American Family Radio thanks preborn for supporting pro life advocacy

Dr. Jessica Peck: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, preborn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial pound 250 and say the keyword BABY or visit preborn.com/AFR hello

 : and welcome to the Dr. Nurse Mama show prescribing hope for healthy families here on American Family Radio. Here's your host, professor, pediatric nurse practitioner and mom of four, Dr. Jessica Peck.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Well, hey there, friends, and welcome to my favorite time of day. On, my favorite day of the week. It is fry. Yay. We have made it through another week. And friends, can you believe that we are at the last Friday in March, we are officially through the first quarter of the year of 2026. Where did the time go? Well, I know the time is coming very quickly for us to be at Sharathon in Tupelo, Mississippi, where headquarters will, take twice a year to ask listeners for their support. And we're so grateful for your support. And one of the ways we would love to have your support is by hearing your story. We are gathering stories now to play during our spring share a thon. We would love to hear from you. If the Lord has used American family radio in your life to give you just the right word at just the right time, we'd love to hear about it. All you have to do is call our listener storyline at 877-876-8893. We would love to hear your story. You'll just leave a message and you might hear yourself on shareathon and others might hear you too and be so encouraged by your story. Stories are so powerful. And when we tell stories, we're using words to tell stories.

Every Friday I talk about a healthy habit for healthy families

And that brings us to today's healthy habit. If you've been following along since January, every Friday I talk about a healthy habit for healthy families. We will have 52 by the time this year is over and we are about a fourth of the way through. We spent the first month talking about spiritual disciplines and then we moved into some family rhythms that you need. And right now we are in section number three talking about communication. We live in a world today that is overflowing with words but really starving for encouragement. Never in history have we had more ways to communicate. We have texting, we have social media, we have instant messaging or dms. If you're really on the DL. Oh, I know. I can't believe I just said that. My kids are like, mom, just stop it already. We've got voice notes and voice memos and yet somehow our words have become less powerful in a way and more powerful in a way. They're shorter and sharper and often more careful, careless conversations are reduced to just simply the letter K in response to a text message or lol. Let me tell you something about lol. These are common abbreviations that are used in text and it can be hard for other generations to figure out what those abbreviations mean. And I'll give you a case in point about miscommunication. So LOL means laugh out loud. Generally speaking, that's what most people interpret to say. Now my father in law thought at first that it meant lots of love. And so when he would text my children something like it would be a, scripture or I love you, I'm praying for you. Lol. It has a totally different meaning. And this communication, they finally figured out what it meant. But sometimes we just ghost people and we don't even respond at all. And disagreements escalate so quickly into very harsh and unfiltered comments. We have sarcasm and criticism becoming increasingly normalized. I see this especially among young people and it's really discouraging to me. And we bring that from the community, from the culture, into our home. We have emojis that replace eye contact and tone of voice and physical touch. We are communicating more, but connecting less. And here's what's at stake. Our words don't just express our thoughts. They are shaping our hearts, our identities, the emotional climates of our homes. So this week's healthy habit, speaking words of affirmation invites you to a reset. Not just avoiding harmful words, but intentionally speaking life giving words. Because scripture reminds us that our words carry real power, not just emotionally, but spiritually. So let's let this truth set the tone for today. I'm going to read to you from Proverbs 16:24. Gracious words are like a honeycomb sweetness to the soul and health to the body. Now for me as a nurse, I don't believe that this is just metaphorical, that oh yes, it makes your body healthy. It literally makes your body healthy. It's not just poetic exaggeration. God is really telling us something very profound. When we speak words of life, they nourish the soul. Words can impact physical and emotional health. Words have the power to heal or to harm. And that is a power that God has given us. As a freedom to stir, to steward.

