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Amen, all right, so we're continuing our defining direction series with our second second sermon in that series tonight. So this series is about defining direction for your children but let me give you a little bit of just kind of an explanation of the series a little bit and my thoughts on the series. First of all, it doesn't just apply to you if you have children. I mean, the Bible applies to everybody so everybody can take application from the sermons. But the main, you know, we talked about in the first sermon, this is gonna be a three part series. We talked about, you know, defining common sense for your children. It's not something that's a given that they're just gonna know the Bible and how to apply the Bible to their life and in real life situations. That's something that needs to be taught. They need to see it demonstrated throughout their life in order for them to be able to apply it themselves. The second sermon tonight is gonna be on defining character for your children and defining character. And then the third sermon will be a very specific sermon so the first and third sermons are gonna be very specific sermons. The second sermon, there is 20 different character traits that we can talk about as far as character traits that your children need to have. So what I'm gonna do is we're gonna preach a specific sermon on a character trait this evening and then what we're gonna do is that'll be a random sermon series that pops up every now and then, just defining direction, character will just pop up kind of like random characters in the Bible. So I reserve the right to revisit this for the next several years, okay? So there was no way I could just choose, I mean I can't preach on character in one sermon. It's impossible. So we're gonna talk about a specific character trait this evening and then we will talk about this. This will become another random, I'm trying to keep things exciting. I mean it's gotta be boring listening to the same person over and over and over again. So I'm trying to keep things exciting. So this will be another random sermon series that pops up. But for now we're gonna do a three part series and we're gonna talk about a specific character trait that I'll get to in a minute. But first of all, as we look at this second sermon in the series of defining character for your children, look the whole premise is this. You are going to define everything for your kids and it's not something that we're supposed to do, let other people handle like the world is doing. We're not supposed to put them in daycare, in public school. Basically you're just pawning off that responsibility to others and other people, this world, are gonna define the direction for your children. And that's not what the Bible says that we are supposed to do. We are supposed to define that direction for them. So when we talk about character and defining your children's character, because look, if you think about what made you what you are today, your parents, whether you like it or not, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, had a heavy hand in that influence. So what is character? What is this thing that we're talking about? The definition from the dictionary is this. The mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. Now character is, so it's basically the moral makeup of a person, their mental makeup. The scary thing about character, and you'll see this as you get older, you'll see this demonstrated again and again and again, but the scary thing about character is that by the time you reach adulthood, by the time your children get to be 20, 25, 30 years old and they become mature adults, this is something that is very difficult to change. So it's very important that it has gotten right, that it gets right, according to the Bible, up front. All right, now, even secular studies will show this. Let me read you a quote. It was in 1890 that the theory was first brought to public attention, this is the theory that character traits are set as you reach a certain age. It was 1890 that the theory was brought to public attention with Harvard psychologist William James' text, The Principles of Psychology. In most of us by the age of 30, the character has set like plaster and will never soften again. That's a secular psychologist that writes that. So he's saying, and studies have shown, that character, your moral traits, you know, the things that make up your moral mental person are set in stone by the time you are 30. Turn to Romans chapter six. Now, the Bible of course disagrees with this, and it's, you know, the Bible, it does say, you know, that you are able to change, okay? Thank God for that. Look at Romans chapter six and verse number 17, and I know we studied Romans chapter six and we talked about this extensively, but this is somewhere where psychology, secular psychology and the Bible do differ. They part ways, however, let me just explain it, look at Romans six and verse number 17. The Bible says, but God be thanked. I find it interesting that he says it that way. God be thanked, because here he's saying that, you know, he's gonna explain something that, you know, goes against maybe what most people think. He's like, so God be thanked that it's this way, is what he's saying. He says, but God be thanked that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you, or delivered you. Being then made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness. Philippians 4, 13, I'll just read for you, says I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. So the Bible teaches, look, the Bible teaches this. The Bible teaches, and we studied it extensively in Romans chapter six, that once you're saved, you are no longer a servant to sin. You're a servant to righteousness. But then on the other flip side of that, Paul goes into detail and depth on the fact that we will always have this flesh, that we will always be at war with this flesh. But we don't have to be servants to sin. If we go and we continue in sin, which we should, should is the key word there, should not do after we are saved, we are choosing to enslave ourselves in that again. That's our choice to put ourselves in that. We can overcome that. I'm not saying you can become sinless. What I'm saying is you can overcome the sins in your life. When you're 30 years old and you get saved when you're 35, and you know, you can change. You can change your character. Now, I will say this. There is truth to what the psychologists have found with all the studies because a lot of people don't. It's difficult to do. So when you get set in stone in your character by the time you're 30, it is difficult, even after you get saved, to change character traits. It's possible, and I've seen it happen, but it is more likely than not in my experience that your character is set, is set by the time you're a certain age. Now look, I hope that everybody would change once they got saved and they realize they have some character flaws, but the majority of people have a hard time with it. And it's because of the fact that character is built in you early, which is why we're talking about it today. This is why, I mean look, this is why you'll meet saved people in your life that have serious character flaws. I mean, you will meet those people, all right? And you know, who still and maybe always will have those flaws with them, you know? Which is why the sermon from this morning is important that you're forgiving to your brother, right? Because being saved is no guarantee of good character. It is that person's individual choice, once they get saved, getting saved had nothing to do with works, it had to do with what they believed, it had to do with what they trusted in. It's up to them at that point to love God and follow His commandments, to go and change their life. We don't believe in lordship salvation here. But we believe that you should change your life. You should talk to somebody after you give them the gospel and they get saved and talk to them about, just for a few minutes please, about changing your life. And hey, how do you want to do something with this one life that you have? Because it's really about this one life, right? It's about this one life that God has given you. I ask people, how many lives do you have? I've never had someone say more than one. You have one life, do you want to waste it? I've never had anyone say yes, I want to waste it. Even the kid yesterday with the video game controller in his hand the whole time. But hopefully, you know, he won't waste his life. But he might! You see? That's a character flaw. If that saved individual chooses to waste his whole life, that's a character flaw. And you'll see it, okay? But today we're gonna talk about defining character. And one specific trait that I'm going to talk about this morning is defining empathy in your children. Defining empathy in your children. There's lots of different topics that we could talk about to define in your children. Turn back to 1 Samuel chapter one, please. 1 Samuel chapter one. So we have a story in 1 Samuel chapter one about someone who has zero empathy. Look at 1 Samuel chapter one and verse number six. We're gonna see this evening the importance of empathy in children, but I wanted to first just give you kind of a preface on how important it is that you define it early. Because we're gonna see what you will end up with if you don't define it early. Look at 1 Samuel chapter one and verse number six. And her adversary also provoked her sore for to make her fret. That means she was just harassing her and making her cry because the Lord had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, and she went up to the house of the Lord so she provoked her so this went on for years. Therefore she wept and did not eat. Then said Elkanah, her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And why is thy heart grieved? For I am not better to thee than 10 sons. So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon the seat of the post of the temple of the Lord and she was in bitterness of soul. Her soul was just crushed over this and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. This woman is being made miserable. She is being made miserable. So Elkanah is this man who has two wives. Okay and by the way, just a side note, this never works well, okay, in the Bible. All right, so you think okay, does the Bible, you know, the Bible tells you, told these men, told these kings to not multiply wives. They went and did it anyway. And it just, this is just a side note, not the sermon, but it just never works out well. This is just another example. Okay, I mean just men, just think about the last time that your wife wasn't happy with you. And just think about it being like that all the time. Because that's how it is if you would have multiple wives in the Bible. I mean, Ecclesiastes 7, Solomon said, "'One man in a thousand I have found, "'but I have not found.' "'He never had a good relationship with a woman.' Or at the end of his life, he never found that, right? Or he had it early, he lost it. But you know, do you think that the fact that he had hundreds of wives had something to do with it? I mean, so it just never works out well. So that's just a polygamy note right there, okay? But look up at verse two of 1 Samuel chapter one. And the Bible says, "'And he had two wives, and the one was Hannah, "'and the name of the other, Penanah.' "'And Penanah had children, but Hannah had no children.'" So here you have, turn to Genesis 37, look at another example. But here you have this woman who has children. So he has two wives. One of the women, one of the wives, Penanah, has many children. And the other has none, and she is very upset about that. I mean, this is a very, you know, look, this is one of the sorest