The Gospel-Shaped Life Podcast

This week on the show I am re-releasing a previously-recorded episode on cultivating a Spirit-led holiday season. I hope it is an encouragement to your heart this week!

What I Cover on this Episode:

~How to go from the holiday season being a stressful, hurried time to one of peace as you are led by the Spirit and walking in step with Him

~Listening to God rather than man this holiday season

~Prayer as the first step in walking by the Spirit

~God’s desire to be our help this Christmas

~The importance of considering only the glory of God, the unique needs and desires of your own family, and the good of others in your community whom you could minister to this season when deciding what to plan for your holidays this year

~Getting in the Word as the second step in walking by the Spirit

~Reading the Word and being in prayer as being the only surefire ways we can go about assessing our true priorities and responsibilities this season

~Reading the OT Messianic prophecies as a great way to grow our Christmas spirit this season

~Priotizing what makes Christmas special for our own unique families and letting everything else go

~The importance of staying in our own lane this Christmas

~What our mission this Christmas is - and what it isn’t

~7 steps for walking by the Spirit in the midst of family disagreements during holiday get-togethers

~The importance of being teachable and the power of humility, love, and kindness when seeking to win hearts to Christ

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Quotes to Remember:

“So many of us are used to the holiday season being a time of stress, extreme busyness, and overwhelm. We wonder how any other option would be possible. How would we put an end to the stress and overwhelm of the season? The answer comes neither through just getting a good planner or simply not filling December’s calendar with anything at all. There is only one sure-fire way to reach this goal, and that is by listening to the Lord rather than man during the holiday season.”

“The first step in cultivating a Spirit-led holiday season is taking time for prayer. Instead of scouring Pinterest for the best Christmas ideas or seeking the advice of Google’s experts on how to have a peaceful season, there is truly one answer to the restlessness faced by many of us this time of year: to walk by the Spirit, communing with the Lord in prayer and listening for His answers.”

“The truth is that our loving, compassionate Father God is intimately intimately involved in our daily lives, even down to the most minute of details, and He wants to be our help today and everyday. So as we are in the busiest time of the year, we can get our holiday season off to a great start by seeking the Lord’s wisdom and direction for the weeks ahead.”

“Only consider the glory of God, the unique needs and desires of your own family, and the good of others in your community whom you could minister to this season when deciding what to plan for your holidays this year. In other words, do not worry about impressing others, stuffing the calendar, scouring Pinterest tirelessly, or trying to top everyone else’s Christmas plans. Instead, walk by the Spirit.”

“The second step is to get in the Word. I’m not talking about devotional books or Bible studies. Those are great, and they do serve a purpose. But we have more important business to attend to first - and that is that we need to dig our noses deep into the actual Word of God itself. Reading the Word and being in prayer are the only surefire ways we can go about assessing our true priorities and responsibilities this season.”

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“Reminding yourself of the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament is a great way to grow your Christmas spirit this season. Discover the hope, joy, peace, and love that are brought to us by the long-awaited fulfillment of those prophecies. Read of Elizabeth’s joy, Mary’s praise, the shepherds’ amazement, the wise mens’ gifts. Think on the actual reason for the beautiful Christmas holiday. Doing so can go a long way towards being able to exchange a hurried and harried, overly busy, stressed out, overwhelming holiday season for a more restful, joyful, peaceful, purposeful, and Spirit-filled one.”

“To cut down on the stress and overwhelm and yet still cultivate a truly meaningful Christmas, ask your family what events or practices mean the most to them. If you prioritize those things and let everything else go, your holiday will become both more peaceful and more special.”

“Stay in your own lane. God never once called us to be cookie-cutter versions of one another. And He doesn't want us to run ourselves ragged attempting to imitate each other. ...

Jill Atogwe is a wife, mom of 4, writer, and author of a brand new children’s book, “Left Out: Believing My Story is for God’s Glory”. She is passionate about encouraging others with the truth of the goodness and wisdom of God’s plan - even when it doesn’t look like we want it to. Our prayer is that you would come away from this episode deeply encouraged and better equipped to walk the path of your own unique and challenging life story.

What We Chat About on This Episode:

~Jill’s new children’s book, Left Out, what led her to write it, and what readers can expect

~The things we feel like God left out when He made us and how that part of our story is for our good and His glory

~The reality that this book is for our hearts as adults just as much as it is for kids; how its message ministered to my own heart personally on a difficult path I am walking myself

~How Jill has come to discover for herself that what God left out is part of her story, for her good, and God’s glory; how she has helped her kids understand this truth for themselves

~How Jill has helped her kids to embrace their own uniqueness and differences

~Jill’s advice for parents who want to know how to foster a positive self-image and confidence in their kids

~Teaching kids to be noticers

~Getting our kids to think for themselves

~Helping parents to understand how they can address more sensitive topics with their kids in a way that is inclusive and respectful

~Training our kids to be both curious and kind

~How to help kids who are dealing with anxiety; Jill’s own experience with OCD

~The power of memorizing Scripture with our kids

~Choosing our kids and their wellbeing, even when it’s hard and exhausting

~Understanding that if God left something out of our story, that thing He left out would not have been good for us (even if it’s something we really wanted!)

~Delighting in the Lord and not in what we think we want

~Being encouraged during hard times of trial by heroes of the faith

~What Jill has learned from hard trials she has gone through and trials she has watched loved ones experience

~Comforting others with the comfort we have received

~The good that comes from trials

~Learning alongside our kids

~And more!

Inspiring Quotes to Remember:

“The things we feel were left out when God made us are the things that can make us feel left out as we grow. And the heart of the book is that what God left out is part of our story - it’s all for our good and all for His glory.”

“It’s a blessing for us to be different, not just us set apart singularly, but for all of us from one another, that God is so creative that He made so many different things happen to serve a purpose. It would be so boring if we were all exactly alike.”

“When stuck in fear and anxiety, it can be so helpful to expose our children to the Word daily, to have special hymns to go through together that are comforting, and to read stories of a real God who created us in a special way and did not make any mistakes. This is how we help our kids and ourselves to learn to trust Him.”

“We can look back on our life and see big capital T Trials and moments of deep struggle and see how God transformed us through them and used those moments for His glory. So when I’m in the thick of it, that is what I look to. I also look to heroes of the faith and to people in the Word like Paul and David. I look to people who have gone before me and am encouraged and comforted by their examples.”

“This won’t be forever. The brokenness of this world and the brokenness of our bodies is not forever. But while we are here, we need to be honest with our friends and loved ones so we can all walk in this together and be lifted up by those around us, trusting that the Lord will comfort us in our time of need so that we can comfort others.”

“Psalm 119:17 stands out to me, where the Psalmist says it is good for him to be afflicted so that he might lea...