Social media encourages instant reaction. It reduces our conversations to fragments of speech

So before we can build that healthy habit, we gotta understand what are we up against? Our culture has reshaped communication in ways that are subtly eroding kindness and thoughtfulness and restraint. Let's talk about the rise of impulsive communication. Social media encourages instant reaction. You don't think about what you say, you just start typing. People say things online they would never, ever say face to face. And a good exercise for your kids is to pull up a social media conversation and have your kids enact that conversation online. I'll tell you, my adult daughter and I did this on a plane the other day, playing out like how this would sound in real life. And we were laughing to the points. Our sides hurt until we got sad. We were laughing until we were crying. And we're really crying because this online conversation was so incredibly unkind. And we have a comment culture on, social media that rewards outrage, sarcasm, sharpness. People like that kind of response. We see this in public shaming in the comment sections or quick criticism instead of really being thoughtful and asking questions and listening first. And we have very dismissive phrases that are seen as very powerful, like do better or this ain't it. You know, those kinds of things. We also have a decline of thoughtful speech when we text. It reduces our conversations to fragments of speech. Tone is very, very easily misunderstood when you don't have accompanying voice or facial expression. I know I have this conversation with my husband all the time because I'll send him an emoji and he just flat out tells me, I don't speak emoji. Please use words. Tell me what you're feeling, which is so fair. Important conversations are replaced by very quick, incomplete exchanges where people come in and out of the conversation. You might see this as a simple emoji or a fine or a k, even a letter K. And the receiver is just kind of left guessing on, what is really going on. We have a loss of nonverbal communication when we're communicating electronically. We lose eye contact, facial expression, tone of voice, and just that physical presence of someone being there. I'm so grateful that I had so many conversations with my granny face to face that I can still remember exactly all of her features and how her eyes crinkled when she laughed and all of her little mannerisms with, without all of those. Communication is much less personal. It's easier to misinterpret, it's easier to depersonalize because you don't see the human being behind that conversation. And it's Easier to speak harshly. I'm really concerned about the normalization of harshness. We live in a really harsh world where sarcasm is celebrated as humor. Now, sometimes there can be a time and place for that, but when it becomes your conversation currency, it's like sandpaper on the people around it. When you're not buffering that with kindness, criticism is framed as, hey, I'm just being honest. And negativity is the default tone in many homes. We just speak just doom and gloom and negativity and criticism. And Scripture has always warned us about careless speech. Here are some things that really should make us pause. Proverbs 18:21 says, the tongue has the power of life and death. Again, this is not just poetic, this is not metaphorical. This is real life. There are people who have ended their lives over the power of words that they believe. Matthew 12:36 says, Everyone will have to give account for every careless word. That is the stuff nightmares are made of. If I'm being so honest because we've all spoken careless words. Ephesians 4. 29 says, Let no unhelpful talk come out of your mouth, but only what is helpful for others, building them up according to their needs. That's a really important part of that verse. Many of us know Ephesians 4:28, where we talk about, be kind to one another, tenderhearted, compassionate, forgiving each other as, as, Christ forgave you. But the backup to that is, let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths and build others up, up according to their needs. We'll come back to that in a minute. Put a pin in that.

I am concerned about the constant exposure desensitizing us as a society, as families, as people

