Reproof / Encouragement Scripture Verses

While living in Birmingham (10 years ago), Tim and I attended Oak Mountain Church pastored by Dr. Bob Flayhart. He often spoke (and still does speak) of the Christian life being analogous to the "Waltz" --- a three step dance by which we grow in the gospel of grace. He states:

"The gospel is the good news of the message of God’s redemptive grace applied to all of life. Many Christians understand the Gospel’s relevance to the unbeliever—he/she must believe the Gospel in order to be delivered from sin and receive eternal life. However, many Christians fail to appreciate the Gospel’s relevance to the one who has already been converted. The Gospel of God’s grace is to be believed on a daily basis--not to get re-saved daily, but regularly to apprehend and appropriate the benefits and transforming power of the Gospel. The Gospel is the good news of the finished work of Christ available to all who would believe in Christ. The Gospel is not only how we enter the Christian life, but is also how we continue to live in the Christian life ‘as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so walk in Him’ Col. 2:6.”

So how do we live in him? Repent, believe and fight. Repent, believe and fight.

Repent:

Acknowledge our sinfulness and helplessness to change without the help of the
Holy Spirit.
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9

Believe:

Believe in the promises of the gospel, rest completely in the sufficiency of
Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and put our hope in the mercy of God
offered to us in Christ.
"But God demonstrates His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Fight:

Motivated by God's love for us and enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit we
are called to follow righteousness and to avoid ungodliness.
"...God's kindness leads you toward repentance." Romans 2:4
"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." Titus 2:11-14

To expand on the analogy of the "Waltz" idea a little more, the three steps of the waltz, of course, are made possible only by having a partner who leads/guides--although the follower is indeed dancing, the follower is dependent upon/at the mercy of the leader to be able to perform the dance (but is so captivated by the grace and beauty of His leading that she is motivated to dance with great gusto). A "how to waltz" website states, "The waltz is a closed position dance employing body contact or body support---you have to be held close by your partner: you will not be able to waltz if you're keeping your partner at arm's length and trying to pretend he's not with you." What a beautiful analogy to our waltz in the gospel of grace--our partner of course in the waltz is the Holy Spirit. He is with us and is holding us in a "closed position," therefore motivating/enabling us to dance to the beauty/music of the gospel. Ps. 139:10 "...your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." John 16:13 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth."

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All this to say, in our home we seek to point our hearts to the gospel in all circumstances. Specifically, we incorporate the "waltz" into our discipline process with our children, i.e., as apart of probing their hearts, we have a Bible Verse box that contains numerous verses that are categorized by specific sins and within that category subdivided into reproof verses (red cards = "stop"/sinful attitudes of the heart to and put off) and encouragement verses (green cards = "go"/righteous attitudes of the hearts/characters to put on). One reproof and one encouragement card pertaining to the child's specific sin is drawn, and the scriptures are used to guide our children to answer the following Heart Probing Questions and point them to the gospel of grace:

What were you feeling in your heart that caused you to _____? (whatever specific sin was)

What sinful attitude of the heart does God want you to put off? (name whatever the specific sin was, i.e., sin on reproof card) and what righteous attitude of the heart does God want you to put on?_________(opposite of the specific sin---i.e., character from encouragement verse card)

And how does this change of heart occur? (“Jesus”)

And what does the Holy Spirit enable us to do? (“Repent and believe and fight”)

Yes, and what's God's promise to us when we repent? (“'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.' 1 John 1:9”)

And what is it that we believe? (For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16)

Because of God's great love for us (Rom. 5:8) and because God's kindness leads us to repentance (Rom. 2:4), what does John 8:11 say we should be motivated to do (“Go and sin no more”) So what two things should you go and do now? (“Ask for forgiveness from the person I sinned against and go and do what is right.”).

And how will you fight in your heart to handle a similar situation differently in the future?

After several requests for copies of our reproof/encouragement verses and heart probing questions, I decided that the easiest way for me to share these cards with others is to simply post a link to them as seen below. Each link points to a PDF file stored on Scribd.com (a free document hosting site). Each file is designed to allow printing onto 3x5 index cards. (The print option is under the "More" button).

• Anger
• Arguing
• Bad Friendships
• Bitterness
• Blame Shifting/Making Excuses
• Bragging/Being Prideful/Conceited
• Complaining/Whining
• Coveting/Envy
• Defiant Attitude
• Discouragement
• Disobeying
• Fear
• Gossip
• Greed/Stinginess
• Idolatry
• Impatience
• Inattentive/Not Receiving Instruction
• Intemperance/Lack of Self-control
• Interrupting
• Judging Others
• Love of Approval
• Love of Money
• Lying
• Misuse of Body
• Peer Pressure
• Poor Self Image
• Pride/Racism
• Rejection
• Revenge
• Selfishness
• Slothfulness
• Stealing
• Stirring up Strife
• Tattling
• Teasing
• Temptation
• Unfaithfulness
• Ungratefulness
• Unkindness
• Unwholesome Talk
• Worry
• Yelling
• Heart Probing Questions

We have found the following books to be helpful aides as we seek to raise our children in the "instruction and admonition of the Lord":

• First Catechism by Great Commission Publication
• Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
• Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman
• Withhold not Correction by Bruce Ray
• Parenting in the Pew by Robbie Castleman
• Standing on the Promises by Douglas Wilson
• A Mother's Heart by Jean Fleming
• The Big Book of Questions & Answers by Sinclair Ferguson
• Heirs of the Covenant by Susan Hunt
• Your Home a Place of Grace by Susan Hunt
• My ABC Bible Verses by Susan Hunt
• The Gift of the Blessing by Gary Smalley & John Trent
• Bound for Glory by R.C. Sproul, Jr.
• Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot
• The Shaping of a Christian Family by Elisabeth Elliot
• The Mission of Motherhood: Touching Your Child's Heart for Eternity by Sally Clarkson
• Teach them Diligently by Lou Priolo
• Tender Mercy for a Mother's Soul by Angela Thomas Guffey
• God's Whisper in a Mother's Chaos by Keri Wyatt Kent
• The Christian Mother Goose Books by Marjorie Ainsborough Decker
• The Rhyme Bible by L.J. Sattgast
• The Beginner's Bible by Zonderkidz
• The Big Picture Story Bible by David Helm
• The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones