Teaching Kids About Value-Based Friendships - Ep 320 Artwork

Rock Solid Families

Rock Solid Families is committed to helping educate, equip, and empower families to be all God created them to be! Merrill and Linda Hutchinson began Rock Solid Families in October of 2018. They have over 60 years of combined experience in teaching, public speaking, counseling, ministry, and coaching. After much prayer, Merrill and Linda made the decision to step down from their full time positions in the church and public school to focus on strengthening families. Both believe that healthy schools, churches, and communities depend on strong and healthy families. This weekly podcast is made possible through the generous financial support of community partners. With the help of local sponsors and the word spreading through listeners like you, Rock Solid Families is helping to build stronger communities one family at a time!

All Episodes

Rock Solid Families

Teaching Kids About Value-Based Friendships - Ep 320

January 21, 2025 • Rock Solid Families

Outside of family, friends are likely to be your most important relationships you will ever have outside of God.

We are not made to go it alone. Lone Wolves don’t last long.
But, developing your wolf - pack is not something to be taken lightly.
Even though the desire for friendship is innate, the manner by which we go about it is learned and practiced.
Proverbs 22:24-25: "Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person, do not associate with one easily angered"

Advice -
Proverbs 12:26: "The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray"
Value Based Friendships vs Interest Based Friendships
Hanging around the kids on the soccer team because we all play soccer
Hanging around kids that are respectful and nice
Hanging around kids on the soccer team that are respectful and nice
Your child has to know their values - they will naturally know their interests.

Have you been intentionally teaching the values of your home?
Can your child tell you what the values of your home are?
How have you been demonstrating and reinforcing the family values?
Teaching your child to discern, not judge

1 Corinthians 15:33: "Bad company corrupts good character"
Encourage Inclusivity-teaching them to be kind and respectful to all kinds of people.
Model Healthy Relationships: Demonstrate respect, kindness, and conflict resolution in your own relationships.

Teaching boundaries that honor the family values and protect the people living for the values.
As the parent you can discuss the boundaries that you have placed in your own life in order to protect and live by a certain boundary.

Place boundaries on your kids if they are not following the family values when it comes to choosing friends. “Sorry, but you can’t play with that child because he behaves rudely.”

Know your kid’s friends and their families
We don’t just assume that everyone’s value system is like ours. Meet the families and friends
of your child.
Encourage Communication: Keep an open line of dialogue so your child feels safe sharing concerns about friends.
The teenage years take on a different look.
You will not be able to monitor every single interaction that your teenager has with another
person, and you shouldn’t.

You want to allow your teen to start to test their own skills and strength in building friends.
When they violate your family values, they should know that there will be consequences. As long as they are under your roof, your values must be respected and honored.

Proverbs 13:20: "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm"

For more information or help, reach out to https://rocksolidfamilies.org

Support the show

#Rocksolidfamilies, #familytherapy, #marriagecounseling, #parenting, #faithbasedcounseling, #counseling, #Strongdads, #coaching, #lifecoach, #lifecoaching, #marriagecoaching, #marriageandfamily, #control, #security, #respect, #affection, #love, #purpose, #faith, #affairs, #infidelity