Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Creative Connection with Ed Young. We're glad
you've joined us today to hear ED connect faith to
everyday life. Before we get to today's message, we want
to invite you to head online and sign up for
Ed's daily email devotionals covering relevant topics like forgiveness, anxiety,
and purposeful living. These life giving emails will provide you
(00:22):
with a spark of encouragement write in your inbox every
single day. Each one contains a piece of scripture as
well as encouragement from Ed to help you think about
and apply biblical truths to your life. There's also a
guided prayer at the end of each email. Just visit
edyong dot com slash emails to sign up now, and
(00:42):
while you're there, you can also browse previous devotionals as
well as watch and listen to messages from Ed. So
sign up to start receiving your daily devotionals today. The
website again is Edyong dot com slash Devotionals. Book forward
to connecting with you there. Now, let's get into today's
message with Pastor Ed Young.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Today, I'm talking about the family is a corporation.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I want you to think about your family as a corporation.
Structure is important when it comes to a corporation. Obviously,
Microsoft has an amazing structure. That's the reason they make
squillions and squillions of dollars. Their structure, I know, is great.
People know what they're supposed to do, they understand their responsibilities,
(01:38):
their job descriptions. There's a corporate structure, there's a founder
and CEO, when president and so forth. Well, when it
comes to today's subject matter, a corporation, I would argue
that much more valuable, much more important than Microsoft. When
it comes to the family corporation, Do you know what
(02:00):
you're supposed to do? It's time that we see and
understand and own the fact that the family is a
corporation and it's structured. I love this for your success
and mind the family. It goes back to structure. It
(02:20):
goes back to understanding who you are and what you're.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Supposed to do.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Because when we understand what the family is, then we
can understand what the family is supposed to do. What
is the family? Well, the family is the business. What
is the family business? Here's a good definition of a family.
A family is a unit ordained by God with the
(02:48):
sole purpose of developing full court followers of Christ. The
family is is a unit, a team developed by God
to churn out disciples. Obviously, the goal of the family
is oneness. In other words, the family, your family and
(03:12):
mind should be a microcosm, a mirror of even a
greater family, the Family of God. That's the family. Have
you ever thought about the family? The family is not.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Some product of evolution.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
It's not something that just happened. It's not something that
psychologist or anthropologists have said, oh, yeah, that's what.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We have to do in order to survive.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
No, the family has a supernatural structure, and the structure
has been given to us, this corporate structure, by our
amazing and transcendent God. Today I thought I would talk
to you about the corporate structure of the family. Because
(04:04):
a family is only as successful as its structure. Like
a company is only as successful as its structure. A
team is only as successful as its structure. Your body
and mind physically is only as successful as its structure. God,
you can write this down, is the founder of the
(04:24):
family and it's the sole purpose of God.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Let me say it again.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
For family members this within this unit to use their
attitudes and abilities to become these full court followers of Christ.
God is the founder. The CEO is Dad. Now I
know I'm gonna have some pushback when I talk about this.
I'm just simply telling you what God says about it.
(04:52):
The father is the CEO of the family, the chief
executive officer, the mom in this nuclear family, let me
use that as an example.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
The mom is the president.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And then the kids, well, they're well, they're kids. They're
definitely shareholders. They definitely have a lot of responsibilities and things.
But in God's structure, God is God, marriage is marriage,
and kids are kids. That's the structure of the family,
(05:29):
the corporate structure. Let me say once again, God is God,
He's Lord. He's number one. Marriage is marriage. Marriage is
the only relationship that's analogous to God's relationship to his people.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
And number three, kids are kids.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
God is God, marriages, marriage, and kids are kids. That, friends,
is the corporate structure of the family. Every single member
in the family is equal. Let me say that again.
Everybody is equal in form, unique in function.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Go back to Microsoft.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Everyone at Microsoft who works there is a person on
one hand, they're equal, their equal in form, yet unique
in function. Bill Gates has a different function than one
of his senior vice presidents or someone else who's in
charge of marketing. The same is true in the family.
