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Archive for godly kids

78 - self perception is a fog and what to do about it

Podast 78 – Self perception is a fog, and what to do about it

Posted by Carey 
· Wednesday, June 25th, 2014 

Neither you, nor your kids, see yourselves rightly. Here’s God’s promise to help you see your way clear and bring greater glory to Him…

Christian Home and Family subscribe on Stitcher! Miro Video Player listen on player.fm

Or if you are using a “podcatcher” here is the feed address: https://christianhomeandfamily.com/feed/podcast/

 LEAVE FEEDBACK AND A REVIEW ON I-TUNES

Christian novel - dragon slayerThis episode is brought to you by… DRAGON SLAYER: BEGINNINGS – Book 1 in my Christian fantasy series. The reviews I’m receiving on this book are both encouraging and incredible. Believe it or not, lives are being changed by this work of fiction. You can get your copy at htttp://www.DragonSlayerBook.com

Now, on with the podcast…

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The more days of life I log on this planet, the more I come to realize that the way we humans perceive ourselves is foggy at best.

There are all kinds of ways it happens, from over-confidence, to lack of confidence, and everything in between. Another example is that we tend toward being unable to see our sin and the consequences of it with any sort of clarity. We excuse things we shouldn’t and condemn things in ourselves that God put there for His divine purposes.

Living in a fog is no fun.

And here’s the sobering thing: Our kids live in the same fog of self-perception. Just like us, they don’t see themselves rightly. They struggle with doubt, condemnation, pride, and a host of other things just like we do. We BOTH need the clarity that only the wisdom of God can provide… and that’s where we are incredibly blessed.

God Himself has promised that if we lack wisdom, there’s an incredible resource at our disposal. Here’s how the Bible states it…

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)

Do you realize how incredible that verse is, for you and your children?

In my mind, it’s one of the most amazing promises evergiven to us. Let’s walk through it…

1 – GOD GIVES WISDOM.

That is truly amazing. We don’t have to stumble along in the fog of what we think and feel and believe. We have access to a wisdom that can cut through the fog.

2 – GOD GIVES WISDOM GENEROUSLY

God is not stingy when handing out His wisdom. He gives it freely, generously, abundantly, to anyone who wants it.

3 – GOD GIVE WISDOM WITHOUT REPROACH

When we go to God for wisdom, God is not going to chide us for not being smarter or for not having things figured out. He’s simply going to give us what we ask for.

4 – ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS ASK FOR IT

There’s no outrageous pricetag on the wisdom of God. He WANTS His children to be wise (like He is). So He freely gives wisdom to us when we ask Him for it.

SO HOW DO WE APPLY THIS INCREDIBLE PROMISE?

1 – Memorize James 1:5 as a family. Talk it over. Make sure everyone understands the amazing gift that God offers.

2 – Encourage everyone in the family to ask God for wisdom daily. Hold each other accountable. Make it a project you work on together.

3 – Follow up. Ask everyone how they’re seeing God’s wisdom come on line in their lives. Share your stories to give your kids examples of what it might look like.

4 – Don’t let it die. Continue to talk about the importance of wisdom. Continue to pray for it as a family. Continue to trust God for the wisdom each of you need to see yourselves and God rightly, as you walk through life.

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If you’d like to engage with me directly about this topic, please feel free to do so in the comments below.

The Christian Home and Family ministry is aimed at helping you develop a legacy of faith in your family that lasts for generations to come. If I can help you toward that end in any way, please contact me.

I also invite you to join the CHAF facebook community.

Finally, if you would take a few minutes to help spread the word about Christian Home and Family, I believe God would be honored. Go to here to find all the ways you can help.

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Categories : Marriage, Parenting, Podcast
Tags : Christian parenting, godly kids, if any of you lacks wisdom, self perception
77 - bad habits start early but so do good ones

Podcast 77 – Bad habits start early, but so do good ones

Posted by Carey 
· Wednesday, June 18th, 2014 

You can take advantage of the power of good habits to set your children on a path toward godliness… it’s in this episode of the podcast.

Christian Home and Family subscribe on Stitcher! Miro Video Player listen on player.fm

Or if you are using a “podcatcher” here is the feed address: https://christianhomeandfamily.com/feed/podcast/

 LEAVE FEEDBACK AND A REVIEW ON I-TUNES

Christian novel - dragon slayerThis episode is brought to you by… DRAGON SLAYER: BEGINNINGS – Book 1 in my Christian fantasy series. The reviews I’m receiving on this book are both encouraging and incredible. Believe it or not, lives are being changed by this work of fiction. You can get your copy at htttp://www.DragonSlayerBook.com

Now, on with the podcast…

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When I was a kid, I had a terrible habit. I bit my fingernails. It doesn’t sound like such a bad habit, but it wasn’t just the nails themselves, I bit the skin surrounding my finger nails. I even nibbled the skin on the tips of my fingers. My fingers looked like trees after a beaver had gotten a hold of them, little tooth marks everywhere.

