CHILDREN - HOME - Love Worth Sharing

Take Time to Listen

Although children’s brains are still developing, kids are people with unique personalities, individual tastes, and distinct opinions. Take time to listen. Ask what they think about age-appropriate news topics, personal interactions, or themes in books and movies. Allowing them to provide input builds their confidence and strengthens their ability to interact socially in meaningful ways—and you might learn something new.

Value Your Child’s Emotions

Popular for providing imaginative explanations of difficult feelings, the Inside Out movies give adults and children a shared language to communicate and understand emotions. Valuing and validating a child’s emotions in healthy ways can strengthen your relationship. Instead of reacting to certain behaviors, probe the underlying reasons. Children's emotional intelligence grows as adults model empathy and compassion.

Teenage Years Are Tough

Your little girl followed you everywhere and loved your Dad jokes! Now, suddenly she’s embarrassed by your presence and communicates with eye rolls. Teenage years can be difficult to navigate. Dad, your daughter needs you more than ever as she figures out her identity. Stay connected. Don’t give up. Let her know you’re here for her.

Children Crave Boundaries

Believe it or not, children crave boundaries. While kids absolutely need playtime with parents, research shows our children feel more secure and experience less anxiety with clear rules and well-defined roles. When we set fair, reliable guidelines and maintain consistency, our kids know what to expect. This helps them relax and feel protected.

Children Are God's Gift

The world seems to view children as inconvenient barriers. A recent study found 47% of women under 50 don’t expect to have kids—many simply don’t want to. But God's Word describes children as a gift and as a reward from the Lord. Jesus himself stopped everything to interact with children. Take time for a child this week.

Remember Being a Child

Do you remember being a child? Feeling the anticipation before a holiday or birthday, the wonder of a new experience, the joy in mastering a skill? Children are impacted by positive memorable moments. It’s easy to get caught up in daily routine. At least once a week, take time to create opportunities for wonder, creativity, and new experiences in the life of your child.

Help Your Children Fly

Archers craft arrows with care and precision. Each hand-built arrow requires intricate adjustments to fly straight and true. When the arrow is ready, the archer sends it out. Psalm 127 compares children to arrows and calls a full quiver a blessing. Like arrows, children need intentional, caring guidance before we send them out along the trajectory God intends.

Show Children They're Valued

Our culture seems to place little value on children. Choosing to forego children in favor of a career or an unencumbered lifestyle is now seen as normal. But culture shouldn’t be our standard for typical behavior. Jesus treasured children and even stopped everything to spend time with them. Like Jesus, let’s spend focused time with the children in our lives.

Grow Children into Confident Individuals

The Bible instructs parents to train our children. The discipline described isn’t punishment; it involves consistent encouragement, direction, and modeling. The process requires time, effort, and sacrifice on the part of the parent. We commit to training for the good of our children—to protect them and educate them toward success.

Give Children Roles in Worship

In John 6, Jesus used a little boy’s lunch to feed a crowd. Imagine the boy’s elation; he helped Jesus in a personal, tangible way. Today’s church often babysits or entertains children. Instead, let’s train the next generation and solidify their place in the community. Children who participate are more likely to feel welcome in the church family.

Eternally Impact the Life of a Child

Think back to childhood. Can you remember an adult who changed your life in a positive way? In Matthew 19, the disciples saw kids as a distraction. For Jesus, they were the center of attention. The children in our lives crave connection with a caring adult. Let's take time to mentor the children we know.

Protect and Encourage Children

Jesus felt strongly about valuing and protecting children who believe in him. In old gangster movies, everyone knew the meaning of cement shoes. We might not expect this type of reference in the Bible, but in Matthew 18:6, Jesus uses similar terms to indict anyone who corrupts a child or entices a child away from following God.