Jesus understands our limitations more deeply than we realize—not in theory, but by experience. Though He was the Creator of the world, He chose a life bound by space, time, fatigue, and growth. In His self-emptying, Jesus did not exploit His divine power but relied fully on the Spirit. In doing so, He shows us both a Savior who sympathizes with our weakness and a way of life empowered beyond it.

Raising a soon-to-be teenager begins long before they turn 13. As my son approached his teen years, I realized how much our earlier habits had strengthened our bond. Intentional rhythms can do the same for any parent and child.

You don’t have to be a perfect father. That job is already taken by our heavenly Father. But we have a longing to be intentional and instructive. Here are three things I’m glad I did when my firstborn son became a teenager.

We can assume our emotions arrive one at a time—sadness first, then joy once the sorrow passes. But Scripture paints a more complex picture: we can be “grieving, yet always rejoicing.” In embracing both joy and sorrow, we open ourselves to the presence of God and others in a more honest, healing way.

A church highly comprised of a particular ethnicity may wonder, “Are we too [fill in the blank]?” This is a conversation requiring wisdom, and when geography and theology shape the conversation, the potential is a church that’s both faithful and fruitful.