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Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you… --Deuteronomy 4:40 How’s your family life? Do you have a strong family? There’s a lot of attention paid today to what’s wrong with our families. But in one study at the University of Nebraska, researchers looked at the strengths of successful homes and families. They found six common qualities that identify strong families:   Strong families are committed to the family. Strong families spend time together. Strong families have good family communication. Strong families express appreciation to one another. Strong families have a spiritual commitment. Strong families are able to work together to solve problems in a crisis. As I look at this list, I believe the key to each ingredient is parenting. Successful families have parents who take the lead in each of these vital areas. So, what about you? Are there any areas above that you could work on as a parent? Do you have a spiritual commitment so that your family has a spiritual commitment? Do you express appreciation to your spouse and children? Do you foster open communication? Is spending time together important to you? I want to challenge you today, as a parent, to go through this list and see how you check out. Then, determine to take the lead as a mom or dad in each of these vital areas!   Pick one characteristic of successful families to focus on as a mom or dad this week.

Slow Down and Think

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls.”
James 1:19–21

The story goes that during the Civil War, Edwin Stanton, who was the Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln, was accused of favoritism. Stanton, furious that his honor had been impugned went to see the president to complain. Lincoln told him to write a letter to the accusing officer that outlined all of his complaints. After the letter was written, Stanton took it to the president. Lincoln said, “Now put it in the stove. That’s what I do when I have written a letter while I am angry. Burn it, and write another gentler one.”
The old nature that all of us still have finds it very easy to be provoked to anger by real or imagined insults and injuries. Our tempers rise when we feel we have been treated unfairly. How we respond in those moments goes a long way to determining the success and strength of the relationships we have. If we fly off the handle and let people have a piece of our minds when we are angry, we should not be surprised to find that others walk on eggshells in our presence and don’t want to spend a great deal of time with us.
We may think that it is just a few words, and will not have a lasting impact, but words carry great weight, and once spoken cannot be unsaid. How much better it is for us to swallow our pride and our temper and respond slowly with words we have thought about before speaking. The words we choose to speak will have an impact for good or evil.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

No one has ever yet had to apologize for harsh and angry words that were left unsaid.