(06:31):
So God's structure for the family, it's found in a
Google Earth view of the Book of Ephesians. If you
look at the Book of Ephesians in the New Testament,
it pretty much outlines the priorities and the corporate structure
that God desires. For example, if you look at Ephesians
(06:53):
chapter four, the apostle Paul wrote this, and he's saying,
I urge you to live a life worthy of the
calling you've received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient,
bearing with one another in love.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
That's the fuel of the family.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Is it not make every effort to keep unity of
the spirit through the bond of peace in the family
we see in Ephesians four, and in your life and mind.
Oneness is the key God. If you think about God,
is all about oneness God, the Father, God, the Son, God,
(07:37):
the Holy Spirit. That that's the trinity three and one
one in three. But there's oneness in marriage. The Bible
says for this reason Genesis chapter two, verse twenty four,
a man shall leave his father and mother shall cleave
to his wife, the two shall become one oneness. I
would argue in the family, we have to think and
(07:58):
own and move toward unity that only comes through acknowledging.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Hey, God, you're God and I'm not.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
You're God and I'm not. So as children, we see
our parents hopefully modeling unity, hopefully modeling oneness.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Then we see that model.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Then we go out when it's time to leave, and
then form our own families. And then you have this
beautiful aspect of multiplication going on.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
So we see God.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Then in Ephesians five, we see marriage. The Bible says,
if you look at verse twenty one in Ephesians Chapter five,
it says, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The whole gest of Christianity, the whole gist of following
(08:55):
the Lord, is what I said a second ago. God
is God, We aren't God. You're the authority in my life,
and I submit my life to you. That plays out
primarily in our relationship with God, secondarily in our earthly relationships.
(09:16):
And then it continues and it gets really really convicting.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
It says.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
In verse twenty two, it says, here's what submission looks like. Wives,
submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the
husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is
the head of the church, his body of which he
is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ,
so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Husbands, love your wives.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up
for her.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Wow, those are heavy verses. They basically say, the man is.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
The CEO, the wife, the woman is the president.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
The man is the leader.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Again, let me stay equal inform, unique in function. This
is God's way. This is not the culture's way. This
is not what popularity says is the way.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Because if you look at.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Our culture, our culture is telling us like, for example,
if you're a guy and you feel like a girl,
you can use the women's restroom, or if you are
a woman and you have a desire for women, you
can get married and then you can adopt a child.
(10:39):
Our culture is really clueless when it comes to understanding
the structure of the family. And we've tried to tweak
the family, we've tried to redefine the family. Yet it's
time that we go back and understand what the family is,
so then we can understand what the family does, so hopefully.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
You see this this structure.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
God is God, Marriage is marriage, and then kids are kids.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You're listening to the Creative Connection with Ed young stay
with us to hear more encouragement from Ed before we
get back to today's message. Most of us spend our
lives avoiding pain at every turn, so when we inevitably
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can wonder if God even cares. We want to help
(11:26):
you discover how your faith can deepen even in the
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So head over to Edyong dot com to give and
(11:47):
request your copy. Again, that's Edyong dot com slash give.
Now let's get back to today's message.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Basically, the Bible says two things about kids and two
things that kids are to do, and Ephesian six says this.
It says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is
the first commandment, with the promise that it may go
well with you and that you may enjoy a long
life on earth. So kids are to honor their father
(12:26):
and mother and then obey their father and mother. See
the authority structure. See the corporate structure playing out. We
submit ourselves to God, submit ourselves one to another. Kids
submit themselves to their parents. You have something beautiful taking
(12:47):
place the corporate structure. So if you think about the
corporate structure, what is the ROI what's the return on
our investment?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Well that return starts very very rapidly.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
But let me let me tell you how how it
goes in most families.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
In most situations.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Here's here, here's how the structure goes. A guy and
girl start dating, and the guy he's going to do
anything to get that girl to say I do. It's
sort of like a deal being closed.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
She says, I do. They walk down the wedding runner.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
The guy's going, Wow, I got this deal done, and
the girl is thinking, wow, I'm just starting my.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Very own Hallmark movie. Well, the guy.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Kind of kind of says to himself, well, I've got
that deal done. They've got freedom because it's just the
two of them. But the guy says, I've got to
be the provider, So he goes out and chases the career.
