Thirty Days in Philippians 2 for Busy, Busy Mamas, Day 30: Paraphrase and Personalize, plus a Giveaway!

30DaysPhil2Paraphrase113013Today is our last day studying Philippians 2 together. 🙁  It’s time to put what we’ve learned into action. 

Assignment: Pray that God will work in you to will and to do His good pleasure — giving you understanding, a desire to obey, and the power to do what He has called us to do.

To finish up our study, let’s write a personalized paraphrase of a portion of Philippians 2. Read Philippians 2:1-16. Drawing from what you have learned over the past month, write this passage in your own words while also personalizing it. Rephrase verses so you are committing to do what Paul has told you to do. Insert your name or the personal pronouns I, me, myself, etc.

For example, for verse 3, you might write,

“By God’s grace, I won’t do anything out of rivalry or conceit, but will humbly consider others more important than myself.”

As you do this, take the time to think of specific ways to follow through on these commitments. Add these ideas in parentheses after each phrase. For instance, after your paraphrase of the verse above, you might write, “I will quit bragging about my children’s test scores and the level of schoolwork they are doing,” “I will quit criticizing the Smith family for their approach to courtship,” or “I will go out of my way to serve and encourage  Mary as she goes through this present trial. I will call her at least once a week, and take her dinner once a week.”  Be specific, so you can actually have a measurable goal to accomplish.

Complete this process with all of verses 1-16. Keep this in your notebook where you can review it on a weekly basis, and pray for God’s strength to obey what you have learned from the book of Philippians.

For your children:

Paraphrase Phil. 2:1-16 together (or choose a shorter portion from these verses, if your children are very young). Talk about specific ways to obey these verses.

Draw pictures to illustrate the passage, or bring out the camera or cell phone, set the children up in different posts, and take pictures that represent the different ways these verses can be put into action. Add appropriate verses from Philippians 2, and turn these pictures into small posters to hang around the house. You could also arrange these pictures (and verses) into chart form with verses, and post it in a prominent place in your home for handy reference.

And now . . . a closing giveaway, just in time for the Christmas season! You can enter to win a $100 gift certificate from Doorposts! You could buy that chart you’ve been wanting, or use it to buy Christmas gifts for family and friends!

To enter, answer any or all of the following questions (each question counts as one entry):

  • What is the most important thing you learned in this study?
  • What has God been teaching you in your own study time, if you did not complete our Philippians 2 study?
  • How can we improve our 30-Days studies?
  • What study methods do you enjoy the most?

This giveaway will end Wednesday, December 4, at midnight, PST. Stay tuned! Our 30-day study has one more extra day! On Monday, we’ll post a list of ideas for further Bible study on your own!

 

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