Your Kids Need Your Compassion
By Rick Warren
“Let us love one another, for love comes from God” (1 John 4:7a NIV).
If you want to know how to be a good parent and build a strong family, you don’t have to look online or go to a bookstore. Look no further than the greatest book ever written on parenting: God’s Word, the Bible.
It says in 1 John 4:7a “Let us love one another, for love comes from God” (NIV).
More than anything else, kids need unwavering 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 by practicing. What better place to practice than with the people you’re forced to live with all your life? If you can learn to love your family, you can love anybody. Why? Because it’s easy to love people at a distance, but when you’re with them all the time, you don’t always get along. When you practice love in the family, you’re learning to really love.
A lot of times we love our kids, but we don’t express it in a way they can understand it. Children understand love in three ways: affection, affirmation, and attention.
1. Affection. Children need lots of hugs and touch and kisses. They need to feel your love.
2. Affirmation. 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.
3. Attention. One of the greatest gifts you can give others is listening to them. When you look at children on their level, you’re saying, “You matter to me. You’re important to me. I want to hear what you have to say.” In doing this, you show compassion.
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Talk It Over
In what different ways do you see that your children express and receive love?
What routines or habits can you practice so that you are showing your kids affection, affirmation, and attention every day?
If you don’t have children, what is your responsibility to the children in your life, such as nieces and nephews, neighbors, or the children of friends?
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
It doesn't matter how much you work out or how healthy you may eat, if you're not feeding and exercising your spirit… you're going to feel run down and tired – you’ll run out of gas. You’ve got to do more than just take care of your body. You’ve got to energize your spirit! And the best way to do that is with God’s Word! That’s why we’ve put together this new interactive guide called Re-Energize Your Life!
In this first-of-its-kind guide, created from Pastor Rick’s most practical teaching, you will learn everything you need to know to re-energize your life the way God intended. Step by step, you will begin a journey of restoration and renewal. It’s a hands-on guide you take at your own pace. No need to rush! In fact, we encourage you to stop and linger where you want to spend more time. You’ll benefit from biblical wisdom and learn how to apply it to your life in practical ways.
This devotional © 2017 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.