At the same time, the woman, she's like, wow, you know,
she's enjoying everything.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But not to the level that she thought.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Then they find out they're pregnant, they have a child,
and the child comes into the world, and both of
them think that having a child will draw them closer,
which is not true.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
I'm telling you it's not true.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So they have a child and and then it just
intensifies because now the dad is like, well, I've got
to make more money, I've got to do more stuff,
So he's chasing his career in a more focused way.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The wife, now she.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Might even work outside the home, and she's chasing the
child around and she's taking.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Care of the child.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
So you see, you have some marital drift going on
in a way. The husband resigns from his number one
priority that of being a husband, and he becomes sort
of the career guy, the father whatever Disneyland dad. And
the wife resigns from her number one position that of
(14:58):
being a wife, and she becomes a mother. And what
happens is when the child is surprisingly young. I'm talking
about the typical family corporation.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
When the child is just a little thing. The child looks.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Around and says to himself or herself, I'm going to
take over the house. I Am going to do a
hostile takeover. The child does it covertly and overtly, because
once the child realizes that he or she is sitting
in the corner office, once the child realizes the parties
(15:37):
and the perks of being the man or the woman,
once mom and dad start revolving their lives around that
child at a surprisingly at a shockingly young age, watch out.
Throw in an attractive coworker or someone else around the
(15:58):
neighborhood of the gym, and you've got serious, serious problems.
Or let's say the parents just continue revolving their lives
around the kids because our culture says, it's the kids.
It's the kids. The kids is the most important thing.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
They're not. Our children are not the most important things.
It's the marriage.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Obviously, I would give my life for my kids, there's
no doubt about it. However, the marriage has to stay
the center piece of the relationship because spouses stay and
kids leave. So going back to this scenario, you've got
the orbiting of parents around the lives of kids, and
(16:44):
if they hang in there in the marriage. Then the
kids finally leave home and mom and dad look at
each other and go, who in the heck are you?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
I want to talk about some issues that.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Parents deal with when they're in the trenches, when they're
in the middle of this family structure, that need to
be addressed. First of all, I want to talk to
you about attention. Attention. It's like if you work, maybe
for a certain company, and you have the proverbial person
who always wants attention from other people, from the manager,
(17:23):
from the boss, and they are doing all this stuff
just to get this person's attention. This happens too in
the family.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Again.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Little children understand attention. They like attention, and well meaning
parents so often give their children too much attention. For example,
think about oxygen. Oxygen is wonderful, but too much oxygen
(17:52):
will kill you. Too many parents smother their kids. We
have to be attentive to our kids. We have to
study our kids. We obviously love our kids, but we
love them enough to balance this whole attention thing, because
(18:14):
if we're in their business all of the time, if
we're always hovering over them, they never understand what it
means to fail. They never understand what it means to
crash through quitting points because they always have someone who's
rescuing them.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Attention.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Wife's parents begin to give their kids responsibilities at very
very young ages, picking up your toys, cleaning your rooms,
making your beds, clearing the table, all those chores that
work ethic and Dads, we have to because so often
(18:55):
moms are the ones who are.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Saying all this.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Dads, we have to support our wives and the mother
of our kids. We have to present a unified front.
