Steven Kolberg > Quotes

“depressed like you ruined everything God had planned for you? This is not the end!
Just like the artists who spent consistent time with their creations in order for them to become masterpieces, we get this opportunity with God. He is eager to continue molding, shaping, and creating us to become the masterpieces he had in mind from the beginning. Even though he is eager, we must decide to meet with him to let him do his work. Spending consistent time with the Lord is the way to let him continue his work with us.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“In this American culture, I see mass confusion around what priorities should be. I sense that they do not exist or we have two foundational ones, like family and work. Life becomes a mess when we do not have the right priorities or hold them in the incorrect order.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“We as humans are blessed by God, knowing what his will for us is. It gives us a sense of purpose to get out of bed every day. In all we do, and especially in fatherhood, we are to pursue a pure life with God, choosing joy in the midst of every circumstance while always expressing gratitude to God. This clarity of direction for life is given to us from our Father, and we must pass it down to our children.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Recently, I was convinced that I was so focused on my voice and telling everyone else what I learned that I became a really good virtue signaler. Unintentionally, I was obsessed with knowing all the right things, and I didn’t pay much attention to what I was applying in my life. I was getting too excited when I heard a new bumper-sticker quote from a sermon or catching phrase in a Christian podcast.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“So, Dad, the next time you are having a moment (as I am sure you will soon), remember the tools and weapons in your belt. Read the Bible to shape your perspective, pray intentionally to take on God’s truth about you, and worship and fast to satisfy yourself in his presence. It will rejuvenate your soul.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Time and priorities go hand in hand. We are only given so much time on this earth, and where we spend it and with whom we spend it matters.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Being a spiritual leader just means going first; it does not mean being perfect or having perfect discipline. It means going first, admitting failure, asking for help, and not stopping. When the wife asks us to lead our family or the like, I want us to have the confidence to say, “Yes, and I know how!”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“As I can see and have experienced myself, men seem to have a hard time knowing what it is to grow in their faith or how to do it. I see wives asking their husbands to become the spiritual leaders of the house for her and the kids, and the guy is eager, too, but won’t admit he does not know how.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“How many of us dads feel alone, depressed, anxious, overwhelmed, overstimulated, or burned out, like we’re dragging our feet, speechless, doubting our abilities, or just flat-out tired? I know it has to be a lot of us, because every dad I talk to mentions feeling like this multiple times, week in and week out. Turn over to social media, and you will find forums, groups, and influencers supporting dads feeling this way. It is a reality that being a dad is hard work and it wears on you. Support is what we need, but it seems impossible to find.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“The same applies to us. The gifts and talents we have from God are given for what he has in mind for us. Do not pick up a body suit of armor and sword when God built you to fight with the sling and stones.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“I have a challenge for you. No matter where you work, ask your spouse and kids, if they are old enough, if your work seems like the priority over them. Ask them if your job is interfering with leading your family or providing for them as they need. I do not want any dad to be known for working over being with his family. One looks good in the eyes of your peers; the other makes a difference in the souls of your wife and children.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Your family and your relationships are worth so much more than you may give them credit for. Fight for what you love. Fighting against Satan trying to steal your time away from what matters is a war we will have to endure our whole lives, but winning one battle at a time is all it takes before we win the war. Christ has won the war, so there is hope we can win the battles with him.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“The Bible explains that his Word is a lamp for our feet and a light to our path. Lamps only allow you to see the next few steps, not the whole path. There is going to be a purpose behind every step. Our path is not going to be fully known, but we will be discovering our purpose with each step. We can be confident that every step will be taken with purpose. Knowing that the end of the path is being with Jesus for eternity gives us strength, encouragement, and hope to continue walking. The farther you walk, the clearer your path becomes.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“The words in the Bible are not just words; they are God’s words. Something happens when you read the Bible as opposed to any other piece of literature. It is almost too complicated to explain, but there is a simple concept that sums up the complexity of the matter. Ask yourself this question: “If I read the Bible every day for a year, for fifteen minutes a day, how would my life be different?” Pause right now and ask yourself this question. If you have never read the Bible before, dream about what this might mean for you.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“For me, drinking became a sin issue over a substance issue and it needed to go and be put back to its appropriate place in my life. I am somewhere on this journey. I can feel it as a weight slowing me down, holding me back, and making it so tough to endure and persevere. When I stopped abusing drinking, I experienced freedom in ways I cannot describe but would feel very similar to dropping dead weight when you are running. You get a second wind, you get a pop in your step, and you feel like you can run faster than you ever thought possible.