Love and Faithfulness (Proverbs 3)
February 8, 2018
00:00
Want to win the favor of your family? Try love and faithfulness.
Proverbs says one way to win friends and influence people is to let love and faithfulness never leave you. Act in loving ways and be worthy of the trust of those around you. Practically speaking husbands and wives in love can make small sacrifices for each other and stepparents can tell their stepchildren how grateful they are for them and in faithfulness, family members can keep their promise to respect one another. When your family thinks like that, you’re well on your way to a healthy family.
Featured Offer
Blended & Blessed®
Blended & Blessed® is the only one-day live event and livestream just for stepfamily couples, dating couples with kids, and those who care about blended families. Join sites around the globe on April 27th, 2024 as we unpack strategies that are crucial to building unity in your stepfamily. With some of today’s most trusted and respected experts, Blended & Blessed will challenge, inspire, and encourage you.
Archives
I suggest you check your confirmation bias at the door.
I love in marriage counseling when I can help one person who feels unloved to realize their partner really does care. Sometimes the person who feels unwanted can't see it because of their confirmation bias, that’s their tendency to only see things that support their belief that they are not loved. We all have bias in relationships. Once we form a perception about someone, we interpret their behavior in a way that supports our perception. We freeze frame them. Well, now I’m part of the problem.
February 7, 2018
Are you still doing your kid’s laundry?
At college orientation, they told us parents to stop doing our kid’s laundry. We haven’t done Brennan’s laundry since sixth grade, but apparently, lots of parents do it for their eighteen year olds. So why would you do for your kids what they can do for themselves? The answer I bet has more to do with you than them. Here’s the thing, eventually your need becomes theirs when they are incompetent to do life and dependent on other people. Hey, quit doing their laundry!
February 6, 2018
Sibling jealousy…can happen at any age.
Sibling jealousy happens when an only child is dethroned by the new baby who gets all the attention. But it can also happen when adopted or foster kids are added to the home; or when stepsiblings come for a weekend visit. Because the fear of being displaced is usually at the heart of these situations, the prescription is essentially the same. Move emotionally toward the jealous child. Spend time with them, invite them to play a helpful role with the new sibling, and then foster a sense of team.
February 5, 2018
Have you ever thought about how dysfunctional the families of the Bible were?
God’s blueprint for the family is ideal but none of his followers were. Abraham repeatedly lied saying Sarah wasn’t his wife. Jacob had four wives but only loved one and favored Joseph so much his 10 half brothers hated him and sold him into slavery. King David also had many wives and his household included a premeditated murder to cover an affair and an out of wedlock pregnancy. You could be far less than perfect and in faith still be redeemed and used by God for his purposes. Thank you, God.
February 2, 2018
Have you ever had to kick someone out of your small group Bible study? I have and it wasn’t fun.
Well, obviously I had a reason. A member of the group I led for stepfamilies shared confidential information outside the group. She was betraying her own family. It’s not that different from what biological parents do when they pressure their own kids to share negative information about the other home. In essence, this asks children to betray the trust of people they love. If this is you or any parent you know please put a stop to it. We’re called to protect the heart of a child not exploit it.
February 1, 2018
If you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything…and then you might become nothing.
Maybe you’ve heard about the pop singer who described herself as pansexual. “I feel genderless,” she said. “I just want to be nothing.” What? So, what happens to a person when you retreat from standing for anything? Our culture advocates that because people fear standing against someone else’s viewpoint but then you become nothing. Be who you are. Distinctly, uniquely made by God with a clear identity. Designed with purpose, for a purpose. When you claim that…you become somebody.
January 31, 2018
When blinded, I suggest you take off your blindfold.
I've talked about how sex before marriage is a blindfold but there is another blindfold to be aware of: Grief. Sometimes when a widower jumps into another marriage shortly after their spouse’s death, or someone rebounds after a breakup only to wonder, “What was I thinking?” – Grief is the culprit. Sadness is often why we buy things we don’t need, watch things we shouldn’t watch, and hang out with people we shouldn’t. Oddly enough, grief is just as blinding as sex and infatuation.
January 30, 2018
Before marriage, love is blind, and sex is a blindfold.
All of us have blind spots and we also have blindfolds that we often put on ourselves. Sex before marriage is one of those because it blinds us to the realities of the relationship. It makes couples think they have more relational substance than they really do. Inside marriage, sex reaffirms an existing permanent commitment; outside of marriage it masks commitment and creates a pseudo-intimacy that appears to be solid but isn’t. The question is do we trust God enough to take our blindfolds off?
January 29, 2018
Here’s one you haven’t heard in the media lately. Good news about stepparents.
I have some Google alerts set up for the key words, stepmom and stepdad. I have to tell you, rarely if ever is there a story about either that is positive or encouraging. Come on, really? Not only is that not accurate it supports the myth that stepparents are evil and to be feared. All over the world there are stepparents who day in and day out are giving, nurturing, teaching, and loving and if you ask me worthy of an award. Tweet that, would you? We need to set the record straight.
January 26, 2018
What would you say to a parent who is actively teaching their child to steal?
You might tell them that they are teaching their child selfishness and to trust in themselves rather than to trust God. All of that seems straightforward. So let me ask you. What are you teaching a child when you move in together before marriage? Well, to think of themselves instead of others. That personal convenience outweighs moral conviction. And that trusting in yourself rather than God is the better option. One day they will make their own decisions. Will they follow in your footsteps?
January 25, 2018
See More Episodes
Loading...
P
S
Listen to FamilyLife Blended® on
Amazon Echo
Learn How
Learn How
Featured Offer
Blended & Blessed®
Blended & Blessed® is the only one-day live event and livestream just for stepfamily couples, dating couples with kids, and those who care about blended families. Join sites around the globe on April 27th, 2024 as we unpack strategies that are crucial to building unity in your stepfamily. With some of today’s most trusted and respected experts, Blended & Blessed will challenge, inspire, and encourage you.