I am concerned about the constant exposure desensitizing us as a society, as families, as people. And when we are repeatedly exposed to harsh tones. I see this even the way the news shows are. They're laced with profanity, they're. They're laced with meanness. Some of the things that are said on social media, news cycle and entertainment. And we start to lose sensitivity because what one felt rude now feels just normal. What once felt aggressive now feels expected. And we start mirroring it without even realizing it. We pick up that tone. It's really fascinating if you look at linguistic scientists who look at even accents that people would use in the news, what, how people talked and how speech has evolved, because we're mirroring what's projected to us in culture. Jesus warns us about this kind of drift in an indirect way when he says in Luke 6:45, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks what we take in eventually comes out. And let's be honest, modern life, modern dialogue, modern discourse is exhausting. And when people are tired, when you're overstimulated, when you're emotionally stretched, guess what? Your words become shorter and sharper and less filtered. And this is especially true in families where we feel safe enough to let our guard down, which is such an, unfortunate paradox. Like, I feel safe enough here. I can mistreat you, and you're still going to be stuck with me. That is not a very hopeful paradigm. And the people we love the most often get our least thoughtful words, our least kind words. And that is where it matters the most. Harshness doesn't just hurt feelings. It is shaping the culture and the environment of your home. And when you are constantly speaking sarcasm, criticism, hey, it's just a joke. Lighten up. Why are you taking it so seriously and just roasting each other and burning each other? You're going to have emotional insecurity. You're going to have fear of speaking up. You're going to have distance in relationships because people don't feel vulnerable to share. And over time, it forms an atmosphere where people kind of brace themselves for the next zinger instead of opening up for the next healing words. Now contrast that with God's design. In Proverbs, a gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Harshness is an accelerant. Harshness escalates insecurity, fear, resentment. Gentleness de. Escalates. Gentleness is transformative. Gentleness nurtures. And this matters because gentleness is radically countercultural. And we see that, though, as a fruit of the spirit. One of the fruits of the spirit is gentleness, gentleness. And here we're told in scripture to speak with gentle words. Children, especially, are, forming their inner voice. We all have an inner voice that speaks to us all the time. And it says, you're fat, you're ugly, you're stupid. Just horrible words that are spoken over us. And that inner voice is based on what they hear other people say. If they consistently hear criticism, they are going to develop insecurity. If they consistently hear sarcasm, they question the sincerity. When are you really mean it? When do you not? When they hear harshness, they mirror harshness. And then we discipline them for being disrespectful when they're just speaking to us like we're speaking to them. But if they hear affirmation, they're going to build confidence. If they hear encouragement, they grow resilience. If they hear kindness and they receive kindness, they learn to give it. And if culture has trained us to speak quickly and carelessly, then following Christ calls us to something radically different. Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become anger and be intentional in life giving speech. So the invitation here is a countercultural shift. Here's the hopeful part. You don't have to follow culture. In fact, Scripture tells us to stand apart. Colossians 4:6 says, Let your conversations be be always full of grace. Always full of grace. Not sometimes, not when it's easy, not when you're well rested, well nourished, well hydrated. It's always so before speaking especially intense moments ask is it true? Is it helpful? Is it inspiring? Is it necessary? Is it kind? That's t h I n k by the way, is it true, helpful, inspiring, necessary and kind. And then go one step further. Can I say this in a way that builds instead of breaks? Harshness may be normal in the culture, but it should never be normal in a Christ centered home. Because every word we speak is planting something. You're planting seeds of life or you're planting seeds of death. And over time those seeds grow. And when we come back, I'm going to be really practical and tell you how to speak words of affirmation, how to be countercultural, and how you can be specific in speaking words of life over your family and sow seeds of life that will bear fruit in due time. I'll see you right on the other side of this break.

 : Candice talks about finding out she was pregnant. Thankfully, an ultrasound provided by PreBorn allowed her to hear her baby's heart. The sonogram sealed the deal for me. My baby was like this tiny little spectrum of hope and I saw his heart beating on the screen and knowing that there's life growing inside. I mean that sonogram changed my life. I went from just Candace to mom. Thank you to everybody that has given these gifts. You guys are giving more than money. You guys are giving love.

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Take You At Your Word by Benjamin William Hastings and Cody Carn: Your way is the only way for me. It's a narrow road that leads to life but I wanna be on it. It's a narrow road and the mercy's wide 'Cause you're good on your Promise. I'll take you at your word. You said it, I believe it. I've seen how good it was. If you started, you're completed. I'll take you at your word.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is take you at your word. By Benjamin, William Hastings and Cody Carnes. And it is a great reminder for us today that we can take God at his word, but also a reminder that your family is taking you at yours. Your words mean something. Words matter. Words carry weight. We all carry words of affirmation we've been given. We all carry words of harm that we have been giving, words of wounding that we have been given. And research shows it takes way more positive affirmations to counteract every negative affirmation. And we tend to do this. We magnify the negative and we minimize the positive. And today in our healthy habit for this week, and by the way, if you've missed out on the healthy habits, go back, listen to any Friday show or listen to the doctor Nurse Mama coaching minutes and you can catch up in a one minute format. Every week we walk through a habit for healthy families. Today we're talking about speaking words of affirmation. Words that heal, words that rebuild, words that bless your family. And here's the thing. God just doesn't tell us what not to say. He shows us what to stay instead. And that is really important because words are a, spiritual discipline. We know, I told you earlier, Luke 6. 45, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Our speech reflects our heart. That is just the honest truth. And words can heal, but words can also harm. Words also shape identities in families. Children internalize what they hear repeatedly. And spouses are either strengthened or discouraged by our daily words. When we use speech that speaks to character, we say things that are shaming. They start like this. Why do you always mess this up? Why can't you ever fill in the blank, whatever it is? We start to generalize behavioral struggles into character flaws. And so instead of, believing we have a struggle with something that we're doing, we start to believe that who we are is inherently hopeless. So instead of, you always mess this up, say, I see how hard you're trying. I see how frustrating it can be to try so hard and just still feel like you're not there. Hang in there, you're going to get this. You may say something like, why can't you be more like? Often as parents, we do this to compare siblings. Why can't you be more like your sibling? They never give me any trouble. See this Always and never speech instead of, hey, God made you uniquely and beautifully and you bring different strengths to our family. And I appreciate that. I appreciate the way that you make us laugh even though you never clean your room. But try not to use that always and never. But really be careful when we start generalizing and here the paradigm shift, we can't just stop the harsh words. You've got to replace them with intentional affirmation. It's not just enough just to, okay, fine, I'm going to stop speaking those words of death. Start speaking words of life. That is really important. And God calls us to be people whose words reflect his heart. Words that restore, that rebuild, renew, words that encourage, words that build a culture of life into your home.