subjects. You know, if a family or a woman does not have children, this is a very sore subject. You should not go up to a married couple that does not have children and say, "'Why didn't you have kids?' "'You should never do that.'" It's a very sore subject in general. And here you had a woman, not only was she the second wife, which is a terrible situation to be in, but this one is not able to have children, this one is able to give her husband children, and she's just beating on the one over this very sore issue. It's a terrible thing. I mean, this is a nasty person, this Penanah, okay? Let's look at another example of zero empathy in the Bible. Look at Genesis 37, look at verse number 18. This is the story of Joseph and his loving family, his brothers, okay? Look at verse number 18. "'And when they saw him afar off, "'even before he came near unto them, "'they conspired against him to slay him. "'And they said one another, "'Behold, this dreamer cometh. "'Now therefore, and let us, come now therefore, "'and let us slay him and cast him into some pit, "'and we will say some evil beast hath devoured him, "'and we shall see what will become of his dreams.' "'And Reuben heard it and delivered him out of their hands "'and said, let us not kill him.' "'In verse 22, Reuben said unto them, "'shed no blood, but cast him into this pit "'that is in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him "'that he might rid him out of their hands "'to deliver him to his father again.'" So Reuben is kind of, you know, this is the highlight of Reuben's life right here, according to the Bible. Reuben's like, hey, just put him in the pit, and he's like, I'm gonna come back later, and I'll save him. Verse 23, "'And it came to pass, "'when Joseph was come unto his brethren, "'that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, "'his coat of many colors that was on him, "'and they took him and cast him into a pit.'" I mean, this is their brother. "'And the pit was empty, there was no water in it, "'and they sat down to eat bread, "'and they lifted up their eyes and looked, "'and behold, a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead "'with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrhe, "'going to carry it down to Egypt. "'And Judah said unto his brethren, "'what profit is it if we slay our brother "'and conceal his blood? "'Come, let us sell him unto the Ishmaelites, "'and let not our hand be upon him, "'for he is our brother and our flesh.' "'And his brethren were content. "'Then were passed by media knights, merchantmen, "'and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, "'and sold Joseph unto the Ishmaelites "'for 20 pieces of silver, "'and they brought Joseph into Egypt. "'And Reuben returned to the pit, "'and behold, Joseph was not in the pit, "'and he rent his clothes. "'And he returned unto his brethren and said, "'The child is not, and whither shall I go?'" So he obviously wasn't there when they were, you know, deciding to sell him, because he was planning on going to get him. And they took Joseph's coat, killed a kid of the goats and dipped the coat in the blood, and they said, sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father and said, "'This have we found. "'Now know whether it be thy son's coat or no.'" So, you know, this is the highlight of Reuben's poor life right here, is he tries to at least save his brother, but his brothers have no empathy. I mean, here it's like they're gonna commit premeditated, you know, murder against their brother, right? Because, you know, he was just, maybe they thought that he was a little prideful. I mean, these are men who, they're ruthless. I mean, these were ruthless men, zero empathy at all. All right? So we see Peninnah and we see Joseph's brothers, Jacob's sons, as great examples of not having any empathy. So what is empathy? The actual definition of empathy is this. The ability to understand and share the feelings of another. So Peninnah clearly did not have the ability to share the feelings of Hannah, and Joseph's brothers clearly did not have the ability to share the feelings of their brother, because they just didn't care, right? But notice that it says the ability. The ability, this implies that empathy can be learned. It's something that is learned. People that have no empathy just do not know how to share the feelings or see the feelings of other people, all right? Turn to Matthew chapter 22. Let's look at the importance of teaching empathy early. Turn to Matthew chapter 22, and this kind of just tacks onto some things that we talked about this morning. Look at Matthew chapter 22 in verse number 36. The Bible says, Master, which is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, that we love God. And the second is like unto it, that thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. So Jesus is teaching on loving your neighbor here. I mean, it's a heavy emphasis on the point where he basically says, on loving God and loving your neighbor, the whole law fits under these categories. You know, when you think about don't steal, all these different things, don't lie, all these different commandments in the Bible, the hundreds of commandments in the Bible, all of them fit under those two main categories, either loving God or loving your neighbor. So it's a big deal to love your neighbor. So empathy, being able to put yourself in somebody else's shoes and understand the feelings of other people is a good prerequisite in loving your neighbor, all right? So how do you instill empathy? Let's go back to the definition. The ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Being able to, basically being able to identify personally with other people's struggles. Having that ability. So these are people that have gone through hard times and struggles. So typically people you will find that have gone through difficult things are much better at this in their life. You