Every man is tied to something.
The question is which direction it’s pulling him.
Scripture of the week
2 Corinthians 6:14. “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?”
This matters this week because whatever you’re yoked to is already deciding where you end up.
This week’s Daily Forged: Watch What You’re Tied To
A yoke joined two animals so they moved in the same direction. One couldn’t turn without dragging the other.
Paul uses that picture to warn men about partnerships that pull them away from God.
Hear what he’s not saying. He’s not telling you to avoid people who don’t believe. He already told you to take Christ’s message to them.
The warning is about who gets control.
Love everybody. You should. But be careful who gets to help steer your life.
Your business partner. Your closest friends. The voices you listen to most. If following Christ has become the compromise in that relationship, something’s backwards.
Ask yourself straight. Is there a relationship or partnership in your life pulling you away from Christ?
Podcast recap
This week we sat down with Juan Coppiano for an episode called Surrender to God to Become the Dad They Need.
Juan grew up in Ecuador and watched his parents’ marriage fall apart after his dad cheated. He carried that wound straight into his own marriage and his own fatherhood.
What changed it wasn’t willpower. It was counseling, and surrendering his mind, his will, and his emotions to the Lord.
He and his wife Sarah get into speaking identity over their kids, raising their son Levi through a genetic disorder, and why Juan chooses presence over performance when it comes to his phone.
One idea you won’t shake. Your past doesn’t have to parent your kids.
Follow Juan at @that.juan.dad.
This Week at Home
Your kids are yoked to you whether you like it or not. Where you go, they get pulled.
Tonight, put the phone in another room for one hour. Then tell each of your kids one specific thing you see God building in them. Not “good job.” Something true about who they are.
If your kids are grown, send it as a text. It still counts.
Challenge
Write down the three people or partnerships with the most influence over your life.
Next to each one, answer this. Is this helping me follow Christ or pulling me away?
If something needs to change, take one step this week. Just one.
Community update
One habit keeps quietly showing up in the community. Daily gratitude, together. Fred started it, and the guys have run with it.
It sounds small. It isn’t. Men who practice gratitude together start noticing God in the middle of ordinary days. If you want to be in that rhythm, that’s what happens inside bro4ged.com.
A note from Joey
Juan’s story hit me as a dad.
Every one of us got handed something from our fathers. Some of it worth keeping. Some of it not.
The hard truth is your kids are getting whatever you don’t surrender. They don’t get a filtered version of you. They get the whole thing.
So I’m asking myself what I’m still carrying that I need to hand over. I’d ask you to do the same.
Every brotherhood starts with one guy forwarding this to another guy. Be that guy.
If this one pointed you in the right direction this week, and you’re in a spot to help, a gift keeps these conversations moving toward men who need them. Nothing expected. Grateful you’re here either way.
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