When we speak careless words, they carry lasting impact in our relationships

So let's make this really practical. What does it look like to actually build a habit of speaking life every day? Well, the first thing that you've got to do is recognize where you're speaking harshly, where you're speaking carelessly, where you're speaking words of death in your home and in your relationship. And you might think that sounds melodramatic. I'm saying words of death. But these are words of death saying you, you might as well just give up because you're never going to. I don't believe that you can overcome this. Like just speaking words of emotional, spiritual, relational death. And those careless words may seem like a really small, just a little comment here or there, just something you say under your breath and just a little phrase that you say, something passive aggressive. But they carry lasting impact. Not too long ago, I had asked a group of adults, tell me things that people said to you, that your parents said to you that still speak identity over you today. You don't leave that room without a grown adults with tears in their eyes saying they remember what was spoken over them. These words shape our emotional health. They increase stress in our body. When we start to hear those words, it literally impacts your blood vessels, your heart health, your immune system. It also relationally erodes trust. You start to think I'm not safe with you. And it even reflects in our spiritual condition because what is spoken externally becomes internalized as your identity, influencing how your family sees themselves, how they see others. That's why scripture's wisdom is so incredibly profound. Our words can bring life and healing, or they can bring harm, they can bring separation, they can bring division, they can bring damage. We've got to choose intentional grace filled words. It's not just about a, ah, communication skill. This is holistic heart health. That's what we're talking about in the home and the soul. And that again, like I said, Matthew 12:20, 12:36. Everyone will have to give account on the day of Judgment for every careless word they have spoken. So once you recognize, okay, hey, I'm speaking too harshly. Our family culture is a little too edgy, it's a little too sarcastic, it's a little too demeaning. Or maybe it's a lot that way. Then sometimes the answer to that is just to stop those words. Because we see, for the careless words, it's not just being intentionally cruel. It's just words that you just speak too quickly, speak without thinking, you speak in frustration, you speak on the end point. But our words matter to God because they reveal our hearts and impact others very deeply. And in that light, Scripture also gives us a very quiet but powerful alternative. So here's Proverbs 10:19. When words are many, sin is not absent, but whoever restrains his lips is wise. James 1:19 says, Be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. In a culture that rewards immediate reactions, choosing to pause, even sometimes to say nothing, that may be the first, easiest step. It's not weakness, it is wisdom. And it is spiritual discipline. Because just one moment of silence can prevent unnecessary hurt, it can de escalate a conflict. It can create space for the Holy Spirit to guide our response. And often what we don't say in that heat of the moment is protecting our relationships just as much as what we do say later. So the goal isn't to speak less, it's to speak more intentionally. And if you can't speak with grace in the moment, it might be better just to wake and wait until you can speak words that truly reflect the heart of God.

