Monthly Archives: January 2008

Faith of Fathers

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“Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”1

As reported by Chuck Colson in BreakPoint, “Loren Marks, who teaches at the School for Human Ecology at Louisiana State University said, ‘An interview with the Australian magazine, Mercatornet, listed some of the reasons why religious beliefs and practices make such a difference for many men.

‘First, married couples who are actively involved in the same faith tend to have stronger, happier marriages and this impacts father-child relationships in a positive way.

‘Second, religious fathers are far less likely to abuse alcohol and other drugs than non-religious fathers, and an estimated 80 percent of child abuse is alcohol related.

‘The third factor is the belief that fathers will be personally accountable to God for their good (or bad) fathering. This [creates] a sacred motivation to be a better father. It’s this factor which sets religious life apart as a maker of better fathers.’”2

As H. Jackson Brown, Jr. said, “Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get.” And Robert Fulghum, “Don’t worry that children never listen to you. Worry that they’re always watching you.”

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, as a father (and/or mother) please help me always to be ‘as Jesus’ to my children and family members—and everybody else—and so live that they, seeing Jesus in me, will want Jesus for themselves. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Ephesians 6:4 (NIV).
2. Chuck Colson, Faith and Fathers,
BreakPoint, July 27, 2007, www.breakpoint.org

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Finding What You Look for

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”Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”1

You may have read about the teenage boy who lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a fruitless search, he told his mother the lens was nowhere to be found. Undaunted, she went outside and in a few minutes returned with the eyepiece in her hand.

“How did you manage to find it, Mom?” the teenager asked.

“We weren’t looking for the same thing,” she replied. “You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150.”2

What we look for and see in life is largely determined by our values. More often than not when kids inherit a small fortune which cost them nothing and for which they did nothing to earn it, they pretty much blow it within two years. Also, if suffering people don’t have any value to us, we will largely ignore them and not do anything to help them. Furthermore, if I don’t see people the way God sees them—lost sinners in need of a Savior and of such infinite value to God that he gave his Son, Jesus, to come to earth and die on a cruel Roman cross to pay the penalty for all our sins—I won’t do anything to seek to influence them for Jesus nor do anything to help win them to him.

What we value is what we seek after and find.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to set priorities for what I value most in life and give of my best to seek, find and fulfill what these values imply—and help me to ensure that these values are in direct harmony with your eternal values. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV).
2. Alan Smith, TFTD (Thought for the Day)
http://www.tftd-online.com

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Happy New Year—Begin With the End in Mind

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It was Steven Covey, author of the popular book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, who coined the phrase, “Begin with the end in mind.”

Most of us know that New Year Resolutions we make at the beginning of each New Year usually last until the next setback or challenge we face.

However, if we print a copy of “Steven Covey’s Seven Habits” and tape them to the fridge or other prominent place and read them often, we have a much greater chance of finishing this New Year with a sense of achievement:

Steven Covey’s Seven Habits:

  1. Be proactive. Don’t stand still. Take the initiative and be responsible.
  2. Begin with the end in mind. Start any activity, a meeting, run, day, or life, with an end in mind. Work to that end and make sure your values are aligned with your goals.
  3. Put first things first. Prioritize your life so you’re working on the important stuff.
  4. Think win/win. This is pretty obvious. You get what you put in.
  5. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Listen to emphasize, obtain information, and understand the other person’s point of view.
  6. Synergize. Work to create outcomes that are greater than the individual parts.
  7. Sharpen the saw. Cultivate the essential elements of your character: physical, mental, social/emotional, and spiritual.1

And as Pastor Tod Bolsinger put it, “We need to live every day with the end in mind–and most important of all, live with Jesus’ end in mind.”

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”2

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me every day this year to live, not only with the end of this year in mind but with the end of my life in mind so that, when I stand before you to give an account of my life, I will hear your welcome words, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord.’ So help me God. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

1. Steven, Covey, http://tinyurl.com/39v3r5.
2. 2 Corinthians 5:10 (NIV).

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