will find that again and again. Because look, it's easy, if you've struggled in your life and you've gone through certain specific things, you are gonna notice that when other people are going through it and then you will remember how that time was for you. Look back at 1 Samuel chapter one. Think of Penana. Think of Penana. Did she have the struggles that Hannah had? She did not. She did not have these struggles. She did not identify with Hannah's pain. And in 1 Samuel chapter four it says, And when the time that was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Penana his wife and to all her sons and daughters portion. This woman had many children, sons and daughters. This is why she did not identify with it and that made her a non-empathetic person. She didn't have the ability and she became, it took root in her and she became this nasty person to Hannah. I mean, this is why some of the greatest, you know, this is why the meek are put forth so strongly by Jesus in such a positive light. Some of the greatest people you will meet are the meek. I mean, a good friend of mine from Sacramento. I mean, he's one of the most empathetic person, people that I've ever met. But he's gone through great struggles in his life. So he understands, I mean, he'll text me randomly even after I've moved here like, hey, say happy birthday to Jacob. And I'm just like, man, he knew Jacob's birthday? But he's very empathetic towards other people because of the fact that he's had some struggles and that has instilled a great character trait in him of being empathetic. You know, so he's had some difficulties and that, you know, that built his character in many ways. So let's look at the results of not having empathy. We've kind of already looked at the preview there, but basically this is where your bullies come from. You know, you think about Penana. Penana was basically, you know, a bully to Hannah. You know, Joseph's brothers were the worst kind of bullies. And look, you will find throughout your life, you will find Christian parents out there raising, look, this is a problem because you will find Christian parents out there who they're saved, the children might be saved, but they're raising those kids to have zero empathy. They're raising a bunch of nasty little bullies. You will find that. Penana, it started when she didn't have those struggles. That's where it started, that's where the seed was planted. And you know, what did it turn into? Look at who she is now. Look at who she was in the Bible. A very nasty person. So maybe, just maybe, it's not the worst thing in the world if your kids have some struggles in their life. You know, we see that she didn't identify at all with Hannah's struggles. And she eventually just lost the ability to identify with anyone else's pain. She's just a nasty person, same with Joseph's brothers. So look, if left unchecked, they were gonna murder him, themselves. So we see that you can find nastiness in saved people. You will find that. I mean, think of this morning, you know, we talked about reprobates a little bit this morning. We're talking about empathy and the lack of empathy. You know, one thing is, I was talking with my wife about this, on the reprobate doctrine. And as far as it applies to empathy and identifying, if look, if you over-reprobate people, you might have an empathy problem. All right, if you're just reprobating people constantly. I mean, if you're the kind of person that's like, look, and I've heard this many times, like, I don't know, I've given the gospel to them three times, I think they might be a reprobate. Just, here's a sound check for you on that. All right, turn to Psalm 139. But here's a sound check. This is someone, a reprobate is someone who the Lord has given up on. So just think about this. Look at Psalm 139, verse 21 and 22. The Bible says, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred. Look, here's a sound check for you on reprobates. When you think someone might be a reprobate, just think, would I rejoice in their death? Would I rejoice in their death? Think about that. Because that's where the reprobate is. I remember there was a story, this story defined much of my childhood. There was a situation in Minnesota one year where these three boys, two brothers and their friend, were riding bike home from this rural Minnesota town. I mean, it was such a huge story in North Dakota and Minnesota, because stuff like this doesn't happen there. But it happens everywhere, unfortunately. And one of these, some sodomite reprobate kidnapped one of these kids, and he was never seen again. And for like 25 years, it was milk cartons, nobody knew what happened to this boy. And 25, it was decades later, I can't even remember, it was decades later, it happened in 1989. And just recently in the last few years, they found the guy. And he had killed him, he'd killed this boy. And they found him and they got him, because the statute of limitations was up on the case, and they got him, and they got him for something else where they were able to put him away for life, hopefully, but not even for that crime, I don't think. And I just remember my wife had said this about that situation, she just said, I'm glad there's a hell. Because we're not able to execute him, but she said, you know what, I'm glad there's a hell. That's reprobate stuff. Okay, so that's who those people are, and that's who we know are reprobates, right? So just check yourself there, would I rejoice in their death and eternal sentence in hell? When it comes to that guy, you bet. You bet. So, let's talk about, let's get back to teaching empathy. Teaching empathy. Kids, look, kids need to learn to identify with other people's struggles, and they can identify, turn to Romans chapter five, they can identify with those struggles by having some struggles themselves. Look at Romans chapter five. One of my favorite passages in the Bible right