So let me give you Four steps on how to speak words of affirmation 

So let me give you four steps here on how to speak words of affirmation. These are four steps that will help you to create a culture of speaking words of affirmation. Step one, be specific in your words of affirmation. General praise is good, but specific affirmation is a superpower. So instead of good job, you could say something like, I love how patient you were with your sister. You showed real courage today in a scary situation. I appreciate how hard you worked on that and you never gave up. Do you see how much more powerful that is than something like good job, Job, you did great. Be specific. And what they did, that was good. So number one, step one, be specific. Step two, be consistent. It's not just a once in a while habit. This is something that you need to be doing every Single day. Speaking life in ordinary moments. So really be intentional. Put it on your heart and what you can do, what you can say, how you can say that every day. Maybe it's when they get out of the car, when they're going to school. Maybe it's in the morning, maybe it's at nighttime. Don't wait for those big achievements. Speak life in the ordinary moments. Step three. Speak to identity, not just behavior. So don't just reward their behavior. Don't say, you were a good girl, you were a good boy, you behaved well, you, you know, sat still. Those are behaviors. Speak words of affirmation to identity. Go deeper than those actions. Say, you are kind, you are strong. God has given you a compassionate heart, you are courageous. Speak words of identity and character. When you speak those, those are going to become the internal monologue that kids are going to believe. Leave. Step four, make it your family culture. Create rhythms of speaking words of affirmation. Maybe that's at the dinner table where you're, you just having some sort of simple game or some, some sort of simple affirmation where people speak words of life over each other. Maybe it's when somebody's having a bad day, you stop and you say, okay, let's speak some words of life here. Let's have some bedtime blessings. Let's speak encouragement before they go to work. Those things are really, really important to do do. And so those are the steps. That's what you do. You are going to be specific, be consistent, speak to identity, not just behavior, and make it your family culture. Now when you do this, over time, these words of affirmation, they reduce anxiety, they build emotional security, they strengthen your relationships, they improve mental well being, they create a spiritually safe environment. And this aligns again with Proverbs 16:24. The these are things that are sweet to the soul, emotional and spiritual health. They are healing to the body. And that is important. So if this feels unnatural, or new, or you feel like you, you may even start to try to say, hey, let's speak some words of affirmation. And kids are going to roll their eyes or immediately be suspicious and think, what do you want? Want? Just start small, be intentional, be faithful, Ask God to shape your words. You don't need perfect words, you just need purposeful one. So those words may feel small in the moment, but over time they're going to build where your, the, hearts of your family members are going to feel safe and seen and strengthened. And that is really, really big.

Let's commit to a small but powerful shift in speaking life this week

So this week, let's commit to really a small but powerful shift in speaking life. In a world full of noise and criticism and careless words, your home can be different. A place where words heal instead of harm, where words build instead of break, and where words reflect the heart of God. So today, just choose one person in your family that really needs to have something that is spoken, that is life giving over them. It might seem small, but in God's economy, this is legacy building. This is such important work to do. And I cannot encourage you enough, because when we see our families, we are constantly overwhelmed by the doom scroll. We constantly see words of death. And I am really discouraged, honestly, by the coarseness of public discourse. It just seems like there is coarse joking, there is coarse humor, and the Bible has things to say about this, this, and we really need to be countercultural. That's not to say that nothing isn't ever funny and that sometimes sarcasm isn't funny, but when we use that as our currency all the time, that can be really destructive to kids. And we think that kids aren't listening. This is something that I see all the time where parents will say, my kids aren't listening, but they really are listening. And more than that, that they believe what is said about them. They believe these words that we're speaking about them, which is why we need to speak words of identity and not just behavior. So I encourage you to really be consistent and give it a try. It is not something that takes a long time. It could be just a simple text message. It could be just a simple affirmation that you say as they're going out the door. It can even be the, the same thing that you say over and over again. That can be a really powerful thing because when we look at what is happening. I've been talking a lot about this, issue of AI And I want to draw your attention one more time to AI Companions. This is something that is really concerning to me, that is rising. And when we see words of, of harm, words of hurt, words of sarcasm that are given in culture, then we can really see kids turning to AI companions. And this seems so implausible and improbable, but I think it's finally arrived in my lifetime where we're finally going to be living like the Jetsons, if anybody grew up in that cartoon age. But what I see is kids engaging with AI to most of the time in a very innocuous way. They start by just for asking help with their homework. They just want to, engage. But AI is designed to draw you in it will start to ask you some personal questions and before you know it, it seems like a friend. Now this is really concerning for, for. Because children cannot differentiate what is real and what is a robot. And I'm seeing increasingly families struggle with this. And the robot online seems so compassionate. And let me tell you, AI is very good at being very flattering. And it is telling kids, oh, you're smart, you're strong, oh, you, you deserve better friends than that. They're telling them everything they want them to hear because the goal is to keep them on the platform so they're not going to say anything that's negative. And we think, oh, this is great. It's giving words of affirmation. But these words are not grounded in the wisdom of someone who is following the Lord. These are not inspired by the Holy Spirit. These are not words that are helpful words that are necessarily helpful and grounded in an identity in Christ. So when we come back, I'm going to talk to you about about some of the home front headlines and what we what I've been seeing and talking about. Last week I shared with you a video news story about a man, a grown man, who got engaged to an AI companion. And you think that has to be a one off. It's not. I'll tell you about another story I saw in the news that is again, raising alarm flags. As parents, as believers, we need to be paying attention to this and we need to be speaking to children about being created uniquely in the image of God. And no robot, no matter how sophisticated, no matter how accomplished, can ever compete with that. We'll talk about some of those home front headlines when we come back. And I'll be sharing with you some of the ways that we can continue to build this healthy habit by speaking words of affirmative information in a culture that speaks words of destruction, discouragement and death. Hey, we have got a powerful alternative. We'll give you more hope and help on the other side of this break.