We have to team up together and understand that the
moms are going to be more in the trenches. Most
will when it comes to disciplinary practices, but we have
(19:19):
to present unity. We have to present that strategy that
God wants in our team family. So remember, your kids
will try to take over your house. And if you're
not strong, if you don't stand, if you allow yourself
to slip and fall, if you don't have a corporate structure,
(19:41):
they'll take it over and they'll run the show. And
they'll use tears when they get older, and drama and
trauma to manipulate you. For the lady's technology to manipulate you,
for that car to manipulate you to go here, there
and yonder you start to scare Jewell. Now I'm telling
(20:02):
you great things will happen, so attention. Give them attention,
but also allow them time alone to create and do
what they need to do.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Here's your homework. As I about close this message down.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Your homework is I want you to write with your
family a family mission statement. Lisa and our kids did
this several years ago and it was absolutely awesome. So
go somewhere and write a family mission statement. Maybe your
single parent family, blended family situation, maybe you're the typical
(20:42):
nuclear family. Rite write a mission statement and allow and
get your kids to weigh in and help you. I
remember the first mission statement we wrote. Our kids were
much younger, and we were going around talking about what's
our family, about what are we going to do? And
and what does God want us to do? And we
were talking about some things. And at the time Lee
(21:06):
Beth was eleven. She raised her hands. She goes, I
want to say something. I said, let me hear it. Libeth,
she said, Dad and Mom, if we didn't have a family,
we wouldn't have an example. And I thought, wow, man,
that is that is great and that's so so true.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
God is our example.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
The way he loves, the way he is our perfect.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Heavenly parent, the family of God.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Then He's given moms and dads the opportunity and the
mantle of example. We can be example to our kids.
Then they grow and they do the same thing. And
you have this beautiful, beautiful corporate structure going on. So
your homework is to write a family mission statement. Also, too,
(21:56):
it is to go through and make sure your employees
your shareholders know who is the CEO, Who is the president? Who, like,
for example, is the CFO?
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Who who who does these responsibilities and roles?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Each person, I believe should have a job description, and
that job description should should be flowing. It should always
be changing. But it's important for kids to know, and
for husbands to know, and for whise to know. Here,
here are my responsibilities. Here is what I do. And
for kids, here are the guidelines and guardrails. Because children
(22:39):
want discipline. We're made for it. We're not made for
a free for all. We're not made just to say, yeah,
I'm reporting for work at Microsoft, but I have no
idea what in the heck.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
I'm supposed to do. That's not the way it is.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
God has an agenda for every single family. God's way works,
His corporate design is for success. And now I'm getting
all of these returns on my investments, on my investment
in following God, on my investment in keeping the church
a priority, on my investment in the marriage, on my
(23:19):
investment in the kids, on my investment and attention and
scheduling and all of those things I've talked about.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
We're seeing the results of it.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And when I get to heaven one day, Wow, that
would I'll really be able to cash in.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
So it's up to you. It's really up to you.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You either follow God's structure, his corporate structure for success.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Or not.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
All you have to do is look around and compare
and contrast, and I think you'll see the difference that
he makes.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Your family is a corporation.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Follow God's structure for success.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Thanks for joining us today on the Creative Connection with
Ed Young. We hope you've been encouraged as Ed's shown
you how you can connect your faith to everyday life.
We'd love to help you even more in your spiritual
journey by sending you ati Lisa Young's book A Path
through Pain. This resource will help you see God's presence, love,
(24:33):
and care in the middle of your suffering, and it's
our thanks for your gift to help connect faith to
everyday life for more people around the world. Just head
over to Eddyong dot com slash give to request your copy. Again,
that's Edyong dot com slash give. Thank you for your support.
We'll see you next time on the Creative Connection.
