Sunday, November 10, 2013 Show Compassion to Your Kids by Rick Warren Let us love one another, for love comes from God. (1 John 4:7 NIV) If you want to know how to be a good parent and build a strong family, you don’t have to look on the Internet or go to a bookstore. Look no further than the greatest book ever written on parenting — God’s Word, the Bible. The Bible says in 1 John 4:7, Let us love one another, for love comes from God (NIV). More than anything else, kids need unbelievable and unconditional love. There needs to be a place where they’re accepted — warts and all. What is compassion? Compassion is a combination of love and understanding. Compassion is where you know everything about someone, and you still like that person. Love is not natural. You have to learn to love. You learn it by practicing. What better place to practice than with the people youre forced to live with all your life? If you can learn to love your family, you can love anybody. Why? Because its easy to love people at a distance, but when youre with them all the time, you dont always get along. When you practice love in the family, youre learning to really love. A lot of times we love our kids, but we dont express it in the way they can understand it. Children understand love in three ways: affection, affirmation, and attention. Affection. Children need lots of hugs and touch and kisses. They need to feel your love. Affirmation. They need to hear it! You need to tell your kids every day — and more than once a day — how much you love them. Affirm them, and build them up with love. Attention. One of the greatest gifts you can give others is listening to them. When you look at a child on his level, youre saying, You matter to me. Youre important to me. I want to hear what you have to say.” In doing this, you show compassion. Talk It Over In what different ways do you see that your children express and receive love? If you do not have children, what do you think your responsibility is to the children in your life, whether they are nieces and nephews, neighbors, or the children of friends? *** *** *** Enjoy today’s devotional? Listen instantly to the full audio message at RickWarren.org/listen. Did someone forward this Daily Devotional to you? Get your own free subscription to The Daily Hope Devotional, your daily inspiration via email. Christmas is Coming! Our Gift to You The Purpose of Christmas is a 3-Session study by Rick Warren that teaches us why we celebrate Christmas and how understanding the true meaning of Christmas will change our lives. This is our gift to you for supporting Daily Hope! MORE Growing in the Seasons of Life: Complete Series Just like a growing season for plants, you have to go through various seasons in order to mature and grow. In this message series, Pastor Rick shows you how to make the most of the seasons of life, no matter which one you’re in. MORE This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including “The Purpose Driven Church” and “The Purpose Driven Life,” read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional ©2013 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Follow Us: Follow Pastor Rick on facebook and Twitter.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 14:10:46 +0000
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