Day 38: LegalismProverbs 21:3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice. Dads, your children have a foolish, self-centered plan to rebel against God (Ps. 14:1). So make it your goal to not merely change behavior, but to transform hearts. Grace tells them, “Jesus is your Savior,” but the law shows them why they need one. One of our sons never needed convincing that he was sinful: “Daddy, it’s so hard to be good!” Yet another son tended to be more pharisaical: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11). Such legalism is normal for children as you teach them to obey God’s law (Deut. 6:6-9).
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Day 37: Comfort in TrialsProverbs 16:20 Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the LORD. My sons were gravely confined to suits during their uncle’s wedding. So right after the family pictures, they ripped off their pink bow ties and started shooting them in the air like slingshots. It was a time of raucous celebration—not over the wedding, but over their glorious freedom. That’s how I picture Lazarus as his friends unbound his graveclothes (John 11:44) and the joy we too should have in God’s deliverance (Prov. 29:2a). Even harder, however, is to maintain joy in the midst of the trial (Jas. 1:2). The way of escape often runs through the difficulty, not around it (1 Cor. 10:13). True faith faces all of life.
![]() What could Humpty Dumpty, Aliens, and Al Mohler have to do with your family communication? Join AMBrewster as he unravels the complicated reality that how we talk controls what we believe and helps Christian parents understand the significant impact the redefinition of words is having on our families. Read “Humpty Dumpty, Alice in Wonderland, and the Masters Who Control the Language" Check out 5 Ways to Support TLP. Click here for our free Parenting Course! Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Instagram. Follow us on Twitter. Follow AMBrewster on Twitter. Pin us on Pinterest. Subscribe to us on YouTube. Need some help? Write to us at [email protected]. Click "Read More" for today’s Episode Notes and Transcript. Day 36: ForgivenessProverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. The other day I was sick, tired, and lacking the minimum energy required just to be a parent. So I snapped at one of my sons, “Quit being stupid!” I instantly regretted my words. Truth be told he was just being silly, but I had used that word (forbidden in our house) to make him stop talking. My boys all laughed, thinking it funny to hear forbidden words (especially from daddy), but I knew it was wrong. I failed to say anything at the time, but it bothered me all night long.
Day 35: Self-ControlProverbs 25:28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. In the 1970s, Stanford psychologists conducted the now-famous “Marshmallow Test.” They handed each child a marshmallow and instructed them, “You can eat this marshmallow whenever you want, but if you wait fifteen minutes without eating it we’ll give you another one.” When the researchers left the room, some of the children gobbled up their marshmallow immediately while others exercised self-control (though under visible duress). The researchers then tracked the progress of these children over the next several decades and found that the second group—the ones who waited—far excelled the first in life skills: They achieved higher grades, maintained better physical health, and were more likely to be happy in life. The driving factor in their success was self-control. Long before Stanford, however, Paul cited self-control as a qualification for spiritual leadership (Titus 1:8) and godly maturity (2:2, 5). He also gave only one instruction for training young men: “Urge the younger men to be self-controlled” (Titus 2:6).
Dads, do not be ruled by unruly heart desires . . . . ![]() Is it possible that parental word choices may confuse our children concerning the reality of the world? Join AMBrewster as he helps Christian parents understand the Founder of communication and the meanings He created in His words. Enter to win “Mama Bear Apologetics: empowering your kids to challenge cultural lies.” Check out 5 Ways to Support TLP. TLP Family members can click here to see all of our episodes about family communication. Click here to join the TLP Family. Click here for our free Parenting Course! Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Instagram. Follow us on Twitter. Follow AMBrewster on Twitter. Pin us on Pinterest. Subscribe to us on YouTube. Need some help? Write to us at [email protected]. Click "Read More" for today’s Episode Notes and Transcript. Day 34: LegacyProverbs 16:16 How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. I was named in honor of my grandfather who died a few weeks before I was born. His best friend persuaded my mother to call me, Tom, the name by which her father was known. I never met my grandfather in person, but I hear he was a character. He told fascinating tales of being a runaway slave in China, stowing aboard a ship to America, and traveling to Alaska as a cook with the U. S. army. He tricked my grandma into marrying him and worked hard to provide a better life. He loved his family, loved to joke around with friends, and one day learned to love the Lord. I never knew my grandfather, but I received his name.
Thankfully . . . Day 33: KindnessProverbs 21:21 Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honor. One evening, my wife and I played a game with our boys creatively called, “I like you because…” We put everyone’s name into a hat and took turns pulling one out. Then for each name we drew, we would give one reason why we liked that person. To our pleasant surprise, the boys loved it. It took awhile, of course, to define the nature of a genuine compliment, but soon they began to enjoy both giving and receiving words of kindness. There were quite a few silly ones such as, “I like you because you are good at football,” and, “I like you because you are smelly.” But my favorite was when one of our boys looked deep into his mother’s eyes and said, “Mommy, I like you because you are thoughtful and caring and hard-working.” Our boys were so intent on the game that we played three rounds that first night and they were still handing out compliments during breakfast the next morning.
We all need to practice being kind. So dads, I encourage you to . . . Day 32: FriendshipProverbs 13:20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm. In kindergarten, one of my sons made a new friend named Chon-Chon. “That’s an interesting name,” I commented, “Is that a nickname? Is he ethnic?”
My son answered innocently, “I don’t know,” and proceeded to share about all the games he played with Chon-Chon. Every day, he would bring home a new story: “Chon-Chon said this. Chon-Chon did that.” These tales went on for several weeks until we finally learned from the school that there was no child enrolled by the name of Chon-Chon. My son had invented an imaginary friend. Now certainly good friends are hard to find, yet not so impossible that your children must make them up. Proverbs exhorts you to . . . ![]()
Today Hillary Ferrer and AMBrewster discuss Mama Bear Apologetics and the world’s never ceasing attempts to steal your vocabulary.
Check out the Mama Bear Apologetics website. Learn more about the Mama Bears here. Life MBA on Facebook. Follow MBA on Instagram. Follow MBA on Twitter. @HillaryMFerrer Check out 5 Ways to Support TLP. If you're part of the TLP Family, click here to see our podcast episodes about Family Communication. Click here for our free Parenting Course! Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Follow AMBrewster on Twitter. Follow us on Pinterest. Subscribe on YouTube. Need some help? Write to us at [email protected]. |
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