Welcome to the Creative Connection with Ed Young. We're glad
you've joined us today to hear ED connect faith to
everyday life. Before we get to today's message, we want
to invite you to head online and sign up for
Ed's daily email devotionals covering relevant topics like forgiveness, anxiety,
and purposeful living. These life giving emails will provide you
(00:22):
with a spark of encouragement write in your inbox every
single day. Each one contains a piece of scripture as
well as encouragement from Ed to help you think about
and apply biblical truths to your life. There's also a
guided prayer at the end of each email. Just visit
edyong dot com slash emails to sign up now, and
(00:42):
while you're there, you can also browse previous devotionals as
well as watch and listen to messages from Ed. So
sign up to start receiving your daily devotionals today. The
website again is Edyong dot com slash Devotionals. Book forward
to connecting with you there. Now, let's get into today's
message with Pastor Ed Young.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Today, I'm talking about the family is a corporation.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I want you to think about your family as a corporation.
Structure is important when it comes to a corporation. Obviously,
Microsoft has an amazing structure. That's the reason they make
squillions and squillions of dollars. Their structure, I know, is great.
People know what they're supposed to do, they understand their responsibilities,
(01:38):
their job descriptions. There's a corporate structure, there's a founder
and CEO, when president and so forth. Well, when it
comes to today's subject matter, a corporation, I would argue
that much more valuable, much more important than Microsoft. When
it comes to the family corporation, Do you know what
(02:00):
you're supposed to do? It's time that we see and
understand and own the fact that the family is a
corporation and it's structured. I love this for your success
and mind the family. It goes back to structure. It
(02:20):
goes back to understanding who you are and what you're.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
Supposed to do.
Speaker 2 (02:26):
Because when we understand what the family is, then we
can understand what the family is supposed to do. What
is the family? Well, the family is the business. What
is the family business? Here's a good definition of a family.
A family is a unit ordained by God with the
(02:48):
sole purpose of developing full court followers of Christ. The
family is is a unit, a team developed by God
to churn out disciples. Obviously, the goal of the family
is oneness. In other words, the family, your family and
(03:12):
mind should be a microcosm, a mirror of even a
greater family, the Family of God. That's the family. Have
you ever thought about the family? The family is not.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
Some product of evolution.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
It's not something that just happened. It's not something that
psychologist or anthropologists have said, oh, yeah, that's what.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
We have to do in order to survive.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
No, the family has a supernatural structure, and the structure
has been given to us, this corporate structure, by our
amazing and transcendent God. Today I thought I would talk
to you about the corporate structure of the family. Because
(04:04):
a family is only as successful as its structure. Like
a company is only as successful as its structure. A
team is only as successful as its structure. Your body
and mind physically is only as successful as its structure. God,
you can write this down, is the founder of the
(04:24):
family and it's the sole purpose of God.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Let me say it again.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
For family members this within this unit to use their
attitudes and abilities to become these full court followers of Christ.
God is the founder. The CEO is Dad. Now I
know I'm gonna have some pushback when I talk about this.
I'm just simply telling you what God says about it.
(04:52):
The father is the CEO of the family, the chief
executive officer, the mom in this nuclear family, let me
use that as an example.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
The mom is the president.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And then the kids, well, they're well, they're kids. They're
definitely shareholders. They definitely have a lot of responsibilities and things.
But in God's structure, God is God, marriage is marriage,
and kids are kids. That's the structure of the family,
(05:29):
the corporate structure. Let me say once again, God is God,
He's Lord. He's number one. Marriage is marriage. Marriage is
the only relationship that's analogous to God's relationship to his people.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
And number three, kids are kids.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
God is God, marriages, marriage, and kids are kids. That, friends,
is the corporate structure of the family. Every single member
in the family is equal. Let me say that again.
Everybody is equal in form, unique in function.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Go back to Microsoft.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Everyone at Microsoft who works there is a person on
one hand, they're equal, their equal in form, yet unique
in function. Bill Gates has a different function than one
of his senior vice presidents or someone else who's in
charge of marketing. The same is true in the family.