here, where the Bible says in Romans five, in verse number three, and not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience. This works for kids too. This works for kids. And patience, what, experience. And experience, hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. Look, struggles are good for your kids in many ways. I'm not talking about throwing them to the wolves. I'm talking about giving your kids some challenges in front of them, not doing everything for them, okay? They'll learn to identify struggles that they see from other people. Look, you, as you struggle in your life, should take whatever struggles that you go through personally in your life, and try to learn whatever you can from those things. I remember we had, a while back, we had one of our kids was going through some health problems that were fairly serious, and I decided that while that was going on, I was gonna keep a running list of just takeaways from this situation. It went on for months. So I just kept a list, I have a file of all the things that is a takeaway, and most of those things are for me personally, that I will never share with people, but I just wanted to make sure that through that situation that I was learning some things, but you know what? One thing that I took away from that is I started really seeing that situation with other people that I normally just didn't even see. I mean, I started seeing people that had children that had health issues more serious than, much more serious than ours that we were going through, and I was like, man, you know what? This is one of the biggest takeaways for me, by the way. I was like, you know what? I didn't even notice those people before. I didn't even pay attention to them, or ask about their daughter, or ask about what's going on, or ask, I knew about it because it was announced and it was in prayer sheets, but you know what? I never really listened to it. That was one of my main takeaways, and I think that's one of the things that the Lord was really showing me through that struggle that we went through, was to have that empathy for other people. Look, don't make God have to bring you into a bad situation to get you to notice things other people are going through, just on a general level, and you should teach that to your kids early. Tribulation is good for your character. Think about small things with your kids, teaching them to do chores, to accomplish things, to struggle with things that are a little bit hard at first. Dads, take charge here. I mean, remember Ecclesiastes 5, the poor and wise child? You know, it doesn't say the rich kid. You know, it was the rich king. Let them struggle through some challenges, and then as they grow, make the challenges a little bit harder and a little bit more complex, and help them get through those things. Look, for people with older children who are struggling, who haven't been taught these things, you know, there may come a time when they just need to fly on their own, and they need to fall on their face on their own. And now this is, you know, this is Jared's opinion land here, but as far as my daughter and my sons, there will be a difference there, and let me just tell you what my thoughts are on that. My daughter will live with me until she's married, and I will take care of her until she's married, no matter what, because that's my job as her father. My sons, you know, hopefully they will grow to be responsible, hardworking young men, and they will get married, and then they will move from my house to their place with their wife, and they will go from my house to their wife. But look, if my kids are 30 years old, my boys are 30, you know, they're gonna go out on their own, and I'm gonna live with Mommy and Daddy until they're, you know, 30 years old. It's just not, that's not how it's gonna go. At some point, they need to start walking on their own. And that's how I'm gonna do it, but look, a child, and here's why, a child whose mommy has done everything for them their whole life will grow to become a penina. They will not, they've not gone through any struggles. They've not had to do anything themself. They've not had to, you know, go through those things, and they will have no empathy if they've not learned to struggle and see the struggles of others. You know, they need to also appreciate what they have with their siblings. Here's a sound check for you as well. You need to watch how your kids are treating their brothers and sisters. Because if there's problems that are arising there, that will show you that you have a problem with their character, especially in the area of empathy. If your kids are nasty to each other, and I mean, turn back to Genesis 37. I mean, think of Jacob's sons. You think Jacob was a good father? Genesis 37, look at verse number 19. Look at how they talked about their brother. And they said one to another, behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore and let us slay him and cast him into some pit, and we will say some evil beast had devoured him, we shall see what will become of his dreams. So not only are they gonna kill him, but they're like, yeah, we'll see about his dreams that he talked to us about. They hate him. These are not, I mean, Jacob has not done a good job raising these kids. Turn to Genesis 47. You say, I can't believe you're talking about Jacob that way. Well, look, Jacob knew this. Jacob did not have a great life, and he never said that he did. Look at verse number, Genesis 47, verse number seven. At the end of Jacob's life, when he's standing in front of Pharaoh, look what Jacob says to Pharaoh. Verse seven, and Joseph brought in Jacob his father. This is after everything has happened. And said him before Pharaoh, and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, how old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, the days of the years of my pilgrimage are in 130 years. And he