Created by God for a Purpose

I’m sure you’ve wished you could change something about yourself. We all have. Taller. Shorter. Curly hair. Straight hair. We wish we were as athletic as someone else or could play an instrument.

Desiring strength in an area where we are weak is common, but it can cause us to lose sight of our greater purpose in Christ and fall into despair as a result. Especially children. Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for 10-to-14-year-olds.

How do we help our children not only become pro-life but pro-living? How do we help them believe that life is worth living and their futures can be bright?

Dr. Kathy Koch is with me on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly to share how to help your children appreciate their God-given attributes and overcome what they see as limitations.

In her message, recorded at one of our staff chapels, Dr. Koch teaches parents to see the word “smart” as a word of power. Children who believe they’re smart excel more in school and approach life with greater confidence. Children who don’t believe they’re smart struggle to apply themselves.

The key is for children to learn that “smart” applies to more than academic excellence. For your children to discover how smart they are, motivate them to:

Accept and affirm their unique smarts.
Reawaken “paralyzed” smarts.
Redirect misbehavior in new, constructive ways.
Learn and study all eight kinds of smarts:
- Word.
- Logic.
- Picture.
- Music.
- Body.
- Nature.
- People.
- Self.

Hear Dr. Koch’s full message on your local radio station, online, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, on our free phone app. It’s never too late to start helping your child be all that God designed him or her to be.

Dr. Koch was a contributor to a collection of resources we’ve developed called Alive to Thrive: A Biblical Guide to Preventing Teen Suicide. Alive to Thrive is a free six-session program that includes video interviews with experts and roundtable discussions on how to prevent suicide. It is specifically designed to help you reach your children, tweens, and teens. It also includes interviews with suicide survivors and provides hope to kids in troubling situations. Best of all, this is a digital resource that we can put into your hands today. Click here for full details.

If you’d like to partner with us in preventing teen suicide, please make a donation of any amount today! When you do, we’ll send you a copy of Dr. Kathy Koch’s book, 8 Great Smarts: Discover and Nurture Your Child’s Intelligences, as our way of saying thank you for touching others with the love of Christ. Click here for more information or call 1-800-A-FAMILY (232-6459).