(06:31):
So God's structure for the family, it's found in a
Google Earth view of the Book of Ephesians. If you
look at the Book of Ephesians in the New Testament,
it pretty much outlines the priorities and the corporate structure
that God desires. For example, if you look at Ephesians
(06:53):
chapter four, the apostle Paul wrote this, and he's saying,
I urge you to live a life worthy of the
calling you've received. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient,
bearing with one another in love.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
That's the fuel of the family.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
Is it not make every effort to keep unity of
the spirit through the bond of peace in the family
we see in Ephesians four, and in your life and mind.
Oneness is the key God. If you think about God,
is all about oneness God, the Father, God, the Son, God,
(07:37):
the Holy Spirit. That that's the trinity three and one
one in three. But there's oneness in marriage. The Bible
says for this reason Genesis chapter two, verse twenty four,
a man shall leave his father and mother shall cleave
to his wife, the two shall become one oneness. I
would argue in the family, we have to think and
(07:58):
own and move toward unity that only comes through acknowledging.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Hey, God, you're God and I'm not.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
You're God and I'm not. So as children, we see
our parents hopefully modeling unity, hopefully modeling oneness.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Then we see that model.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
Then we go out when it's time to leave, and
then form our own families. And then you have this
beautiful aspect of multiplication going on.
Speaker 3 (08:29):
So we see God.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
Then in Ephesians five, we see marriage. The Bible says,
if you look at verse twenty one in Ephesians Chapter five,
it says, submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
The whole gest of Christianity, the whole gist of following
(08:55):
the Lord, is what I said a second ago. God
is God, We aren't God. You're the authority in my life,
and I submit my life to you. That plays out
primarily in our relationship with God, secondarily in our earthly relationships.
(09:16):
And then it continues and it gets really really convicting.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
It says.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
In verse twenty two, it says, here's what submission looks like. Wives,
submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the
husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is
the head of the church, his body of which he
is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ,
so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Husbands, love your wives.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up
for her.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Wow, those are heavy verses. They basically say, the man is.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
The CEO, the wife, the woman is the president.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
The man is the leader.
Speaker 2 (10:04):
Again, let me stay equal inform, unique in function. This
is God's way. This is not the culture's way. This
is not what popularity says is the way.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Because if you look at.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Our culture, our culture is telling us like, for example,
if you're a guy and you feel like a girl,
you can use the women's restroom, or if you are
a woman and you have a desire for women, you
can get married and then you can adopt a child.
(10:39):
Our culture is really clueless when it comes to understanding
the structure of the family. And we've tried to tweak
the family, we've tried to redefine the family. Yet it's
time that we go back and understand what the family is,
so then we can understand what the family does, so hopefully.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
You see this this structure.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
God is God, Marriage is marriage, and then kids are kids.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
You're listening to the Creative Connection with Ed young stay
with us to hear more encouragement from Ed before we
get back to today's message. Most of us spend our
lives avoiding pain at every turn, so when we inevitably
experience pain, it sends us into a tailspin and we
can wonder if God even cares. We want to help
(11:26):
you discover how your faith can deepen even in the
most tragic circumstances by sending you Ed and Lisa's powerful
book A Path through Pain. This resource is our thanks
for your gift to help connect faith to everyday life
for more people around the world through the Creative Connection.
So head over to Edyong dot com to give and
(11:47):
request your copy. Again, that's Edyong dot com slash give.
Now let's get back to today's message.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
Basically, the Bible says two things about kids and two
things that kids are to do, and Ephesian six says this.
It says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is
the first commandment, with the promise that it may go
well with you and that you may enjoy a long
life on earth. So kids are to honor their father
(12:26):
and mother and then obey their father and mother. See
the authority structure. See the corporate structure playing out. We
submit ourselves to God, submit ourselves one to another. Kids
submit themselves to their parents. You have something beautiful taking
(12:47):
place the corporate structure. So if you think about the
corporate structure, what is the ROI what's the return on
our investment?
Speaker 3 (12:58):
Well that return starts very very rapidly.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
But let me let me tell you how how it
goes in most families.
