by Brian & Katie Hess
Life is hard. Marriage is hard. Parenting is hard. Managing money is hard. But there are two kinds of hard — and only one of them is worth choosing. In this episode, Brian and Katie discuss: Why every area of life offers two kinds of difficult, and how to tell them apart The difference between the pain of discipline and the pain of regret Why avoiding what's hard today almost always costs more later Want to connect with us? Use the links below to find us on social media, send us an email, buy our books, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter! Check out our kids book: https://mailchi.mp/spirituallyformed/8lk1lhsrxa Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bdc94e9b17b/lp-subscribe Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritually_formed/ Send us an email: hello@spirituallyformed.com
Being a disciple of Jesus means transferring lordship to Him, but most Christians recognize that there's a part of them that is resistant to obedience. Often, when people want to change, they make the mistake of trying to change rather than training for change. In this episode, Brian and Katie Hess discuss: Their personal struggles with obedience to Jesus Three things you need to grow in any area The difference between training and trying
You won't drift toward Christlikeness. In this episode, we look at why spiritual transformation isn't something that passively happens to you over time — it's something you train for, the same way the Bible describes the discipline of an athlete in training. The way that a professional athlete might train their body to move or react a certain way, we can train our bodies to react in a way that is consistent with the character of Christ by establishing new habits. Want to connect with us? Use the links below to find us on social media, send us an email, buy our books, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter! Check out our kids book: https://mailchi.mp/spirituallyformed/8lk1lhsrxa Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bdc94e9b17b/lp-subscribe Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritually_formed/ Send us an email: hello@spirituallyformed.com
Have you ever wondered why God placed both trees in the middle of the Garden of Eden? In this episode, Brian and Katie Hess unpack: Why God's desire for a loving relationship with people made the tree of knowledge absolutely necessary. What God is (and isn't) in control of. How to become the type of people who are capable of loving the way God does, even when other people (especially our kids) behave in a way that makes loving them difficult. Want to connect with us? Use the links below to find us on social media, send us an email, buy our books, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter! Check out our kids book: https://mailchi.mp/spirituallyformed/8lk1lhsrxa Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bdc94e9b17b/lp-subscribe Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritually_formed/ Send us an email: hello@spirituallyformed.com
Is it healthy for kids to be afraid of their parents? Before we can answer that, we have to ask a harder question first: should we, as God's children, be afraid of Him? In this episode, we dig into what Solomon meant when he wrote that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" — and why that fear isn't the same as the fear the New Testament says love casts out. It's the difference between reverence and terror, and it changes everything about how we're called to parent. We talk about why chasing obedience through fear and intimidation always ends in justified harshness, why kindness — not fear — is what actually leads to repentance, and why our kids form their first beliefs about God's character by watching how we treat them at home, long before they ever open a Bible. Want to connect with us? Use the links below to find us on social media, send us an email, buy our books, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter! Check out our kids book: https://mailchi.mp/makinghesstory/8lk1lhsrxa Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bdc94e9b17b/lp-subscribe Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritually_formed/ Send us an email: hello@spirituallyformed.com
If our kids do what we want because they're afraid of us, are they actually obeying us, or are they surviving us? Every parent wants to have obedient kids, but what if making obedience the goal is doing more harm than good? The goal of obedience leads to justified harshness, and our methods of parenting end up looking like anger, fear, threats, and intimidation. In this episode, Brian and Katie Hess discuss Jesus' value for obedience and His method for leading us there, which is through love and connection.
In order to care for something, you must understand it. This is true for the plants we own, the cars we drive, and the kids we raise. In this episode, Brian and Katie Hess discuss two things that every kid needs from their parent that will quietly work to strengthen our relationships with them. Want to connect with us? Use the links below to find us on social media, send us an email, buy our books, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter! Check out our kids book: https://mailchi.mp/makinghesstory/8lk1lhsrxa Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bdc94e9b17b/lp-subscribe Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritually_formed/ Send us an email: hello@spirituallyformed.com
Many Christian parents are asking the same question: How do I disciple my kids? But that question rests on the assumption that it's even possible to raise kids without discipling them. A disciple, by definition, is someone who closely follows, observes, and imitates their teacher. Anybody raising kids knows that this is exactly what they're doing every day. They are closely watching, observing, and imitating us, whether we like it or not. What if the most effective thing we can do to each our kids about the character of God isn't just to explain it to them, but to show them by the way we interact with them and others? What if discipling our kids actually begins with us sitting at the feet of Jesus? Join Brian and Katie as they unpack this and discuss what they call active and passive discipleship.
God is good and He does good things, but He also allows us to experience difficult circumstances in life in the interest of helping us grow up and become people of love, hope, and joy. In this episode, Brian and Katie discuss the nature and source of the trials we face, why we might need to revisit our definition of "good," why joy can be found in the difficulties of life, and how this all relates to raising kids. Want to connect with us? Use the links below to find us on social media, send us an email, buy our books, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter! Check out our kids book: https://mailchi.mp/makinghesstory/8lk1lhsrxa Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bdc94e9b17b/lp-subscribe Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritually_formed/ Send us an email: hello@spirituallyformed.com
It's normal to want our kids to be happy...but what if the goal of "happiness" is robbing us and our kids of something better? Happiness is good, but it's fragile and circumstantial. Joy, on the other hand, is lasting, and is something that we can choose even when life gets hard. Join Brian and Katie as they discuss the difference between happiness and joy, and why loving our kids well requires that we aim higher than to simply make them happy. Want to connect with us? Use the links below to find us on social media, send us an email, buy our books, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter! Check out our kids book: https://mailchi.mp/makinghesstory/8lk1lhsrxa Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/2bdc94e9b17b/lp-subscribe Find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spiritually_formed/ Send us an email: hello@spirituallyformed.com