Has your child ever said, "This is the worst day ever." and you just tried to cheer them up. Philippians 4 gives us a better way. And today I'm going to show you six simple steps from Philippians 4 that you can use on your own hard days and then teach it to your child because your day can change without your God changing. And when our children learn that a hard day does not have to to control the rest of their day. Maybe your child comes home upset because a friend left them out or something went wrong at school or life simply did not go the way they wanted. Our first response is often, "Oh, just cheer up." Or, "Don't let it bother you." Or, "It's not that bad." But I want us to do something deeper to help our children and to help ourselves. We cannot keep our children from having a hard day. But we can teach them where to go with a hard day. And Philippians 4:es 4-9 gives us a simple path. If you are a Christian mom of a tween or pre-tween who wants to help your child know God, but sometimes you're not sure what to say or how to teach it, this channel is for you. Here you will find Bible study for moms, family disciplehip, help understanding scripture, and practical ways of teaching kids the Bible. If that describes you, would you take a moment and just like this video and subscribe? Now, grab your Bible and look at Philippians chapter 4. A good way to remember how Philippians is is Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. God's electric power company or God's effective power company. That's a neat way to remember that how those four books are arranged. But now in Philippians chapter 4, starting at verse 4, it says, and I'm reading from the New Living Translation, it says, "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again, rejoice." Notice where joy is found. It is found not in everything going right and not in people treating us well. not in even getting what we want. It is in the Lord. That means our joy is rooted in someone who does not change. So when your child is upset, do not immediately try to talk them out of their feelings. Ask things like, "What happened?" Ask things like, "How did that make you feel?" And then ask the question that can open the door to disciplehip. What did you start thinking when that happened? Thinking. What did you start thinking when that happened? Your child may say, I thought nobody likes me. My whole day is ruined is what came to my mind. Now you can help them separate what happened from what they are telling themselves about what happened. The circumstance may be real. The feeling may be genuine and real but the thought may not be true. And our goal is not simply mood management. Oh, if we could that would be wonderful. It's not that. We are helping our children bring their thoughts back under the truth of God's word under the authority of who God is. And what tends to steal your child's joy the fastest? Is it friend problems, school pressure, disappointment, something else? I'd love to hear that in the comments. So, tell me in the comments what steals your child's joy the fastest. And remember, your day can change without your God changing. And if you have a life application study Bible, keep it nearby. And I'm going to show you later how to use the topic index study for something like the topic of joy, which is what we're talking about today. Philippians 4:E5 reminds us, let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember the Lord is coming soon. So the second word is remember when something changes around us, we remember who has not changed. You can ask your child questions like, did God stop loving you today? Did God stop being good today? Did God leave you? No, he did not. God never changes. This is where biblical joy starts to make sense for our 8 to 12year-old. Joy grows when we connect what is happening to what is true about God. And your child can learn to say things like, "I am sad and God is still with me." Or they can learn to say things like, "I am so disappointed, but God is still so good." Biblical joy does not say things like, "This doesn't hurt." Biblical joy does not say, "It doesn't hurt." It says, "This hurts." But the hurt is not the whole story or the final story. Philippians 4:6 tells us, "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for what he has done." And so the the third thing that we can do is pray. Teach your child, don't just carry the bad day with no hope. Bring the bad day to God. The prayer can simply be, "God, I did not like what happened today." Or, "God, I feel hurt." Or maybe, "Please help me know what is true and what I should do next." That is prayer. And this is what practical family disciplehip can look like. You helping your child understand these things. Sometimes teaching kids about God is simply sitting beside them and saying things like, "Let's tell God what happened." The fourth step is thank. Philippians 4:6 tells us about thanksgiving. Thanksgiving helps us notice what has not changed. And you can pray. You can help your child pray things like, "Thank you that you are with me, God. Thank you that you love me." And you can teach your child to say, "Thank you that I can talk to you." And they may still feel sad. And that is important. We are not trying to force happiness. We are turning our attention back to God and helping our child turn their attention to him, too. And mom, I want to be honest right here and say, I need this, too. I need to practice these principles just like you because I'm never going to have the perfect house or the perfect kids. I'm certainly never going to have a perfect body. If my joy depends on those things being exactly how I want them, my joy will rise and fall all day long. But God does not change and I belong to him. And because of Jesus, I can belong to him both now and forever. You see, Psalm 16 11 says that in the God's presence there is fullness of joy. So, I do not need a perfect life to have deep joy. I just need to stay close to God who is with me because of Jesus Christ. Step five, and we're nearing the last step. Step five comes in Philippians verse 8 of chapter 4. And it says, "And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, on what is honorable and right and pure and lovely and admirable. Think about these things. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. So our fifth word is think. This is huge for our children because one hard thing can quickly spiral into a whole story. my friends sat somewhere elsewhere can become she doesn't like me and then nobody likes me. It just spirals into nobody likes me. So teach your child one simple question. Is what I'm thinking actually true? Don't teach them does it feel true? But teach them is it true? Ask what actually happened? What are you telling yourself about it? And what do you know is true? Now, you're not telling your child to stop being sad. You are teaching your child to think truthfully while they are sad. And that is a skill they can carry far beyond the middle school years. And here is our reminder again. Your day can change without your God changing. This is where I want you to begin studying these truths for yourselves. In the back of the New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible, there is a master index list. You can look up the topic like joy and follow the scriptures and study notes connected to it and you can ask things like what does this teach me about joy? What do these scriptures teach me about joy? What does this teach me about God? And then how should this change the way I live and the way I think? and then teach one of those truths to your child. This is a simple pattern for Bible study for moms and for even family Bible study. You can learn it, live it, teach it. The simple pattern, learn it, live it, teach it. And if you want to check out the New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible, I use the pink one and it's in the description. is especially helpful if you want support moving from I read the verse to I understand what that verse means and how to live it. But what if you do all of this and you were still sad and your child is sad and your child may ask, "What if I do everything and I am still sad?" Here's what I want you and them to understand. Biblical joy does not mean the pain disappears. It means the pain does not get the final word. Think about Paul and Silas in Acts chapter 16. They were beaten. They were thrown into prison, had their hands and feet in the stocks, and they were singing praises to God. Here's the part I love. They did not wait for the prison doors to open before they started singing. Their circumstances were still hard, but God was still God. And they saw that. And sometimes circumstances steal our song because they become the loudest thing in our lives. But when we turn our attention back to God and remember the source of our joy is still here. If you know another mom whose child is going through a hard season, would you share this video with her? Sometimes a mom does not need another person telling her to fix everything. Sometimes she needs a biblical path she can walk with her child, and that's what this video provides. And ultimately our joy has to lead us to Jesus because our greatest problem is not a bad day. Our greatest problem is sin. We have all sinned against a holy God. But Jesus came. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. And he lived without any sin. and he died for our sin and on the third day he rose again. And when we turn to him in faith, we can be forgiven and brought into a relationship with God. So our deepest joy is not tomorrow will be better. Our deepest joy is I belong to Jesus. Hebrews 12 verse truth. Hebrews 12:2 tells us that Jesus endured the cross for the joy that was set before him. The suffering was real, but it was not the end of the story. And because of Jesus, we can tell our children, "This hurts right now, but this is not the end of your story." Failure does not get the final word. Let me say that again. Failure does not get the final word. Rejection does not get the final word. The final word is Jesus. Jesus gets the final word. That is joy with roots. So the last step in Philippians 4:9 and it says, keep putting into practice all you have learned and receive from me everything you have heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. Paul tells believers to put these things into practice. So our final word is do. Ask your child because this is true about God. What is the next right thing to do? Maybe they need to forgive. Maybe they need to have a conversation with this friend that sat at another table. Maybe they need to apologize. Maybe they simply need to pray and start again tomorrow. This is where Bible study becomes obedience. This is where teaching kids the Bible becomes discipling your children. So the next time your child say so the next time your child says this was the worst day ever, you do not need a speech. Remember these six words. Rejoice. What is still true about God? The second word is remember. The Lord is near. The third one is pray. Tell God what happened. The fourth one is thank. What can you thank God for? The fifth one is think. What are you thinking? And is it true? And the sixth one is do. What is the next faithful step to do? The answer is not cheer up, but clarify for them. Let's bring this day back under what is true. Rejoice, remember, pray, think, think, and do. Which one of these do you most need this week? Put just one word in the comments. Rejoice, remember, pray, think, think, or do. And you do not have to remember all these after hearing it only once. Come back with your Bible open to Philippians 4:es 4-9 and listen again. Get a sheet of paper, write it down. You could even listen with your child or a spouse so your family begins the same language because we are not trying to raise children who never have bad days. We are raising children who know where to go with a bad day. Your plans will change and your children will change. Friend groups will change. Feelings will change. But God does not. So remember, your day can change without your God changing. And joy grows when you connect what is happening in your life to what is true about God. And if you want a Bible that helps you do that, check out the New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible. I've linked it in the description. Use that topic index to study joy for yourself. Then bring your child beside you and say, "Let's see what God says because you can know God deeply and teach your child faithfully and help your family learn where to go when life is hard." And before you go, there's one more part of this conversation I want to help you with. What happens when you are the one having the hard day? when you lose your patience, when you feel like you are failing, or when the pressure to be a good Christian mom starts stealing your joy. That's exactly what I talk about in the video link right here. My guest Andrea Foronberry shares practical biblical encouragement to help you release perfectionism, quiet mom guilt, receive God's grace, and begin choosing joy in motherhood even when you don't feel like you're doing enough. So, if you have ever wondered, "Am I doing enough?" Watch this video next because your child needs to learn where to go with the hard day and so do you. and I'll meet you over there in that
