Repentance: A Five-Step Conversation
There are five powerful ingredients we can include when we ask forgiveness from a family member. Before you share these things, it may be helpful to begin your conversation this way: I want to have an important conversation with you. I know we have been dealing with...
Repentance Continues with a Change in Behavior
True repentance does not stop with a change in our thinking, but continues with a change in our behavior. We have all experienced people in our lives who apologize to us over and over for the same offense, and yet their behavior never changes. After a while, the...
Planting Seeds of Bitterness
In Hebrews 12:14–15, God tells us, “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become...
Helping Families Through COVID-19 & Beyond
The COVID-19 pandemic has put extraordinary pressures on marriages and families. I was speaking to a family attorney yesterday who told me that he has received more calls to initiate divorce proceedings in the last three weeks than in the past two years. While we do...
Healing Through Repentance
Family conflicts start very early in life and are rarely one-sided. Unfortunately, It’s not always easy to recognize or focus on our part in the conflict.
3 Phases of Forgiveness
Forgiveness and reconciliation is a three-phase process, and I will summarize it here. I don’t want you to be overwhelmed. What can be written in just a few pages may take years for the Lord to accomplish. In the chapters ahead, we will consider the small steps God...
Pray for Your Own Heart
When I am in the middle of a blowout conflict with one of my sons, I am squarely focused on his disobedience, his bad attitude, his irresponsibility. Obviously, the entire reason why we are in this situation is that he dropped the ball or was disrespectful. Rarely is...
How Many Times Do I Need to Forgive?
When a family member does something that hurts our feelings a couple of times, it may not feel like a big deal to forgive them. What if they do it ten times? Fifty times? Now it is a different story. You may remember that Jesus’ disciples asked Him about this. “Then...
