God has given fathers unique duties that they can't pass off to anyone else—not even the Church. In this DA+3 Group Guide, Seth Dahl encourages fathers to step up to the plate in the spiritual formation of their kids. You'll be challenged to avoid false comforts, pay attention to your thoughts, and discover what brings you joy. 

  Key Takeaways

 

• Children are Arrows: Parents are responsible for shaping children into arrows that can take out the enemy. 
• Misinterpretation of Thoughts: Discern where your thoughts are coming from. 
• Avoid False Comforts: Be intentional about where you seek comfort after a hard day.  
• Ask God for Help: Teach your kids to ask God for help since He is the only one who can guide and help us best. 
• Awareness of What Makes Me Come Alive: Your self-awareness, wife-awareness, and kid-awareness can bring life to your family. 

 

DA+3 Group Guide Discussion Questions:

 

1. Seth Dahl uses the analogy of a sporting goods store to explain how some parents shift the responsibility of spiritually sharpening their kids to the Church. Have you fallen into the same trap? 
2. Why is it important to view our children as arrows in relation to the Armor of God?
3. What stands out to you in 1 Corinthians 2:16?
4. How do you distinguish between thoughts from God, yourself, and the enemy?
5. After a tough day, what false comforts do you turn to (e.g., sugar, TV, alcohol)?
6. What changes when you turn to the true Comforter instead of false comforts?
7. Have you ever tried to save or rescue your kids, putting yourself in the "God" spot?
8. How do you teach your kids to ask God for help when they face challenges?
9. What are three things that make you feel more alive?
10. Have you discovered what brings joy to your wife and kids?

 

Seth Dahl

 

With over 15 years of experience working with children and being a children's pastor, Seth Dahl has cultivated a passion for helping parents create a thriving family culture at home. Seth, Lauren, and their three children homestead with a large garden and a handful of animals on a small farm in Texas.

  Key Quotes

 

• 3:25 - "If we don't learn to work with our children when it comes to the things of the kingdom, we actually limit our ability to fight, our ability to win, our ability to take dominion, and our ability to extend the kingdom to the earth. [When we do this we] hide our children in the quiver. If we just protect our kids from the big bad world and we don't get them out, we don't let them loose, obviously carefully, obviously focused and aimed and wisely. If we don't get them out they're going to struggle because arrows are not meant to sit in the quiver, arrows are meant to fly and strike the enemy. If we don't get our kids out and let them do that, we're actually preventing them from operating in the God given identity that they've been called to. We're just protecting, protecting, protecting instead of preparing and releasing and aiming."
• 7:12 - "Sometimes we have to be introspective and prayerful around where is this thought coming from? Sometimes that thought is a lie from the enemy. Sometimes that thought is just your own thought. Guys, I just want to encourage you to really think into and pray into, what is my thought life? Are my thoughts from heaven or my thoughts destructive thoughts from the accuser? Our thought life matters."

  Links from Today’s Conversation

 

• 137 | Spirit-Filled Parenting, Hearing God's Voice, & Shaping our Kids as Arrows (Seth Dahl)
• SUMMER SALE in the DadAwesome Store: Get 20% off when you use the code “tanktop”

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