said, few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. He's saying, my life has been not great. And how his sons turned out, I'm sure, I mean, look, how your children turn out will define, like, look, adults, parents, how your children turn out, their character, what they do with their life, will define what you think of your life when you're 100 years old, or 90 years old. If you have, you know, if you're 90 years old, and your kids are a bunch of Peninnas and Joseph's brothers, you're gonna say that your life has been terrible. I don't care how many boats you have, or how many cars you have, or how many houses you have, you're gonna look on that and you're gonna say, you know what, that's not, this has not gone well, how your children turn out. So look, it's a big deal. So it's a measuring stick. A measuring stick is how your children treat each other. Look, I know 60, 70 year old kids, listen, I know 60 and 70 year old people who have resentment towards their brothers and sisters on how they were treated when they were 10. And you know it's true. So this is a measuring stick, parents, if you see something like this happening, you see your kids acting nasty to each other, you knock that down right away. And you start teaching empathy, and you start giving them some struggles to go through. And you start teaching them that, you know what, other people struggle. And you teach them to love their neighbor, which is their brother and sister. And you know what, point out, here's another thing. You know, hopefully your child never gets cancer, or some horrible thing that will make them this super empathetic person in their life. But you know what, when people go through those things, point that out to your kids. Point out a family that is struggling with something serious that, God willing, you never have to deal with. Point that out to your kids. You know what, their child may die, their child is seriously ill, we need to do this, we need to show them love, we need to support them. You need to talk about these things and point these things out to your kids. So, you know, Lord willing, God never has to put you through something like that, where you can still learn this character trait of empathy. You see? And you know what, repetition works for kids. Some of the things that really instill deeply in me, my dad said to me again and again and again and again and again to the point where I'm like, ugh. But now it's made me who I am. Repeat things to your kids. Again and again and again. To the point where they're just like, oh dad, again, I don't even care how annoyed my kids ever are with me. Certain things I will just keep saying to them. So teach them to notice the struggles of others. Because, you know what, with your kids, and this is a pretty simple message this evening, with your kids, it starts out with that, you know what, it starts out early. It starts out, I'm shocked again and again on how parents don't see this with their own kids. Don't be this, look, if you are this parent who are like, my kid is just the smartest and my kid is this and my kid is that, and you're gonna ruin your kids. You will ruin them. You have fun being prideful right now, but you will ruin that child. Because guess what, they hear you saying that too. They hear you talking them up constantly, building them up with pride, and you know what, you're gonna raise a nasty little bully, is what you're gonna raise. You're gonna raise a nasty little five year old, yeah, it starts that early. You're gonna raise a nasty little four year old who's got zero empathy for his brothers and sisters and his friends and his brothers and sisters in Christ, and then you know what, you're gonna end up with a penana, is what you're gonna end up with. That's what it will manifest into. So it's a big deal. You have to let your kids struggle, let your kid, put some designed struggles in front of your children, and let them accomplish some things. Let them realize that things are hard. Design some safe, nice struggles for your five year old, your six year old, your seven year old, and then constantly be pointing out other people's struggles. Constantly be talking about, don't spread bitterness to them, that'll make it even worse, but constantly be talking with your spouse in front of your children about how empathetic you are. Show them how empathetic you are by talking in an empathetic way and noticing the struggles of other people, and then you will end up with a child who has the character trait of being an empathetic adult. Because look, you get to be 30, 35 years old and you have zero empathy, it's gonna be difficult even if they're saved to learn that. And then you have a nasty person, and it doesn't mean they won't be saved. I mean think of it, you can get saved when you're seven, eight years old, maybe younger, I don't know, but you can get saved at a young age and then just have horrible character traits develop in you. And then just become a nasty person. I don't know if Pennina was saved or not, but it's very possible, I mean, very possible she was. Very probable she was in this situation. So look, empathy, it's a big deal. We don't wanna raise Penninas, we don't wanna raise Joseph's brothers and sisters, we need to teach our children to identify with the struggles of others. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Your Heavenly Father, we thank you for today, we thank you for these stories in the Bible that we can learn from. We thank you for just allowing us to be in the house of God today, Lord. We just thank you for just keeping everyone in here safe through all this weird situation. And Lord, we ask that you continue to keep this church just in your hand, and as we continue for the next several weeks, well, we'll always continue, Lord, but just keep your eyes on this situation and your hand on this situation, Lord. We love you, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.