 : The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net Listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app.

Oh Death by MercyMe: You said my fate was sealed. You said my Days were numbered? Case closed with no appeal? My future six feet under, messing with my head in ghost fashion? My heart was holding its breath? terrified of taking my last one. Oh, death, you scared me to death? Whoa, you ain't my king who? Where did your sting go? Oh Death I will not be afraid? In the end you will lose? I will dance on your grave with the one who buried you? You ain't nothing but a stone? that my savior rolled away? Set you straight and set me free? Oh, death you are dead to me.

Dr. Jessica Peck: Welcome back, friends. That is is oh, death by mercy me. What an encouraging pick me up.

We're talking today about words of life and words of death

We're talking today about words of life and words of death. And we have to be reminded that God has already conquered sin and death and the grave forever. And no words of death here are going to live forever. That, in the end, we know how this story ends and God has equipped you for such a time as this. We're talking about today's healthy habits, and that is speaking words of affirmation, being really intentional about that. This speaking genuine words from a real person who knows you, who loves you, and who sees you for all your flaws, all your failures, all your sins. That is the beautiful thing about walking in family is being able to walk in that brokenness and to speak words of affirmation and words of life as it is. Ask doctor, Nurse, Mama. Friday, I'm answering questions about this week's Homefront headlines, things that I've been following. As I said, and before the break, I talked last week about a man who is engaged. And again, these words don't even feel like they apply even when we're using pronouns for a robot. Like, this is just all new territory. And you may have thought maybe that was a one off, but this week I saw a news article talking about a Canadian author. Her name is Sarah Griffin, and she has shared that she developed a very deep emotional and even intimate relationship with an AI chat bot lot that was designed with an Irish accent because that had been something, a romantic aspiration. The interaction went beyond casual use. It went into very deep companionship, romantic attachment. And if you read the article, I. I just warn you to put on your tough suit before, because there are some very difficult things. as she shared about her experience, this has been pretty widely shared over social media. And this, it matters for family because this is a profound cultural shift. Technology is no longer just a tool. We have been fed that lie for forever now. Technology is just a tool. It is now a relational substitute that is competing for Your family affection. That is the honest truth. People are turning to AI not just for information, not just to plan their vacation. They're turning to it for comfort, for companionship, for validation and even intimacy. And it completely removes the challenges of real relationships and engulfs someone in a fantasy world. There is no conflict. There is no sacrifice. There is no vulnerability. I think about, stories like the Gift of the Magi, where we talk by O. Henry, where we really talk about the beauty of sacrifice and relationships. And for families, especially those with children, it is distorting expectations of real relationships. You'll notice I didn't say it can. It is. It is here. It is creating connection without any commitment. And it risks emotional dependency on something that is not even human, something that is not reciprocal, something that is not rooted in truth. God designed us for real embodied relationships with messy, imperfect human humans, and with him as our perfect father. Artificial connection can never, ever replace that. And that is the truth that we need to be speaking over our families. So how should we respond to this? Start talking about what real love and real connection look like. Point out conflict in relationships and the beauty of restoration in that. Teach that real relationships requires selflessness. It requires patience, it requires forgiveness, it requires growth through difficulty and creating strong, emotionally safe relationships so that children don't seek a substitute relationship. That needs to start right now. We need to be starting that right now. And there's competition for our affection, for our relationship, for our time, like never before. Genesis 2:18 says, it is not good for man to be alone. And we have a lot of people who are alone with emotional robot supports. Robot emotional support, whatever it's called, I don't even know. But it is happening. And we need to encourage connections that reflect God's design. And AI Companions are a counterfeit version of that. And we see this through increased dependency on social media. Study came out this week again giving us something that is really not new. Social media is linked to depression and lower grades. I know this is shocking to us all, but this research is continuing to add to the body of credible research that is showing the social media use among children is linked to higher rates of depression. It is linked to declining academic performance. The more time. This is a dose response relationship. So the more time that