Speaker 3 (13:05):
In most situations.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Here's here, here's how the structure goes. A guy and
girl start dating, and the guy he's going to do
anything to get that girl to say I do. It's
sort of like a deal being closed.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
She says, I do. They walk down the wedding runner.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
The guy's going, Wow, I got this deal done, and
the girl is thinking, wow, I'm just starting my.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Very own Hallmark movie. Well, the guy.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Kind of kind of says to himself, well, I've got
that deal done. They've got freedom because it's just the
two of them. But the guy says, I've got to
be the provider, So he goes out and chases the career.
At the same time, the woman, she's like, wow, you know,
she's enjoying everything.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
But not to the level that she thought.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Then they find out they're pregnant, they have a child,
and the child comes into the world, and both of
them think that having a child will draw them closer,
which is not true.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
I'm telling you it's not true.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
So they have a child and and then it just
intensifies because now the dad is like, well, I've got
to make more money, I've got to do more stuff,
So he's chasing his career in a more focused way.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
The wife, now she.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
Might even work outside the home, and she's chasing the
child around and she's taking.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Care of the child.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
So you see, you have some marital drift going on
in a way. The husband resigns from his number one
priority that of being a husband, and he becomes sort
of the career guy, the father whatever Disneyland dad. And
the wife resigns from her number one position that of
(14:58):
being a wife, and she becomes a mother. And what
happens is when the child is surprisingly young. I'm talking
about the typical family corporation.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
When the child is just a little thing. The child looks.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
Around and says to himself or herself, I'm going to
take over the house. I Am going to do a
hostile takeover. The child does it covertly and overtly, because
once the child realizes that he or she is sitting
in the corner office, once the child realizes the parties
(15:37):
and the perks of being the man or the woman,
once mom and dad start revolving their lives around that
child at a surprisingly at a shockingly young age, watch out.
Throw in an attractive coworker or someone else around the
(15:58):
neighborhood of the gym, and you've got serious, serious problems.
Or let's say the parents just continue revolving their lives
around the kids because our culture says, it's the kids.
It's the kids. The kids is the most important thing.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
They're not. Our children are not the most important things.
It's the marriage.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Obviously, I would give my life for my kids, there's
no doubt about it. However, the marriage has to stay
the center piece of the relationship because spouses stay and
kids leave. So going back to this scenario, you've got
the orbiting of parents around the lives of kids, and
(16:44):
if they hang in there in the marriage. Then the
kids finally leave home and mom and dad look at
each other and go, who in the heck are you?
Speaker 3 (16:56):
I want to talk about some issues that.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Parents deal with when they're in the trenches, when they're
in the middle of this family structure, that need to
be addressed. First of all, I want to talk to
you about attention. Attention. It's like if you work, maybe
for a certain company, and you have the proverbial person
who always wants attention from other people, from the manager,
(17:23):
from the boss, and they are doing all this stuff
just to get this person's attention. This happens too in
the family.
Speaker 3 (17:30):
Again.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
Little children understand attention. They like attention, and well meaning
parents so often give their children too much attention. For example,
think about oxygen. Oxygen is wonderful, but too much oxygen
(17:52):
will kill you. Too many parents smother their kids. We
have to be attentive to our kids. We have to
study our kids. We obviously love our kids, but we
love them enough to balance this whole attention thing, because
(18:14):
if we're in their business all of the time, if
we're always hovering over them, they never understand what it
means to fail. They never understand what it means to
crash through quitting points because they always have someone who's
rescuing them.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Attention.
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Wife's parents begin to give their kids responsibilities at very
very young ages, picking up your toys, cleaning your rooms,
making your beds, clearing the table, all those chores that
work ethic and Dads, we have to because so often
(18:55):
moms are the ones who are.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
Saying all this.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Dads, we have to support our wives and the mother
of our kids. We have to present a unified front.