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“This is the love of the perfect Father. Patiently and with kindness, he draws near. When he is with us, there is no jealousy, and he is not boasting of his greatness. He carries himself with honor, and we can sense his humility. Keeping a calm composure through all we do, he does not demand his way of us. Much more, he does not keep score of what we have done against him. Burdened by injustice, he presses hard for the truth and rejoices greatly for it! Most importantly, our heavenly Father never ever gives up on us, no matter the cost to him. His hope for us is unmatched; he knows us; he created us in our mothers’ wombs in the secret place (Psalm 139). Even to the point of enduring the cross, in every circumstance, his choice to love us cannot be stopped. Relentlessly pursuing our souls, God embodies grace fueled by love. Love is the power to unleash grace!”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Trusting God with the tools and talents we have is vital to our becoming. It is easy to compare ourselves to others and think we have nothing to offer or are missing the mark, or to doubt our potential.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“What does this mean for us as fathers? It looks like having a devoted relationship with Jesus, being fathers after the Father’s heart. Our character will begin to be shaped and molded into that of Christ, and we will start to take on the template of the greatest Father. Imagine looking a bit like God in your parenting.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Translate these thoughts into fatherhood. If you are like me, it is a task in which, most of the time, I have no idea of what I am doing. Anxiety and depression easily take over most days, as I think I have screwed up my kids or I am doing everything wrong. But this new way of thinking has given me hope. I no longer feel like I am doing this alone, and I am finding weights I picked up that I am negatively parenting from.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Do I think I do not need God? How is it that I believe and follow God if my tendency is to think I do not need relationships in my life? These questions started to plague my mind, but I could only come back to the thought of God’s grace. I believe that God allowed me to view him how I needed to; after all, he knew I needed him.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“When we combine the strategic order of relationships with discipleship, it helps provide clarity on relationships we should be prioritizing. We start with the relationships God has given us direct responsibility over, then we work our way outward from there. Asking ourselves, “Whom can we disciple?” and praying about it helps guide us to those in our current season of life we should be prioritizing.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“It is with this that I present to you the template of fatherhood, God himself, a perfect Good Shepherd. It’s a high bar, I know, but we must not let that scare us from looking to him as our example to follow.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Culture’s voice is loud, and even the Christian subculture voice is. I remember noticing this in my late teen years. Maybe I am on an island by myself here, but all through late teen years, I was not preparing for working responsibilities. I was preparing to have them. People kept telling me I was going to have a wife, have children, have a home, and have a career. I was preparing to have all of those and was totally naïve to the fact that in order for them to thrive, they would need work, or they would all die.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Alcohol derailed me from giving quality to the priorities in my life. I was able to keep the priorities in order, but they were suffering because I was suffering. Experiencing dueling priorities, as I call it, is like not having a priority at all. If what you are called to do has to split time with something else, then your calling can never fully be what it is supposed to become. I do not wish this on anyone.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“I finally got to a point in my life where I recognized the need to expand my team. In order to get ahead of some of the unknown weights in my life, I knew I should probably get a counselor. However, out of pride mostly, I took over three years to finally sign up and go to my first session.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“God created human beings and filled them with souls. They come into the earth in the form of babies that are in need of nurturing, love, and care. As time goes on, teaching and training become imperative for their survival in this world. But that is not all children are.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“Compromise in what you let into your body and your home through what you see and hear will eventually land us in a place where we wonder how we even got there. Sound familiar? Whenever you hear about a pastor or someone whose life just blew up and you could never see it coming, it means that at some point in their journey, they did not fight back against the simple yet convincing lies of Satan. Simply put, they did not engage in spiritual warfare. What started out as what seemed like an innocent seed grew and eventually took that person out. Kill the lie; fight back against the darkness when it is in infant form before it overtakes you or your family.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“When society sees us, they should see Jesus reflected through our behaviors and actions. We get a choice to live differently, but the strength to do this is not on our own. The strength is because of the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Do not forget this; it is extremely important. God does the work to change us, but we get to choose to live differently.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“I have seen many good men give up on perseverance. Life takes a toll. They started off so well in their marriage and fatherhood, but as the adversity stacked up and blow after blow struck like a heavyweight fight, they just did not get back in the fight. This is why it is so important to have Jesus at the center of your life as your strength. This is why it is so important to be training physically and spiritually for the battle we are in.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy

“God is who makes you a man. Culture does not get to define you as a man, your dad does not get to define you as a man, your friends do not get to define you as a man. Your wife, your mom, your kids, your neighbor, your boss, your coworker, your social media, your humor, your strength, your job, your car, your truck, your hunting expertise, your love for sports, your ability to drink—you name it!—none of these things get to define you as a man. Only one voice may, and that is the voice of your Creator. He created you as a man. Now rise up to the challenge and let him do his work.”
― Steven Kolberg, Reviving Fatherhood: Guiding Every Dad from First Steps to Lasting Legacy