What is your life built around? What is your guiding light?
Jesus made a soul-searching statement when he said, “If the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” In other words, if we set our “sights” on the wrong thing, then every part of our lives will be affected by the wrong goal, the wrong motive. All will be darkened by this wrong “set.” And we will reproduce “after our kind.” Our children will adopt this wrong set and pass it on to their children. You see this all through history; you see it all around today.
Do you set aside a quiet time with Jesus every day? He died for us on the cross; that is a done deal. He also rose again, ascended to heaven, and sent his Spirit so that he could do something in us. This requires our cooperation, our stopping to receive life from Him.
In our workshop, we quoted Billy Graham as saying, “Fifteen minutes a day in Bible reading and prayer, and you will follow Jesus all the days of your life.” We will pass on who we are; make this your first priority: TIME WITH JESUS CHRIST EVERY DAY!
Question of the week: How do you make your quiet time meaningful? What materials have your used that have helped? What method do your use? What plan? Pass your ideas on to others.
Last week’s question: My teen has an attitude often. How do I handle that? What should my approach be? How do I get my teen to change?
Caryn T. from Mobile says that they handle their girls differently. With one they explain and give perspective; she usually repents. With the other, they have to give her time to reflect and follow up with removal of privileges.
Jim and Mary M. from Mobile pass this along: It is good to sit down and talk to your teen with no other distractions or people around and honestly ask what is going on. Talk calmly, help them see how they need to be, pray with them and share appropriate scriptures.
Our comments: The key here is that each child is different. Both of these tips remind us to treat our children as individuals, as made in God’s image. Knowing them as persons, getting to know them better by “non-crisis” talks are critical strategies for the teen years.