you, you spend on the platform, the more likely children are to experience negative mental health and educational outcomes. Anything can potentially be good in moderation, but anything to excess is. Is most often going to be detrimental. So this matters because we're seeing social media already for the last 20 years, has shaped identity and self worth and focus and attention. And we see children already for the last 20 years exposed to constant comparison and unrealistic standards and validation from others by seeking comments and likes. And that's how they build their self esteem. But now we see AI really giving this on steroids and increasing that emotional complexity, increasing the potential for dependence on that for validation. And it's no surprise that we see kids who feel significant emotional instability. They're distracted from learning. They have a very fragile sense of identity that is show that is shaped by the changing winds of culture. And when identity is rooted in the world, it is unstable. We've got to anchor our identity in him. So I encourage all of you families out there who are working to set healthy boundaries on screen time. Keep up the good work, keep doing it. Every minute that you keep them off social media and engaged in real life is a moment of investment that will never be wasted. But just not just being the phone police, we've got to give them real relational alternatives for that. Don't just say get off your phone. Say get off your phone and talk to me. Get off your phone and walk with me. Get off your phone and sit with me. Get off your phone and spend time with me. That is really important. Teach kids talk about what's reality and what's curated. That is really important. And she just speak words of identity over them. As much as you can use those from scripture. You are loved, you are chosen, you are created by God. You are uniquely and wonderfully made. You are peculiar treasure. That's one of my favorite to say in our family when we'll tell each other we are a peculiar treasure and God said it is true. Help children to renew their minds, not to be shaped by the algorithms.

Studies show excessive smartphone use is associated with increased risk of disordered eating in teens

We also saw, I saw a study this week where smartphone use is linked to disordered eating in teens. And studies show that excessive smartphone use is associated with increased risk of disordered eating. Now let me give you a brief explanation here. Disordered eating is actually different from an eating disorder. Disordered eating is unhealthy eating behaviors, unhealthy behaviors that surround body image. It may be limiting food, restricting food, or having rules around food or exercise. While an eating disorder is those symptoms rise to the level of a diagnosis. Now I'm concerned about this as well because with the resurgence of GLP1s, we're seeing the resurgence of what we used to call in the 90s, something called heroin chic, where people are painfully frightfully thin and so much for the body positivity. Movement. It seems like that movement is outgoing with GLP1s. And we see kids who can be influenced by this messaging. Now we get really worried about anxiety, we get worried about depression. But disordered eating disorders are actually the most deadly mental health disorder. And when the world feels out of control, kids often don't have a lot of control about their world. They don't have control of where they live, where they go to school, who their parents are, who their siblings are, if their parents are divorced or not, and and what car they drive and what community they live in. But they do often have control over what and when they eat. So this is one of the first coping mechanisms that we see. And this is concerning because it goes beyond screen time. This is about identity and body image and threats to life when kids are constantly evaluating themselves against completely unrealistic standards. Standards. We're seeing a huge rise in plastic surgery. It seems like every day people are becoming more transparent about showing their plastic surgery, even having facelifts now for people in their 30s, this is the messaging that our kids are internalizing about their worth based on appearance. This can lead to shame, control issues around food and mental health struggles. So our culture says your worth is how you look. But God says your worth is who you are in me and I have created you. I put post it notes all over my kids mirrors. You are the apple of God's eye. You are a masterpiece. You are chosen. You are not forsaken. You are a treasure. Those things are things that we cannot say enough. Talk openly about body image. Talk openly about media influence. If you have teenagers at home, invite them to call you out when you unaware, when you're unaware of how you you're speaking negative things about body image to say, hey, let's talk about how we're talking about that, talking about other people's bodies. We have to affirm the truth that bodies are created by God and God wants our body to be healthy, but we have to have healthy conversation around that. I did talk quite a bit about that in my book Behind Closed Doors, a guide for parents and teens to navigate through life's toughest issues. Because this is definitely something I see. But Psalm 139:14 says, I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

