Archive for February, 2011
The Safety Net – Part 1
Posted by: | CommentsCourtesy Dennis and Barbara Rainey of FamilyLife
Without the cleansing power of forgiveness, at best our relationship/marriage will be a very hard duty. At worst it will be disaster. No matter how hard two people try to love and please each other, they will fail. With failure comes hurt. And the only ultimate relief for hurt is the soothing salve of forgiveness.
One of the keys to maintaining an open, intimate, and happy relationship/marriage is to ask for and grant forgiveness quickly. And the ability to do that is tied to each individual‘s relationship with God.
About the process of forgiveness, Jesus said, ―For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions‖ (Matt. 6:14–15). The instruction is clear: God insists that we are to be “forgivers,” and marriage—probably more than any other relationship—presents frequent opportunities to practice.
Forgiving means giving up resentment or the desire to punish another person.
By an act of your will, you let the other person off the hook. And as a Christian you do not do this under duress, scratching and screaming in protest. Rather, you do it with a gentle spirit and love, as Paul urged: ”Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
The real test of your ability to forgive comes on the battlefield when you and your partner or spouse are ticked off and angry with each other. That is when you need the power of the Holy Spirit and must ask, “God, You need to help me here. I need to move to forgiveness because You have commanded me to do so. I need You to empower me, to enable me to give up the right of punishing my partner/spouse and to forgive.”
It took practice early in our relationship/marriage, but we learned how to keep our relationship healthy most of the time by not burning excessive emotional energy on resentment. We grant forgiveness and ask for it freely—even when we don‘t feel like it.
In Part 2 of this series The Safety Net, we’ll discover why asking for forgiveness is difficult. Remember to subscribe to the feed so you won’t miss it! And join our Facebook community page to be known and needed for family, marriage & parenting skills and sharing.
Top 10 Mistakes We Make With Our Children Everyday (Part 3)
Posted by: | CommentsThis is part 3 of a 4 part series on the Top 10 Mistakes We Make With Our Children Everyday… Enjoy!
Mistake Six. No structure or discipline.
Children are not like adults, they enjoy routine. They follow schedules if you give them one and practice it with them faithfully. Before long they will be performing tasks with little input. This way you won’t have to discipline them as much. However, some parents don’t discipline their children for anything. The child runs the house. This type of behavior may be acceptable in one’s home, but in the real world, people will not allow a child to run their store, school, library, restaurant or any other public place.
Mistake Seven. Not demanding they respect you.
The scenario goes like this, you tell your child to do something and he or she says, “No.” You tell them again and your child roars, “I’m not doooiiinnnggg itttt !” So you do it for them and never say nothing more. Then the episodes that follow continue with this same behavior and still you do nothing, but then again maybe you do, “Now stop that or else.” You never establish what else is and you give them chance after chance and still they don’t straighten up.
We’ll conclude this series with mistakes 8-10 next time. Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss it!
Published by Nicholl McGuire
Family-iD Wins an Addy Award
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Well, sort of…. Actually our good friends at Insight Creative Group in Oklahoma City won the Gold medal for their Family-iD Promo Video, found on the front page of our website.
Here is Greg Gunn wearing the Gold. We are so proud of these guys, and feel like we get to share in their success.
Click to check them out on the Insight Facebook Page.