I remember trying to break that habit. It was extremely hard. Why? Because it was long-standing. I had begun my finger nibbling, probably around the time I was six years old, but I didn’t try to break it until I was in my mid to late teen years. I was fighting ten years of physical repitition, psychological conditioning, absent-mindedness about the habit, and it wasn’t easy.

I tell you that story to illustrate the power of a habit. But you probably didn’t need the illustration at all. Every one of us has been challenged by the need to kick a habit of one kind or another. Smoking, drugs, cursing, anger, criticism, pride… the list goes on and on, doesn’t it?

When we think of habits, we tend to think of the negative side of the subject, but I want to suggest to you that just like a bad habit starts young and becomes incredibly hard to break – a good habit can be built early, in the life of your children, and can serve them positively for their entire lives.

SO WHAT KIND OF GOOD HABITS WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE YOUR KIDS (or yourself) DEVELOP? HERE’S TWO THAT I CONSIDER MOST IMPORTANT

#1 – DAILY TIME WITH GOD

Our family has been blessed by God to have the determination to build this habit into the lives of our kids, from the start. I see the fruit of our efforts in their lives. At the time of this recording, my three oldest children are young adults, one of them already married and a father (that makes ME Grand-pop!). The LORD led us to integrate daily time with the LORD into their lives from the time they were able to hold a book. The results have been nothing short of amazing. Today, each of them engages in their own relational time with the LORD in a genuine, life-giving way. It happens at least in part, because they started the habit of setting aside the time to be with the LORD, early in life.

If you’d like to hear more about that, from their own lips, you can at ChristianHomeandFamily.com/73

#2 – GODLY ATTITUDES

The scriptures are full of attitudes that are supposed to be true of believers in Christ. From generosity, to kindness, to humility, the scriptures make it clear that all of us are fully dependent on the Spirit of God to produce those things deep down in our souls. But as parents, we can have a significant impact on our children’s growth in those areas from before the time they are born.

Yes, I said from before the time they are born. So the first thing you should do is begin praying for God to fill them with His Spirit, so that they can then demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. We began praying for each of our children the moment we knew my wife was pregnant. Once we knew if they were boy or girl (yes, we did find out), we gave them a name and began praying for them by name… all before they sucked in their first breath of oxygen. I believe it had a significant impact on who they are and God’s work in their lives.

Once they were born, we did a number of things to encourage godly attitudes.

First, we made sure that we, the parents, were working on improving those attitudes in our own lives. If you preach one thing and do another, you’ll find rebellion rising up in the heart of your kids. For more on that, see episode 70 of this podcast, at ChristianHomeandFamily.com/70.

Next, we worked hard not to underestimate our kids’ capacity for absorbing the truth of God. We read scripture to them, found scripture-filled children’s music for them, and talked about what the songs and stories were saying. Parent’s, don’t underestimate the Spirit’s power through the word of God. He is able to drench your child with Himself from an early age. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:15). Why couldn’t your child be significantly shaped by the Spirit from an early age too?

Once our kids were old enough to carry on a conversation, no matter how elementary, we started practicing a number of additional things…

  • We talked about desirable godly attitudes in positive terms.
  • We pointed out people who were doing a good job at allowing the Spirit to produce His fruit.
  • We read them stories of admirable Christians who could serve as role models.
  • We discussed desired traits repeatedly, covering why the trait in question was so important and what God thought about the issue.
  • We worked as a family to memorize scriptures that taught about the godly traits we were encouraging.
  • Once they were old enough to understand the word “no” and what it meant (around 1 year old), we began requiring them to behave in godly ways, even applying discipline when needed, as the scriptures encourage parents to do.

Now don’t misunderstand, we weren’t heavy-handed or stern with our kids. Everything was drenched in love and acceptance, and taught in a spirit of dependence on God to help them do what they were expected to do.

All of this was based on the belief that God will use our efforts as parents as some of the means by which He develops them into the people He wants them to be. My belief is that part of the effectiveness comes from getting our kids started down a path of thinking rightly about godly attitudes and actions, early in life. We’re helping them, guiding them, with the help of the Spirit of God, to develop their own godly habits in the areas of thinking and behavior.

Parents, take this issue seriously. Just like my nail-biting, your kids are GOING TO DEVELOP HABITS. Why wouldn’t you want to proactively help them develop powerfully good ones?

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If you’d like to engage with me directly about this topic, please feel free to do so in the comments below.

The Christian Home and Family ministry is aimed at helping you develop a legacy of faith in your family that lasts for generations to come. If I can help you toward that end in any way, please contact me.

I also invite you to join the CHAF facebook community.

Finally, if you would take a few minutes to help spread the word about Christian Home and Family, I believe God would be honored. Go to here to find all the ways you can help.

Go to top
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Categories : Marriage, Parenting, Podcast
Tags : Christian parenting, godly behavior, godly children, godly kids, good habits
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