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Do you live life sensibly and carefully? Or are you someone who lives with great enjoyment, unafraid to take risks? It’s never too late to live life to its fullest.

Our earliest childhood interactions will shape how we connect and communicate with each other as adults. Based on the book How We Love, Milan and Kay Yerkovich and Marc and Amy Cameron help couples discover their love or attachment styles, which shape behaviors, beliefs and expectations within marriage. The five love styles they describe are: secure connector, avoider, pleaser, vacillator, and chaotic (controller and victim).

When your grown kids’ choices tighten your chest and every instinct says step in, this conversation offers a gentler way. On FamilyLife Today, Dave and Ann Wilson sit down with Kevin A. Thompson, pastor and author of Stay in Your Lane: Worry Less, Love More, and Get Things Done. He shares a hopeful path — where influence replaces control, love breathes again, and God holds what you can’t. It’s a freeing, real-world guide for parents learning to release without retreating.

Thanks for tuning into FamilyLife today. If you heard us on your local radio station, don’t worry you have found that same programming here in a full length episode.

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I don't like to perform a wedding unless I can first have several premarital counseling sessions with the couple. I remember when I told my youngest son (he was very young at that time) that I was going to be performing a wedding ceremony for one of the women on our staff. But the way I said it was this: "Hey, guess what? I'm going to be marrying Margaret." He burst into tears. He said, "What about Mommy?"

So I've cleaned up my vocabulary a little bit, but I won't perform a wedding unless I can first counsel that couple. I'll tell you why. You need to get some of the stars out of their eyes. "I love him!" "I love her!" Well, that's great, but most pre-married couples need an emotional optometrist who can help them take a little more honest look at this person that they really do love. So I try to give them some emotional glasses to see who is really there. I think those sessions are a "must" and in fact I even give some tests to show the differences in expectations and in their perceptions of each other. Why? Well, because of the truth of three time-tested words, "Love is (fill in the blank) blind." No it isn't! Not really.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Love Has X-Ray Vision."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Philippians 1:9-10. This is a great prayer here! In fact, I think it's a prayer we ought to just pray right out of scripture on behalf of some people we care about. Here it is: "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight." It doesn't sound like love is blind there, does it? "And I want to pray this so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ."

Now, the word that's used here is agape love. Of the several Greek words that could be used, this is the one for divine love; it's the highest form. He says, "I pray that your agape will abound more and more." And he said that agape love is insightful. It's not just blindly accepting of everything. This applies to all your relationships, not just romantic relationships.

Then he gives here some solid guidelines for all the important choices that you are making at this stage of your life. He says that this knowledgeable love will make you able to discern. It really means to test. Test what? Well, I want you to have the kind of love, God is saying here, that's able to check out what is best.

The Greek word that's used here is one that literally means to carry through. What's worth carrying through life? I want you to be able to discern that. It's often translated "more valuable" in the Bible. When you put it together it seems to say this, "Authentic love checks out every choice and chooses what's really worth the most."

That kind of thinking settled it for my oldest son one day when he was trying to spend all of his allowance on junk food at the store. But he didn't, and when he left he said, "Dad, I decided I'd spend on what lasts." That's what this is talking about. Some people have us believe that love is this syrupy, naive, acceptance of everyone and everything. But actually, that was pretty tough, because it keeps asking, "What's really best in this situation? What will last?" Not, "What's more comfortable, what's more fun, what's more acceptable, or what's more materially profitable?" No, what's more eternally valuable?

You can have that discernment in your daily choices the same way the first-century believers did. You've got to pray for it. Ask for it often. Like Superman, you can have x-ray vision, but to see the things that are really valuable. God can give you powerful inner eyes when you open up to His discerning love. When you have love, God's way, it's not blind - it has x-ray vision.

Read: Romans 5:8-15

Christmas was over, and Malachi and Nevaeh helped their parents remove the ornaments, lights, and strands of silver and purple garland from the Christmas tree branches. Soon the shimmering and festive tree looked bare except for the colorful tree skirt surrounding the tree stand.

“Hey,” Malachi called out. “Look at that!” He pointed to a small box wrapped in green and red paper peeking out from under a fold in the tree skirt.

“Where did that come from?” Mom asked as she bent down to pick up the box. “We must have missed this when we opened our gifts.” She held the box in her hands and looked for a name. “It’s for me! From Aunt Maddi,” she said in surprise. “I didn’t think she had sent anything this year, and here it was under the tree the whole time.”

