======================================================================== (SERMON CLIP) PRINCIPLES FOR CHILD CORRECTION by Zac Poonen ======================================================================== Summary: This sermon emphasizes the importance of starting each day with a heart free from grudges, focusing on seeking God even in brief moments, and maintaining relationships without unrealistic expectations. It highlights the significance of not making demands on others, avoiding sin as the only serious matter in life, and fostering healthy communication and humility in interactions with children and others. Topics: "Forgiveness", "Healthy Relationships" Scripture References: Matthew 6:14, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 3:13, James 4:17, Ephesians 6:4, Proverbs 22:6, 1 John 1:9, Genesis 3:15, Matthew 14:30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This sermon emphasizes the importance of starting each day with a heart free from grudges, focusing on seeking God even in brief moments, and maintaining relationships without unrealistic expectations. It highlights the significance of not making demands on others, avoiding sin as the only serious matter in life, and fostering healthy communication and humility in interactions with children and others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ I go to bed at night, I know I have nothing in my heart against anybody in the whole world. I love them all. When I wake up in the morning, I say, thank you, Jesus. My first thought is, Lord Jesus, I want to talk to you. Begin your day like that, even if you have only a few minutes, even only one or two minutes. Begin your day like that. One or two minutes with God is a wonderful way to begin your day. That's what I've done in my life. I'll tell you honestly, I'm not exaggerating. My life has been extremely happy, restful, free from anxiety, free from fear, free from discouragement, to which I was a slave. And don't make demands on other people. Don't make demands on your wife. She's a human being. Whatever she can do, she does. Some wives are very capable, some wives are not. Never compare your wife with anybody else. Don't make a demand on other believers. Sometimes when I go away for a trip, I may ask the brothers in the CFC office to do something. Can you do this by the time I come back after three days? And I tell them before I go itself, if for some reason you are not able to do it, or something went wrong, or something broke, or you didn't get time, or you had some emergency at home, so you couldn't do this, forget it. It's not serious. Then I conclude with this sentence, the only thing serious in life is sin. That's what I tell them. So don't think I'll be disturbed if I come back and you find you did not do it. No, not important. Don't sin. The only thing serious in life is sin. It's been a great help to me. So when I think of somebody messed up something, was it sinful? Oh, then it's serious. Was it not sinful because of human inefficiency, or because they tried and they didn't bungle it up, or they broke something, and they tried their best. Perfectly okay. It's not a sin. It's the motive that God sees. Never tell your children, I told you so. Won't do it. Supposing your small children are trying to fix some toy house, or something which is broken, and you say, no, I'll fix it for you. No, no, no, dad, I can do it. And they try to do it, and they don't, they're not able to do it. And they come to you and say, daddy, can you help me? Never say, I told you so. Never let the words, I told you so, come out of your mouth to your children, or to your younger brothers, or to anybody. That is the voice of the expert, who never makes a mistake. I told you so. I'll never say it. You know what I say? Never mind. Let's fix it. Never mind. Let's fix it. And when it's done, I say there, let's learn some lessons for the future. Always say, let's fix it. You'll get a bond with your children then, that will remain forever. And they'll grow to admire you and love you, and they will duplicate it with their children. These are little principles. The only thing serious is sin. Sin is very serious. It's worse than cancer. That's why any sin mentioned in the Bible, anger, sexually dirty thoughts, murmuring, eliminate completely. I decided, I used to murmur and get angry in Bangalore. I said, completely, I don't want cancer in my life. I never want to murmur or grumble about a single thing in my home, or in the CFC office, or in any church, or anywhere. Let's fix it. When God saw Adam and Eve sinned, He asked them. Adam tried to put the blame on others and all that. But God said, let's fix it. Right there in Garden of Eden. He said, the seed of this woman will crush the head of that snake, of the devil. I see, I learned from him. Let's fix it. Of course, there'll be a little punishment, but let's fix it. He gave him a promise. This problem is going to be solved. Don't worry. It's like that. When Peter was sinking in this sea, the Lord did not say, why didn't you trust me? That's how we react. No, no, no, no, no. Give me your hand, Peter. Let me hold your hand. Let's fix it. Afterwards, I'll ask you, why didn't you trust me? So we do correct, but after fixing it, not before fixing it. Never start with, why didn't you trust me? You wouldn't have sunk if you had trusted me. This is the language of evil people who think they are experts. We ruin our children by like that. You think I've never done it? I've done it, but I've repented. I never had a spiritual father to teach me like I'm teaching you. I wish I had. I would have made less mistakes with my family. You guys are lucky that you have somebody to teach you. So I'm teaching you not from a man who's never made mistakes, but who learned from my mistakes. I put my hand in the fire and discovered it burnt. And so I can tell you, don't put your hand in the fire. That's how I'm speaking. And I wish for all of you that you'll have godly children, that you'll have a wonderful relationship with your children. It's very important to play with our children. And they must see that we are at their level and friends. I used to say about my own children that I say, Lord, they are my children today. I want them to become my brothers one day. And they are my brothers today. But I used to pray for that, Lord, I want them to be my brothers one day, not my children. ======================================================================== Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/avVdY8FT0kA.mp4 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/zac-poonen/sermon-clip-principles-for-child-correction/ ========================================================================