Christmas Communication 3

Since Christmas is next week and we’ll be gathering with family and friends, we’re looking all week at what Doctor Wayne Mack calls “circuit jammers to family communication,” in his helpful book, “Your Family God’s Way.” Dr. Mack warns against the dangerous practice of using verbal manipulation. Because we are older and more experienced than our children, it’s often easy for us to enlist verbal attempt to control, manipulate, or punish our children. For example, what message are you sending to your children if you tell them, “You’ll be the death of me yet?” Or what happens when in a fit of anger we burst out with hurtful words like “I wish you had never been born.” Or what about a simple blanket statement such as “You’re just no good.” Unless you’ve been on the receiving end of verbal manipulation, you just can’t imagine how deeply it cuts and how it not only crushes our kids, but destroys our relationships. Parents, what messages are you sending to your kids?