We have to team up together and understand that the
moms are going to be more in the trenches. Most
will when it comes to disciplinary practices, but we have
(19:19):
to present unity. We have to present that strategy that
God wants in our team family. So remember, your kids
will try to take over your house. And if you're
not strong, if you don't stand, if you allow yourself
to slip and fall, if you don't have a corporate structure,
(19:41):
they'll take it over and they'll run the show. And
they'll use tears when they get older, and drama and
trauma to manipulate you. For the lady's technology to manipulate you,
for that car to manipulate you to go here, there
and yonder you start to scare Jewell. Now I'm telling
(20:02):
you great things will happen, so attention. Give them attention,
but also allow them time alone to create and do
what they need to do.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Here's your homework. As I about close this message down.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
Your homework is I want you to write with your
family a family mission statement. Lisa and our kids did
this several years ago and it was absolutely awesome. So
go somewhere and write a family mission statement. Maybe your
single parent family, blended family situation, maybe you're the typical
(20:42):
nuclear family. Rite write a mission statement and allow and
get your kids to weigh in and help you. I
remember the first mission statement we wrote. Our kids were
much younger, and we were going around talking about what's
our family, about what are we going to do? And
and what does God want us to do? And we
were talking about some things. And at the time Lee
(21:06):
Beth was eleven. She raised her hands. She goes, I
want to say something. I said, let me hear it. Libeth,
she said, Dad and Mom, if we didn't have a family,
we wouldn't have an example. And I thought, wow, man,
that is that is great and that's so so true.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
God is our example.
Speaker 2 (21:28):
The way he loves, the way he is our perfect.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Heavenly parent, the family of God.
Speaker 2 (21:34):
Then He's given moms and dads the opportunity and the
mantle of example. We can be example to our kids.
Then they grow and they do the same thing. And
you have this beautiful, beautiful corporate structure going on. So
your homework is to write a family mission statement. Also, too,
(21:56):
it is to go through and make sure your employees
your shareholders know who is the CEO, Who is the president? Who, like,
for example, is the CFO?
Speaker 3 (22:11):
Who who who does these responsibilities and roles?
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Each person, I believe should have a job description, and
that job description should should be flowing. It should always
be changing. But it's important for kids to know, and
for husbands to know, and for whise to know. Here,
here are my responsibilities. Here is what I do. And
for kids, here are the guidelines and guardrails. Because children
(22:39):
want discipline. We're made for it. We're not made for
a free for all. We're not made just to say, yeah,
I'm reporting for work at Microsoft, but I have no
idea what in the heck.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
I'm supposed to do. That's not the way it is.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
God has an agenda for every single family. God's way works,
His corporate design is for success. And now I'm getting
all of these returns on my investments, on my investment
in following God, on my investment in keeping the church
a priority, on my investment in the marriage, on my
(23:19):
investment in the kids, on my investment and attention and
scheduling and all of those things I've talked about.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
We're seeing the results of it.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
And when I get to heaven one day, Wow, that
would I'll really be able to cash in.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
So it's up to you. It's really up to you.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
You either follow God's structure, his corporate structure for success.
Speaker 3 (23:47):
Or not.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
All you have to do is look around and compare
and contrast, and I think you'll see the difference that
he makes.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Your family is a corporation.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Follow God's structure for success.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Thanks for joining us today on the Creative Connection with
Ed Young. We hope you've been encouraged as Ed's shown
you how you can connect your faith to everyday life.
We'd love to help you even more in your spiritual
journey by sending you ati Lisa Young's book A Path
through Pain. This resource will help you see God's presence, love,
(24:33):
and care in the middle of your suffering, and it's
our thanks for your gift to help connect faith to
everyday life for more people around the world. Just head
over to Eddyong dot com slash give to request your copy. Again,
that's Edyong dot com slash give. Thank you for your support.
We'll see you next time on the Creative Connection.
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