Coach Dale Brown continues from last week to share his experiences, thoughts and stories in a speech he gave on The Importance of Spiritual Formation in Families.
“As with any journey, sometimes the sheer magnitude of the trip will overwhelm us as parents. Remember that a journey contains many small steps filled with many bumps in the road along the way. However, if we keep our feet planted in common sense and surrender ourselves to faith and love, then we can find true success and lasting inner peace in our families.
“What are some obstacles to spiritual freedom? Worldly attachments like materialism. By detaching ourselves from worldly things, we will be set free. We live in a gluttonous, lazy, self-indulgent, television addicted society. God bless America and wake up America. This doesn’t mean that we cannot have enjoyable things; but do not let our possessions possess us.
“When we seek praise and admiration, we are worrying too much about what others think. Human praise and admiration can neither add nor subtract from our true worth. God sees us as we really are. We are what we are in the eyes of God, nothing more or nothing less.
“All people desire peace, but few do what it takes to obtain true peace. Some think they will find it in financial security. Others seek it in continual activity. Others hope to find it in human friendship, praise or admiration. These things are not the source of true peace. A daily life of straight thinking and unselfish following God’s will is the one and only source of true peace.
“Author Emmett Fox once said, ‘There is so much frustration in the world because we have relied on gods rather than God. We have genuflected before the god of science only to find that it has given us the atomic bomb, producing fears and anxieties that science can never mitigate. We have worshiped the god of pleasure only to discover that thrills play out and sensations are short lived. We have bowed before the god of money only to learn that there are such things as love and friendship that money cannot buy. These transitory gods are not able to save or bring happiness to the human heart. Only God is able. It is faith in him that we must rediscover.’
“Today we see too much emphasis placed on earthly success: jobs, notoriety, money, ego.”
“We have seen an increase of strife in the home – a lack of respect for other family members, jealousy, selfishness, more worry and anxiety, lack of patience and listening skills. We need to be more transparent and become actors rather than reactors. We have to model by example.”
“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them. Children Learn What They Live: If a child lives with criticism, s/he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, s/he learns to fight. If a child lives with fear, s/he learns to be apprehensive. If a child lives with pity, s/he learns to feel sorry for him/herself. If a child lives with jealously, s/he learns to feel guilty.
“If a child lives with encouragement, s/he learns to be confident. If a child lives with praise, s/he learns to be appreciative. If a child lives with recognition, s/he learns it is good to have a goal. If a child lives with approval, s/he learns to like him/herself. If a child lives with honesty, s/he learns what truth is. If a child lives with fairness, s/he learns justice.
“If a child lives with acceptance, s/he learns to love. If a child lives with security, s/he learns to have faith in him/herself and others. If a child lives with friendliness, s/he learns the world is an enjoyable place to live. If a child lives with God, s/he learns the meaning of his/her existence.
“The only conquest that brings peace and happiness is self conquest and forgiveness.”
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