Your Kids Need Your Compassion
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 search online 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 unwavering and unconditional love. There needs to be a place where they’re accepted just as they are, without question, including all of their faults.
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. And you learn to love 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 truly love.
This is a common thing: we love our kids, but we don’t express it in a way they can understand. Children understand love in three ways: affection, affirmation, and attention.
1. Affection. Children need lots of hugs and kisses, pats on the back, holding of hands, cuddles and more. 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.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick
For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!
Get Equipped to Face Life’s Challenges with Faith!
Life throws a lot at us these days. And it’s clearer than ever that we need to equip ourselves with biblical wisdom—because only God’s Word gives us the power we need to handle whatever comes our way.
That’s why Pastor Rick created the Unshakable Bible study.
The Unshakable Bible study is our thanks for your support to help take Daily Hope to more people around the world.
So request your copy below when you give—and get equipped to face any challenge with faith!
*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of materials you received from Daily Hope.
This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
You can listen to Rick Warren on OnePlace.com.