Mom opened the gift and found a necklace and matching earrings. “They’re so pretty!” Nevaeh said as Mom held them up for everybody to see.

“Just think—Aunt Maddi’s gift was here all this time, but Mom couldn’t receive it because she didn’t know it was there,” Dad said. “It reminds me of another gift—God’s gift of salvation. It’s available to everyone, but many people don’t even know it’s there.”

Mom nodded. “It stays hidden until someone shows it to them—like you showed the package to me, Malachi.”

Nevaeh and Malachi thought about that. “So we need to show people God’s gift by telling them about Jesus,” Nevaeh said.

“And tell them that if they receive it, Jesus will forgive their sins and give them eternal life,” added Malachi.

“That’s right,” said Dad. “It’s an amazing gift! But they can’t receive it if they don’t know it’s there. That’s why we need to share it with others.” Dad motioned to the boxes of decorations. “Let’s see if each of us can come up with a person we can tell about God’s amazing gift by the time we finish putting this stuff away.”

–Richard S. Maffeo

How about you? Have you received God’s gift of salvation? (To learn more, go to Have You Heard the Good News?) It’s wonderful to know all the wrong things you’ve done have been forgiven and you have eternal life with Jesus. But many people don’t know this amazing gift exists. Think of someone you know who may not know about Jesus and the eternal life He offers. Then tell them about it! God may use you to help someone receive Jesus, the best gift of all.

Today's Key Verse: For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Today's Key Thought: Tell others about God’s gift

We are accountable to God for our freedom.

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During our church outreach in a nursing home, an elderly resident told me of how his daughter had driven him there years before and simply left him on the sidewalk. In his wheelchair, Ed couldn’t get up to run after her. She’d returned to the car without looking back and driven away. “We’re going to a nice hotel,” she’d said earlier. That day was the last time he saw her.

This clear case of abuse, vastly different from the many loving family experiences of eldercare, traumatized Ed. He still has nightmares about that day. 

Centuries ago, a young man also suffered trauma (Genesis 37:12-36). Joseph’s brothers threw him into a cistern and sold him to traders going to Egypt. But “the Lord was with Joseph” (39:2). In an unfamiliar land, as he courageously did what was right in God’s eyes, both in his master’s house (vv. 7-10) and in prison, Joseph realized that God “showed him his faithful love” (v. 21 nlt). Despite the trauma of his past, Joseph was able to succeed in whatever he did because God helped him (v. 23). Eventually, he became second-in-command to Pharaoh and raised a family of his own (41:41-52). Later, he even reconciled with his brothers (45:12-15).

People may hurt us, but God never will. Although He may help us heal in ways different from what He did for Joseph, He promises us His same faithful love. Let’s follow His leading as we trust Him to heal our hearts.

“Generous” might not be the first word that comes to mind when you think about pro athletes, but Kirk Cousins is rewriting that playbook. The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback in the NFL is using his platform —and resources—for eternal impact. On the next Faith & Finance Live with Rob West, Kirk Cousins explains how his faith shapes everything from football to finances. Then, it’s on to your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live —where biblical wisdom meets today’s finances, weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

Faith & Finance Live is a listener supported program on Moody Radio. To join our team of supporters, click here.

To support the ministry of FaithFi, click here.

To learn more about Rob West, click here.

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Our guest host today is Fortis Institute Fellow Dr. Greg Gifford from the Transformed podcast!

Segment 1

• AI chatbots now offer therapy, dating advice, and moral commentary.

• Christians need to sharpen discernment and develop a healthy skepticism of digital “truth.”

• Zuckerberg envisions a future where most of your “friends” are bots.

Segment 2

• Millions turn to AI bots due to loneliness, cost, or distrust in traditional therapy.

• AI therapy feels emotionally validating, but it’s really subjective.

• Some chat bots have already crossed lines with minors.

Segment 3

• Dr. Gifford’s chatbot told him to quit based on a venting session.

• Teens use amoral chatbots to guide them toward moral decisions.

• ChatGPT answered hot-button worldview questions with pre-loaded narratives with no commitment to actual truth.

Segment 4

• Seeking wisdom from chatbots replaces Christ’s body with code and undermines Christian community.

• AI gives advice that affirms what someone already believes.

• Christians must be radically discerning, especially for their kids.

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