How to become your child’s greatest influencer (4 of 6)

HOW TO BECOME YOUR CHILD’S GREATEST INFLUENCER? (Video 4 of 6)

The second way to become — “Your Child’s Greatest Influencer” — is to express appreciation for your wife and children.

Have you ever heard the joke that, “Home is the place that family members go, when they are tired of being nice to other people?”

Unfortunately, some homes seem to work that way. The salesman treats his prospects with the ultimate kindness to build his business, but he’s rude to his wife when he comes home. Or, the doctor who spends the day compassionately caring for her patients, but she comes home exhausted and blows up at her children. We will all have a bad day occasionally, but that can’t be the norm if we are going to make our home a supportive environment.

Scripture says, “Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.” (Ephesians 4:29)

It’s incredible how kind words of appreciation can create an atmosphere in our homes, that causes our kids to soar.

Psychologist William James observed, “In every person from cradle to the grave, there is a deep craving to be appreciated.” (William James)

Have you noticed how feeling appreciated brings out the best in people? I’ve heard that for every negative remark made to a person, it takes four positive remarks to counteract the damage.

Story — One thing we’ve made a practice of, since our children were young, is to go in a circle and have everyone show appreciation for them on their birthday. We would start with Dad and Mom, and by the time we were finished, our children were beaming and felt incredibly blessed.

The most effective way to heal hearts damaged by a negative home environment is through forgiveness.

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