a heart relationship. You gotta pass that on.
The great majority of Christians. do not spend personal time in God's Word and therefore are powerless to break the bonds of sin. and are duped and seduced because they're not armed with the truth. And we've got to model that first. And then you gotta pass that on.
And it's gotta be passed on not as a club. You know?
Okay, kids, get around the table right now. It's breakfast time or supper time. All right. Nathaniel, open Proverbs chapter 1. It's the first day of the month, isn't it?
Read it now. Ethel, shut up. Listen to your brother. He's reading God's Word. Yeah.
I can tell you where these kids are going to be at about 18. It will not be in church. Or much to do with God. But in winsome ways, early on, I remember my wife. Uh she is read to all of our kids.
They became readers. And I mean, she read all the Chronicles of Nardi, and then she read other things. And she read to them even at times where they got old enough it would have been embarrassing, so we didn't talk about it. You know, especially the boys. And then I was much more concerned, little by little by little.
I met with my kids and kind of taught them how to spend some time with God. And Teresa and I would just try and share the love and what was happening, you know, in our struggles and our journey, but with God. And I wanted my kids far more to begin to meet with God on their own. than us have sort of perfunctory family devotions, although you know we met and did that. And I talk to my kids now.
My one son who's a pastor, I said, Well, Ryan, what? What was it that really clicked for you in terms of how did God lead you that way? And I'm thinking, maybe it's one of my great messages, I'm sure, you know? But this is my kids. He said, well, that is really pretty easy, you know?
I don't know how many times, you know, when you're a little kid and you get up and go to the bathroom and you think it's the middle of the night because it's like five o'clock, and for you, it's the middle of the night. and there's a light on and mom's on her knees praying. Or she's sitting in the chair with a cup of coffee reading God's Word and Um I just grew up. watching you and mom. That's what mattered.
And when we drove in the car and we were in the back seat and you guys were just You know, wasn't didn't sound spiritual, just sounded like kind of what you were you were doing life. That's what they catch. And so you have to create when they're little and then when they're older. I will tell you, I didn't pay my kids to do the chores. Remember, we talked about?
I paid them for extra stuff. I paid them to read books. You say that's bribed them. Absolutely. Did it on purpose.
I mean, when my kids got in high school and now they're getting all these world views, James Sires, Windows, okay, tell you what, I'll give you $10 to read that and write me a report on it. Here's a thicker one. I'll give you 15 bucks to read that one and we'll discuss it. I mean, hey, they wanted money. I wanted truth to get in their mind.
But but you gotta Saturate their mind. with truth. Encourage that. These are the biblical principles to instill in our families. It's a legacy that will last forever.
You're listening to Living on the Edge with Bible teacher Chip Ingram. We'll hear a closing comment from Chip in just a moment. This practical five-part series concludes next week. To hear any of Chip's messages from the study or to order the companion resources to facilitate personal study or perhaps a small group, give us a call, 888-333-6003 is our number, or go to livingonthege.org. Look for Chip's helpful series called Leaving a Legacy That Lasts Forever: How to Give Your Kids and Grandkids What Money Can't Buy.
Chip, although we've been on radio for 30 years, we're finding that young listeners don't tune in this way. Instead, they're using new platforms and they're asking honest, vulnerable questions. It's our role as parents and grandparents to bolster their confidence in the credibility of the Bible. Young adults today are asking questions their parents never ask. How do I know Christianity is true with so many other religions?
You know, why does the Bible seem to contradict science? Or how can I trust a God who allows such suffering? These aren't rebellious questions, they're honest questions, and they deserve an honest answer, a thoughtful answer. Living on the Edge doesn't shy away from the hard stuff. You might remember our series Caring Enough to Confront, where we taught on Abortion, politics, the environment, LGBTQ, porn, heterosexual sin.
I mean, if they don't hear God's perspective that is winsome and loving and clear and truthful, how do we expect them to follow Him? We have to give answers. With a spirit of kindness and love, but we have to shoot it straight. And by and large, that does not happen across America. This is where God is called Living on the Edge to step in and both be kind and winsome, but at the same time, tackle controversial issues in a way that's clear.
that's biblical, that's relevant, and speaks to the heart of young people. When you give to this match, you're helping us get the Word of God to a group of people that are in desperate need of truth. But truth that's packaged in a way that says, I get you, I'm for you. Would you explore this with me? Each time you give to Living on the Edge until December 31st, your gift is doubled because there's a group of people that say, I believe that we have to reach the next generation.
And if people will give, I will give extra money to double it and double the impact. This is a critical time in our nation. It's a critical time in this generation. Will you stand with us? We've made it simple to respond to Chip Ingram by calling this number, 888-333-6003.
If you prefer to give online, just go to livingonthege.org. Many in our audience prefer to send a check in the mail. You can do that by addressing your envelope to LivingOnTheEdge, PO Box 3007, Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. Living on the Edge aired its first radio broadcast 30 years ago, and God has been faithful to transform a fledgling ministry that featured one man's voice into a global movement of discipleship through Bible teaching, books, and resources, and with on-site training and encouragement. It's astounding what God has accomplished through Living on the Edge and the visionary friends, like you, who support us.
Maybe you've been listening for quite some time but have never stepped forward with a gift. We hope this match provides the inspiration for you to reach out and to double the size and impact of your contribution. Our address again is PO Box 3007 Atlanta, Georgia, 30024. Here's our phone number again: 888-333-6003, or give online at livingonthege.org. How do we teach those we love how to make wise decisions?
I'm Dave Druy, urging you to hear Chip Ingram's compelling answer Thursday on Living on the Edge.
