What is Love?

There are four kinds of love. Storge, Eros, Phillia, and Agape. 

Storge is a parent/child type of love. The love a parent has for a child is insurmountable. It is also explained as a natural affection, for example, how God loves us.

Eros is an intimate, and passionate type of love. This pertains to why you kiss someone. This is the intimate side of love. It comes from the word erotic.

Phillia is a brotherly type of love. It is more of a comradery type of love. A love where you would do anything for them because of how much you love them. 

Agape is charity type love. It is a selfless love without intimacy. When you love someone so much that you just want to do things for them and make sure they're okay. It is a lot like an unconditional love.

We need all of these kinds of love to be able to have a successful marriage. If one is lacking then it will cause strain and cracks in the marriage and each other. If we are not careful and this becomes the case then we should find the source of the problem and try to fix it with communication.

Same Gender Attraction

In this post I will be mostly talking about gay men and their attraction to each other. Boys are not just simply "born that way". Being gay is not a genetic disorder or predisposition. It is usually caused by a number of factors as the boy grows up. A main factor is the father. A boy is more likely to be gay if:

1) If the father is distant, uncaring or never even there to begin with.

2) If the mother wears the pants in the family.

3) The boy gets picked on because the father has no great influence as to how the boy should act.

The boy is searching for acceptance from his own gender and tries to find it through peers. If the peers are not accepting it makes it even worse, so when the boy finally does find another boy who accepts him he mistakes acceptance for a different kind of feeling. He begins to have sexual desires towards other boys and then it just grows from there. There are other factors that play into it as well but having an unloving and cold father figure is a main contributor.

I encourage you to play with your son. Get to know him personally and try to understand him. Play games with him and tell him that you're proud of him. Let him know he has someone to turn to in any time of need. Be his teacher and guider through this rope course of life, but most importantly tell him you love him.

Culture

Every culture is different and there are many kinds of different cultures. First, we must define culture. Google's definition of culture is, "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively." This is a good definition for this post but everyone has a different view of what culture can be defined as. 

Culture plays a huge role in how a family works together. Culture influences how children grow up. For example, in some African cultures everyone raises the children together. They work together to help the child develop. Every culture is different and we should take the time to understand them. Just as long as we love our children unconditionally.  Each family has their own culture. Cultures are passed down from generation to generation. For example, family dinners may be a common thing in your family and then it will continue on with your children. Another example is in politics. Children usually follow the views of their parents. Culture is full of traditions and specific views.

Family Rules

Family rules are very important. There are four ways to go about rules. First, you don't enforce them. If you do not enforce the rules or don't even have any in the house then the children will not take you seriously or gain respect for your views or opinions. The child will just end up doing whatever they want instead of what is best for them. They don't understand how the real world works and what is good or bad for them.

Second, you enforce the rules but are hypocritical in doing so. You may tell your child not to drink or swear and then find yourself doing those very things forbidden to your child. Children copy us a lot more than you think. They are always watching to understand and to see how to react to daily situations that occur. We should never say, "Do as I say, not as I do." Here is a video that demonstrates exactly what I'm talking about:

Third, we over enforce rules. We may want the best for our children but if we bog them down with intense rules and strict behaviors they are more subject for rebellion. If they rebel there is no telling what will happen or where they will end up.

Fourth, is the sweet spot. When you understand that you have to give a little in respectful places and be more strict in others. When children see that you understand their views and opinions then they are more subject to respect your views and opinions. The tricky part with this is knowing when to bend a little but when you get it right, it should feel like this...