Jim Daly

Disciplining Your Kids with Love and Limits

Parents often discipline in terms of behavior modification:

“No backtalk.”
“Say please and thank you.”
“Stop picking on your brother” (with two boys, Jean and I have said that one a lot over the years).
“Put away your backpack.”

Outward behavior is an important part of raising children of character. But it’s only one side of the coin. The other is developing their inner motivation.

The root word of discipline is “disciple.” As disciples of Christ, we follow His teachings outwardly because our hearts are being transformed from within.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: broadcast, discipline, kids, parenting

A Quadriplegic, Cancer-Surviving Woman Talks About God and Suffering

Joni Eareckson Tada says that suffering is “like a little splash-over of hell.”

Few people can talk about the intensity of suffering with more authority than Joni. A tragic accident fifty years ago left her a quadriplegic, requiring 24-hour care. She’s also survived a stage-3 breast cancer diagnosis, the removal of a 3-inch tumor, and months of chemotherapy that followed.

So when she talks about how to handle suffering in a way that enriches our lives and glorifies God, we all do well to listen.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, pro-life

Three Ways to Participate in Our Pro-Life Conference

Focus on the Family and The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) are once again co-hosting Evangelicals for Life, the only major prolife conference for evangelicals in conjunction with the March for Life, the flagship pro-life event.

The Evangelicals for Life event debuted in 2016, and was designed to help invigorate the evangelical pro-life community to greater service and involvement in the pro-life cause.

This year’s event will take place on Jan. 18–20 at the JW Marriott in Washington, D.C.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: church, events, pro-life

The Gospel on the Gridiron

I didn’t have a dog (no pun intended, Georgia fans) in last night’s national championship college football game, but an exclamation point was put on the dramatic finish when Alabama’s winning quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, spoke with the press following the overtime victory.

“My parents would be mad, so excuse me,” he began, “but first and foremost I’d like to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, with Him, all things are possible and that’s what happened tonight.”

When asked what the victory meant to him, he talked about being overwhelmed by the win but also went on to say,

“All glory goes to God.

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events Tags: events, faith, pop culture

Teaching Your Children to Handle Money Well

Do you teach your children to clean their rooms?

How about to do their homework, to brush their teeth, or to match their clothes?

How about to give money, save money, and to spend it properly?

If you said no to that last one, it might be because you see your child’s allowance as simply an economic transfer instead of as a chance to develop their character.

Our guest for the next couple of programs is the money guru himself, radio host and bestselling author, Dave Ramsey.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, finances, kids, parenting

Focus on the Family Best Seller List

Week Ending January 2, 2018

Openness Unhindered (by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)
Cherish (by Gary Thomas)
The Kindness Challenge (by Shaunti Feldhahn)
Exploring the Joy of Christmas (by Phil Robertson)
Hope Rising (by Kim Meeder)
7 Women (by Eric Metaxas)
7 Men (by Eric Metaxas)
Forgive, Let Go, and Live (by Deborah Smith Pegues)
Honey, We Need to Talk (by David E. Clarke)
The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield)
Your Teenager Is Not Crazy (by Dr.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: faith, family, marriage, parenting

Helping Your Child Navigate the Tech Landscape

I’ll never forget the day I got my driver’s license. It was all I could talk about for an entire year before. It was a time-honored tradition back then: do whatever necessary to get your license by the time you’re fifteen, no later than sixteen. That little plastic ID got me and my friends out of the house and enabled us to hang out with each other whenever and wherever we wanted. My driver’s license was key to my social world.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, kids, parenting, technology

Two Questions to Help You Get Control of 2018

According to billionaire Richard Branson, the secret to making and keeping your New Year’s resolutions is a pen and piece of paper.

“It’s time to get your New Year’s resolutions down on paper,” he recently wrote. “The simple act of writing it down will help you stick to it. Share your goals with your family and friends but ultimately it’s down to you to make your resolution happen in 2018.”

Goal-setting can be very effective, but as we head off into an uncharted new year, I want to ask you a related question, but with a twist:

What if you made a commitment this year to STOP doing so many things?

Continue ReadingTopics: Current Events/ Family and Home Tags: events, family

So You Want to Do Devotions with Your Little One

Chuck Colson once said to me, “By age 10, your children’s moral compass is pretty well set.”

His wisdom confirmed what Jean and I already believed from our earliest days of parenting: we only had a few short years to impart biblical wisdom and a love for Jesus to our two boys. It’s a task that we’ve taken seriously ever since. But we also discovered early that “serious” doesn’t have to mean “dull” or “boring.”

Thankfully, there’s no magical “one way” for moms and dads to pass their faith on to their children.

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family, parenting

Serving God with What You Have

Helen Keller once said, “The only thing worse than blindness is having sight but no vision.”

Scripture says that we lose our way without vision (Proverbs 29:18).

Vision is the ability to focus your attention on God’s plan and his ability to accomplish it. God calls each of us to a vision that is bigger than us. He invites us into things that require the best of us and that will outlive us.

What is that “thing” for you?

Continue ReadingTopics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, faith, family