A friend of mine recently, accidentally, grabbed the wrong duffle bag at the airport with his wife and kids. He didn’t notice until arriving home. Now, what would you have done with this bag? Check for gold bars inside, toss it in the trash and hope no one notices, or say, “Great, new gym bag.” My friends’ kids knew what happened and asked, “Dad, what are you gonna do?” Now, you’re reading this, so you probably have tons of experience teaching life skills to your kids—from potty training to driving lessons. But what about the weightier things? How are you teaching your kids RESPONSIBILITY? Luke 16:10 says, One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. Resist reading this and considering how much or little you have—that’s NOT the point. The point is, can you be trusted? If you’re responsible, over time, people will consider you trustworthy—especially your wife and kids. Keep reading for the rest of the dad-bag story.

How To Build a Strong Father Son Relationship: A strong father-son bond is built on more than just shared genetics—it’s about faith, integrity, and intentional investment. Teaching your son faith values isn’t about perfection; it’s about showing up, modeling godliness, and pointing him toward the Father. Time, trust, and truth all play a role in shaping his spiritual journey. Whether through shared experiences, honest conversations, or leading by example, your role as a dad is to help him grow into the man God created him to be. Keep your focus on the long game—raising a godly man starts with daily faithfulness.

Teaching Our Kids Key Life Skills: This week, we have a special episode for you…and we really mean it this time! Wait until the end of today’s show for a treat you won’t forget. Before we get there though, we’re diving in to some guidelines on how to teach our kids important life skills. Ever had those moments where you feel like you just can’t get through to your kids, or you want to save them from making the same mistakes you did? Let’s talk about those. We hope today’s episode helps you teach your kids in an even more Christlike way and gives you some tools to set them up for spiritual and relational success.

“Never mind your happiness; do your duty.” —Will Durant

Responsibility is not an accident. Back to my friend with the bad luggage-handling skills. This dad decided to own his mistake. Turns out the bag owner had written his address/phone number on a tiny luggage tag—who actually does that? My friend then paid to ship the bag to its rightful owner—even had it tracked. Imagine being the rightful bag owner. You’ve already cussed out the airline for losing the bag by this point and considered it gone forever, only to get a call from the guy who grabbed it saying, “Hey, you have great taste in luggage. I’m sorry, but I picked up your bag accidentally. On a better note, I show your bag should be delivered to your door by now.” The mistake turned out quite expensive for my friend with cross-county shipping costs. But, imagine this dad’s kids seeing the situation unfold and watching their dad be found trustworthy. Heck, imagine the example for the bag owner. This week, make sure your kids see a responsible example from you. Be found trustworthy with the small things, the big things—all the things—no matter the costs.

Kent Evans
Author of Don’t Bench Yourself, co-founder of Manhood Journey

P.S. Was this Mountain Monday helpful? Tell me if you love it, hate it, or if there’s something you’d like in the next one.

Forward this to a dad you know who needs some encouragement.