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Key Bible Verse: Fathers, don't aggravate your children. If you do, they will become discouraged and quit trying (Colossians 3:21). Bonus Reading: Ephesians 6:4

I have a great deal of respect for most of the dads in our league. They take an interest in their children, help with baseball practice, and show up for games. But I've also observed that some fathers have trouble knowing how to handle their children's failures. They get frustrated over simple mistakes. And since what happens on the baseball field is beyond their control, sometimes they even get angry. And this is only T-Ball … just wait until we start keeping score!

What some of us end up doing is exactly what the Bible tells us not to do: exasperate our children. What could be more exasperating than being held to a standard impossible to meet, then being criticized for not meeting it? What makes unreasonable demands so exasperating is that it denies children the approval of their fathers. By biblical definition, a father "has compassion on his children" (Psalm 103:13 NIV). Children crave the constant affection of their fathers.

The wonderful thing is that constant affection is exactly what every child of God receives from his or her heavenly Father. Every child of God enjoys his irresistible, unbreakable approval.

—Philip Ryken in He Speaks to Me Everywhere

My Response: How can I encourage my children to excel without burdening them with unreasonable expectations?

Adapted from He Speaks to Me Everywhere (P&R Publishing, 2004) by permission.

Copyright © 2009 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Help me, Lord, to model a true masculinity that spurs the young on to achieve without making my loving acceptance of them conditional.

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