DadAwesome 80 | Leading our Family with GENTLENESS (Matt Brown)
Jul 28, 2019
36:41
Episode 80 continues our nine-part series on the Fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. We get to hear from evangelist Matt Brown who reminds us about Gentleness: “The greatest joy we can experience in our life starts with how we treat our family.” Matt Brown is an evangelist, author, and founder of Think Eternity, a ministry dedicated to amplifying the gospel every day to millions through podcasts, devotionals, videos, live events and more. Matt and his wife Michelle and their three children live in Minnesota.
Conversation Notes- 2:30 - Introducing guest Matt Brown
- 6:45 - How having kids changed Matt’s understanding of the LOVE of our Heavenly Father
- 9:49 - "Part of spiritual maturity is understanding God's love and a deeper and greater way your life and in your walk"
- 10:03 - "that to me is what fatherhood is… it is a love and depth of love that goes beyond anything you can put into words."
- 11:13 - Most of our life is playing with Legos, Hot Wheels, and GI Joes… being a dad brings us back into the fun zone
- 11:45 - Matt reflects on the example of his dad in his life
- 13:38 - "Our kids aren't going to do what we tell them to do, so much as they do what WE do."
- 14:52 - "If we work too hard, if we are too driven, if we don't know what's driving us in our motives or in our desire to succeed and do well, sometimes that pace of life can lead to less peace and being more aggressive to people."
- 16:04 - "No Dad is perfect, but there is something really powerful about being willing to apologize and admit you are wrong, especially as a father… in a leadership role. It means more that way."
- 18:25 - Jeff talks about how we’re not after perfection, but we still are intentional to reflect our perfect Father to future generations
- 20:33 - Matt’s time-machine advice to his past self: enjoy the journey, capture the moments, and take care of yourself.
- 23:42 - Matt talks about how the fruit of the Spirit applies to dads
- 24:09 - “The fruit of the Spirit are so simple we almost forget about them, but it is so important as believers that we come back to the basics.”
- 25:04 - “Focus on starting with your own home … because true success is when people who know you the best respect you the most.”
- 25:23 - “The greatest joy we can experience in our life starts with how we treat our family.”
- 25:47 - Matt on gentleness
- 27:38 - “What is it like to be on the other side of your leadership?”
- 27:45 - “A lot of times we carry more authority and more weight, and so when we say things that are a little bit intense it comes off as ten times as intense… It is so important to be gentle.”
- 28:08 - “[Gentleness] is one of the things God works in your life when you’re truly getting closer to Him… and submit to the Lord. It is not our natural flesh response. It is something the Bible calls us to work towards… not just hope it happens. Work towards being gentle with others starting with our kids.”
- 29:02 - “The way you live you live your life not only affects you, it affects your children and their children and generations to come. You are setting the pace right now with how you’re faithful in the little things that has a ripple effect that you won’t even realize until eternity.”
- 29:34 - Matt’s thoughts on prayer
- 30:10 - “Only you can pray a father prayer over your children”
- 30:32 - Themes Matt prays over his children:
- Be people of the fruit of the Spirit
- Be people of wisdom
- Know the joy of knowing the Lord
- Be humble servants
- Be generous serving others
- Spend their life pursuing the Lord
- 31:20 - “We want to teach our kids truth, but we also want to live it out in front of them (so it is caught more than taught). But there is also some things only prayer can do.”
- 32:28 - Matt’s closing prayer
Book: Truth Plus Love