One trend of automation replacing human roles is the rise of AI

This is important now when we look at our value. One of the things that's impacting value is the rise of AI replacing humans. Also in the workplace. Another article I saw this week, Burger King actually is testing AI chatbots to replace Drive Thru employees. And it encourages customers to use, use polite phrases like please and thank you when interacting with the machines. This is a broader trend of automation replacing human roles, especially entry level jobs. So our kids in high school who are looking for an entry level job, I'm telling you this is happening because I was traveling this week. I was actually, I'll, I'll just say where I was. I was in North Carolina and I went through a drive through to get some food and I encountered my first AI assisted order. And I will tell you, it was a very uncomfortable experience because I intuitively realized automatically that I'm interacting with AI and I thought, okay, but I have questions and this feels weird. And I'm saying please and thank you to a robot who is really designed to be human and to sound like it's somebody who's supposed to live here. And yet I know I'm not interacting with, with a human. So this is impacting the future workforce. It's impacting kids wondering, is their job AI proof? How do we interact with AI? Are we obligated to be polite or do we just lose all our manners and we don't have to say please or thank you because it's a robot? This is impacting how young people are learning to communicate. And entry level jobs have traditionally taught a, good work ethic and social skills and accountability. And I'm worried if these roles disappear, that young people may miss out on those critical developmental experiences. And we have to think about the question that may be uncomfortable. Are we training children to interact more with machines than we are with people? Because the primary source of our interaction, where we go in our daily interactions is now with machines. Whether you call a helpline a business, if you're ordering something, families need to respond by being intentional about teaching. How do we teach our kids responsibility and a work ethic? And what are the social norms of communication for interaction? I mean, do you say yes ma' am and no ma' am to a robot? These are tough questions and we've got to create more opportunities for real world interaction. This goes back to getting your kids, kids plugged in in church. Hopefully you're not sitting in the pews with robots anytime soon, but that's important. And emphasize the value of human dignity and hard work. And we do see, as I said, teens turning to AI for homework. Research is showing this an increasing number of teens are using AI tools to complete their schoolwork and they often rely on them for answers instead of engaging in the learning process. Now, in my professor world, this is something we're calling cognitive offloading, where it's just offloading our brains need to think and kind of takes our brain offline. And this matters because kids are not going to have as much opportunity for critical thinking, which is important for decision making. They have limited opportunities to exercise integrity and maybe increased opportunity to maybe violate their integrity because they're put in situations they're not equipped equipped to respond to. And so instead of having to think, we see kids who are intellectually passive and really dependent on technology with very ethical gray areas around honesty. So teach kids how to use AI as a tool, but you have to be intentional about that, not a crutch. And emphasize integrity in all of your interactions, whether online or in person. And we know that you thank goodness that James tells us if any of us lacks wisdom, we can ask God, who gives freely and abundantly to all who ask. Listen. Technology is not just shaping what our children do, it is shaping who they are becoming. But you are not powerless. Stay engaged, speak truth, model your faith, and we can raise children who are not conformed to culture, but who are grounded in Christ. I encourage you once again think about who needs your words of affirmation today. And as you do, I pray these words of affirmation over you. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And I'll see you right here next time.

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Jeff Chamblee: opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.

It's Ask Dr. Nurse Mama Friday! Jessica talks about this week's healthy habit of using words of affirmation with your family. She also talks about this week's Homefront Headlines.