Why are we so easily angered?

Anger can be good for us when it’s a protest against mistreatment in an abusive or threatening situation, or when it motivates us to seek safety from danger.

But we’re not always good managers of our anger. We feel threatened when we don’t need to be. We get emotionally worked up over mild grievances that don’t deserve a response. We use a fire hose to put out a match.

Even Christians, who believe in the fruit of the Spirit, get upset with the guy that cuts us off on the highway, or irritated when something doesn’t go our way, or frustrated when we feel like we’re not getting what we deserve.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 13, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

How wealthy are you?

Before you answer with a dollar figure or a list of your assets, let me tell you a story. It’s about a wealthy father who wanted to teach his son a lesson about gratitude. To show his son just how poor other people could be, he arranged for him to spend some time in the country with a family who lived in an old, drafty farmhouse.

When the son came home a few days later, the father asked him, “Did you learn something about what it means to be poor?”

The son responded, “I sure did.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 12, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Author and speaker Kyle Idleman has always believed that God loves the whole world (John 3:16), but Kyle never fully understood Jesus’ dedication to individuals until his 2-year-old daughter became trapped under a fallen dresser. When Kyle found her and rushed her to the hospital, his focus narrowed and he forgot about everything and everyone until he knew she was safe.

Jesus ministered to people in the same way – one person at a time.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 6, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin remains in critical condition following his shocking collapse after an on-field cardiac arrest this past Monday night. 

Dorrian Glenn, Hamlin’s uncle, told ESPN on Tuesday night that while Hamlin is sedated, he’s “improving from where he was yesterday. We are just going to continue to pray, and I know he is in great hands with the medical team he has here. They have been doing a tremendous job.” 

Many of us have been praying for this young man, whose on-field talents are dwarfed by his reputation for his off-field generosity and deep Christian faith. 

“My faith is in God,” he once said.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 4, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

In 1979, a passenger jet carrying 250 people left New Zealand for a sightseeing tour to Antarctica. Unknown to the pilots, their flight coordinates were off slightly, just one degree. A small error, but it put them nearly 30 miles off course by the time they reached Antarctica. Before the pilots could correct the mistake, the plane crashed into Mount Erebus killing everyone on board.

Small mistakes accumulate over time. If something is off course by just one degree, after one foot, it will miss its target by an eighth of an inch.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith January 3, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

First Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Life often gets in the way of our desire to connect with Jesus as our source of contentment and joy. We get busy raising children, investing in our marriages, and building our careers. We get distracted by technology and lost in tough circumstances. Life overwhelms us, and we disconnect from God.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith December 29, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

Do you want to do something great, something that will change the world? The best way to achieve that may be to think small.

I remember a camping trip my family took many summers ago. We’d no sooner arrived at the campsite, when my boys leapt from the car and grabbed handfuls of rocks to throw into a nearby pond. My oldest son, Trent, muscled the largest stones he could find into the water. The bigger the splash, the bigger he wanted the next rock to be.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith December 28, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura

My friend and former colleague, Tom Minnery, passed away unexpectedly on Christmas Eve.

Although now living in Ohio, Tom and his wife, Deb, were in New Mexico for Christmas with their family. Tom slipped on some ice and sustained a massive head injury. He entered Glory in the early evening.

Tom was a familiar voice to the Focus on the Family constituency, especially with his monthly column in Citizen Magazine, a periodical he helped launch in 1987, and which he served as editor-in-chief.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: faith December 26, 2022 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura