Never Forget to Say the Two Things They Love to Hear.
Surprisingly, it’s not “Happy Birthday”, “Here are the car keys”, or “Go ahead and do whatever you want”.
Teenagers are looking for different things from different people. While they appreciate praise from coaches, teachers, and grandparents, they are not expecting it from their peers. They want to be liked and accepted by their friends and classmates.But what teenagers consistently say they want to hear from their parents are the two statements below:
I love you.
I am proud of you.
As a parent, particularly a dad, you can never say these things enough. Our children crave our love and affection. They need to know that you love them unconditionally. That even when their behavior or attitudes may be really unpleasant or downright sinful, you still love them.
Your son and/or daughter need to know that you are proud of their accomplishments and more importantly who they are. We all compare ourselves to others, but teens do this even more. They need to know that if they are not great athletes, musicians, actors, students, hunters, etc., that you are proud of them.
“and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19 (ESV)
Remind them of these things on a regular basis and make sure that they know that their worth and value in your eyes is not based on performance, but on who they are as your child and God’s child saved by faith in Jesus Christ.
in HIS service,
Pastor Mark
P.S. The blog titles and main ideas come from Walt Mueller’s book “99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers”. I personalize and modify the message, and also add Scripture.