Christian Living

By Al Felder When Christians hear the expression “itching ears,” they often picture people searching for teachers who will tell them that sin does not matter, obedience is unnecessary, and judgment should not be feared. That application is certainly valid. Many people want a form of religion that comforts them without correcting them. They prefer messages that affirm their choices, minimize repentance, and promise God’s approval without submission to His authority. However, i

By Al Felder Religious teaching can accomplish many things. It can attract an audience. It can stir emotions. It can introduce unfamiliar information, expose error, answer questions, and provoke discussion. In the digital age, it can also generate views, shares, subscriptions, and a loyal following. However, none of those results, by itself, proves that the teaching has fulfilled its biblical purpose. A lesson may hold our attention without strengthening our faith. It may lea

By Al Felder Christians are commanded to defend the truth. False teaching must be corrected. Sin must be confronted. The gospel must be protected from distortion. Silence is not always an expression of peace; sometimes it is a failure of courage. However, the duty to defend truth does not give Christians permission to become quarrelsome. This distinction is especially important in an age of podcasts and social media. Online discussions often reward the quickest response, the

By Al Felder “I’m just asking questions.” The phrase sounds harmless. Questions are normally associated with learning, investigation, and honest inquiry. Asking a question can be an important first step toward understanding the truth. However, questions can also be used irresponsibly. A person may raise a damaging possibility without providing evidence. He may suggest that someone has acted dishonestly without making a direct accusation. He can repeatedly connect unrelated fa

By Al Felder Controversy attracts attention. A calm explanation of Scripture may be read by a few people, but a dramatic accusation can spread across social media within hours. A podcast about patience, humility, or faithfulness may receive limited attention, while an episode promising to expose a conspiracy or reveal what others are hiding attracts thousands of listeners. This tendency is not limited to politics or entertainment. It has become increasingly common in religiou

By Al Felder Not everything we consume has the same effect on us. Some food nourishes the body, providing what it needs for health, strength, and growth. Other food may satisfy an immediate craving without supplying anything of lasting value. It may taste good and leave us wanting more, but it does little to strengthen us. The same principle applies to religious teaching. Some teaching nourishes faith. It helps us understand Scripture, strengthens our trust in God, exposes si

By Al Felder The internet has given Christians access to more religious teaching than any previous generation could have imagined. Sermons, podcasts, videos, articles, and social media posts are available at every hour of the day. This can be a great blessing when faithful teachers use these tools to explain Scripture and encourage godly living. However, greater access to religious content does not guarantee greater spiritual understanding. Sometimes it produces the opposite.

By Al Felder Children need to learn that choices have consequences. This lesson must begin early because it shapes the way a child thinks about obedience, sin, responsibility, repentance, work, relationships, worship, and eternity. A child who does not understand consequences may grow careless, excuse-driven, rebellious, and unprepared for life before God. Many children want freedom without responsibility. They want the right to choose without accepting the results of those c

By Al Felder Children need to learn to love the truth. It is one thing to know the truth. It is another thing to love it. A child may learn Bible facts, memorize verses, answer questions correctly, and repeat what his parents have taught, yet still not develop a heart that truly loves what God has revealed. Parents must aim deeper than information. The goal is not merely for children to know what is right, but to desire what is right. They must learn to value truth more than

By Al Felder Children need to learn about salvation; no subject is more important. Parents may teach their children to work, obey, tell the truth, choose good friends, show kindness, handle correction, and live responsibly. All of those lessons matter, but if children do not learn the gospel of Christ, they have missed the greatest lesson of all. Salvation is not a family tradition. It is not inherited from parents. It is not received because a child grows up around Christian

By Al Felder Children need to learn the truth about death and judgment. This subject must be handled with wisdom, tenderness, and age-appropriate care. Parents should not try to frighten young children unnecessarily or burden them with matters beyond their understanding, but neither should they hide from them one of the most certain truths of life: every person will die, and every soul will stand before God. Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but

By Al Felder Children need to learn that God’s people must be different from the world. This does not mean they should be rude, proud, strange for the sake of being strange, or hateful toward others. Christians are to be kind, compassionate, honest, respectful, and willing to do good, but they must not blend in with a world that rejects God’s authority, excuses sin, mocks holiness, and follows human desire. Parents must teach children early that following God will sometimes m

By Al Felder Children need to learn to serve others. A child naturally sees life through his own wants, needs, feelings, and desires. He notices when he is hungry, tired, bored, disappointed, left out, or treated unfairly, but he must be taught to notice the needs of others. He must learn that life is not only about being served, entertained, protected, and provided for. He must learn to help, give, encourage, work, sacrifice, and think beyond himself. Service is not merely a

By Al Felder Children need to learn self-control. Self-control is the ability to govern desires, words, emotions, actions, appetites, and impulses according to what is right. It teaches a child that he does not have to obey every feeling, say every thought, satisfy every desire, or react to every irritation. Without self-control, a child may become ruled by anger, laziness, appetite, entertainment, impatience, selfishness, or pride. He may learn to do whatever he feels in the

By Al Felder Children need to learn how to handle correction. No child grows in wisdom without instruction, warning, discipline, and reproof. Correction is not pleasant in the moment, but it is necessary. A child who cannot receive correction will struggle in the home, in school, in work, in marriage, in the church, and most importantly, before God. The Bible says, “Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid” (Proverbs 12:1). That is plai

By Al Felder Children need to learn God’s design for marriage and the home. They are growing up in a world that is deeply confused about marriage, family, male and female, commitment, purity, authority, and love. Many people treat marriage as temporary, redefine it according to culture, enter it casually, leave it carelessly, or reject God’s order altogether. Parents must teach their children better. Marriage is not man’s invention. The home is not a social experiment. Male a

By Al Felder Children need to learn to guard their hearts. The heart is where thoughts, desires, motives, attitudes, choices, and character begin to form. A child’s outward behavior matters, but outward behavior grows from something deeper. What a child loves, listens to, thinks about, envies, fears, excuses, and desires will shape the direction of his life. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” That is a powerful l

By Al Felder Children need to learn how to choose good friends. Friendship is powerful. The people children spend time with can shape their speech, attitudes, habits, interests, values, and spiritual direction. A friend can encourage what is right, or make wrong seem normal. A friend can strengthen reverence for God, or slowly weaken it. A friend can help a child walk wisely, or lead him into foolishness. Parents must not treat friendships as spiritually neutral. Children may

By Al Felder Children need to learn what the church is. Many people grow up thinking of the church as a building, a denomination, a social organization, a family tradition, or a place people attend when convenient. Others speak of “choosing a church” as if the church belongs to man and can be shaped by personal preference. Parents must teach their children something better. The church belongs to Christ. Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18). That statement is i

By Al Felder Children need to learn gratitude. Gratitude is more than saying “thank you,” though children should certainly be taught to say it. Gratitude is a way of seeing life. It recognizes that blessings are received, not owed. It teaches children to notice goodness, acknowledge dependence, honor those who give, and thank God as the giver of every good thing. Without gratitude, children may become entitled. They may receive food, clothing, shelter, help, gifts, correction