Joel Osteen Podcast - Create A Winning Atmosphere For Your Family | Victoria Osteen

Episode Date: December 27, 2025

When you strengthen your loved ones through difficult times, you're creating an atmosphere of victory for your family. Let God use you to be a blessing to those around you!Plan for your faith to succeed! Our 2026 Faith for Today Planner will fill you with hope and keep you grounded in God’s promises. Request our December offer and start each day of the upcoming year with Scripture and encouragement!https://bit.ly/4reqMWn Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of the Joel Osteen Podcast ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry. If you enjoy today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with a friend. We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life. Has made a difference. As we sing that song, I just want to remind us about something. See, God has given us his grace. He's covered us.

All of our failures and all of our mistakes. He's never going to fail us. us, he's always going to love us. What a beautiful position to be in. Such a secure position to be in. In fact, when you think about that, it makes you want to do better. It makes you want to rise higher. In fact, the scripture says it's the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. You could say it like this. it's the goodness of God that works in us and makes us better, makes us into the people he's called us to be. See, the same goodness, the same love, the same unfailing love. It not only is for us, but it's for those around us. It's for our family. It's for our spouses, our children, our relatives,

our neighbor. You see, God blesses us and gives us this, not to hold on to it for our ourselves, not to say, oh, this is so great God. No, he blesses us so that we can spread the blessing, so that we can give the favor, so that we can be that conduit on this earth. It's called the hands and feet of Jesus. And I want us to believe with all of our heart that we are so covered and so loved that we are able to do the same for other people. I want to talk. I want to talk today about our families. Making sure we are covering our families, making sure we are loving them, considering them, not just putting them on our to-do list, but putting them on our to-love list. Every day, are you loving the gifts that God is giving you? You see, children, the Bible says,

they're a heritage. They're a gift from God. See, we're not just supposed to work for them. we're supposed to enjoy them. We're supposed to celebrate with them. Our spouses, they are a gift from God. They are someone to help us grow and learn and live life together. Are we putting them on our love list every single day? I've been married to Joel for 30 years, and I've got to tell you this.

I still have to remind myself, is he on my love list? because, you know, it's fine at first. You can get all excited. You have a little goosebumps. Everything is so wonderful. But as years go by, you have to continue to stir up the love and the excitement. I have to remind myself, I cannot quit being Joel's biggest cheerleader.

I can't quit telling him how proud I am of him. How excited I am that I'm his wife. I can't quit being my very best so that I'll reflect the very best on him. You see, one of the greatest ways to love each other is to live at our very best, to set the tone for the life we want to live. You see, you set the tone and the atmosphere for your life. You're not a thermometer. A thermometer measures the temperature, but a thermostat sets the temperature. but a thermostat sets the temperature.

It sets the tone. And God has empowered every one of us through his love, his grace, his mercy, to set the tone and the temperature for our life and for the lives of other. It says in Hebrews 1024, let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds. You see, if you can spur someone on in God's love, listen, those good deeds will follow. If you can strengthen them in God's love, then their life will become better. You see, it was the love that raised Jesus from the dead.

Love is powerful. Love covers all. Love is the end all, be all. When you don't know what to do, God is saying, love them anyway. just love them anyway because it's a powerful force he first loved us so we can love others so i think about that scripture and i think to myself how can i spur my family on i have to consider it that means i have to meditate on it i have to think about it i can't do it the same way all the time i don't put it on autopilot i consider i meditate i dwell what works

best in this situation. You know, when I think about how to spur or cheer someone on, I think about the attitude of a cheerleader. Okay, I was never a cheerleader in high school, although I wish I would have. I guess I missed my calling. But I can be a cheerleader right here to my family. I can cheer them on. And it's not so much about raw, raw, raw. It's about an attitude. you think about being at the high school game and there's the cheerleader on the sidelines. What's the attitude of those cheerleaders? The attitude is a winning attitude. You see, when the scoreboard is in their favor, pom-poms are up and they are cheering their team on. When the scoreboard is down and their team is fumbling the ball and they don't seem to be able to get it together,

their tone never changes. They have a winning tone just a different chant. That's when you'll hear defense, defense. But their tone is still pointing the team towards winning. It's saying, hey, we can score. Let's keep our spirits high. I have never, ever seen the scoreboard down on the team. the cheerleaders were rooting for. Man, the guys are fumbling the ball. It doesn't look good. The cheerleader puts her palm, palms down, shakes her head. Says, I'm out of here.

I've never seen it. That's not the attitude of a cheerleader. A cheerleader knows how to keep the spirits up, but may chant a little different when need be. But always points their team to the winning goal. and that's what I want us to think about. What is your attitude towards those difficult situations? When maybe your husband, your wife, your children,

they don't seem to be able to get it together. Man, they keep fumbling the ball. What's going on? What do you do? What do you do when they do score? Do you take time to celebrate, to shout, to tell them how proud you are of them. You see, you've got to keep this attitude in the good times and in the bad times.

It's called consistency. And if we're going to set the tone for our family and we're going to create the life that we want to live with our family, we're going to have to be consistent. We're going to have to keep the tone of a winner. Listen, the last thing I want to hear when I'm fumbling the ball is what did you do that for? loser. I know that I'm fumbling the ball. I know that I haven't done well. I'm trying. I need someone to support me, to prop me up, to direct me towards the goal. I need to know that I can score. I don't need to be told that I'm fumbling the ball. I need someone there for me. It's interesting

because the Bible says, give to other people what you want. That's a good. way to keep it all into perspective when you're facing difficulties, when you're facing difficult situations with family members. And I know there are some family members that seem to never be able to get it right. But can I tell you, if you get it wrong, it's not going to change a thing. If you decide to tell them how bad they are, that's not going to change a thing. But if you'll get this tone, this winning tone right, you have a better chance of propping them up and helping them. You see, it's our response. Are we walking in a place of peace? Where do we get that peace? We get it from God. You know what I said before? We get everything from God. We can only live this life in victory

by getting it from God. You see, he's giving it to us so that we can give it to others. I realized when my daughter was about eight years old, how important my response was that it set the tone for what would go on. Joel, I think it was maybe his first book or second book, and we were as a family traveling all over the country. The publisher had set all of these book signings up and different dates, and so they had chartered us a little plane. And we were going all over the country. Sometimes we would be in three different states in one day. day. And so we have always done this ministry as a family. So we had, I had my little eight-year-old girl and my probably about 11-year-old son. And so we'd probably go into our second state and it was the middle

of the day and we were going in this little plane and my eight-year-old daughter Alexander was sitting across from me and we were just kind of hanging, chilling a little bit when all of a sudden the oxygen masks falls from the ceiling. And I just panicked. Big old eyes. Huge gas, I was like, we're dead. My little eight-year-old girl didn't know what was going on, but the tone setter was panicking. The mom in the bunch was freaking out, so she immediately began to cry. Just ball all of a sudden. She saw me and it just let go in an emotion of this is a bad situation.

And I realized, wow. I just set the tone for her. She was looking at me, and I set the tone for panic, for fear, for difficulty, for doubt, for unbelief. If I would have sat there and kept my cool and thought, you know what, if I scream, it's not going to keep this plane in the air. If I freak out, it's not going to change anything. If I could have just realized that my response, made all the difference in the world. Now needless to say the pilot came up and said,

sorry, a little bit of a malfunction as he crammed the thing back up in the ceiling. Thank God in heaven. I was like, ooh. But it showed me my response is powerful. And I tell that little story to say, your response is powerful. Whether your child is eight years old, 18 years old, or 38 years old, your response, you set the tone. It's powerful. When I call my mom on the phone to this day, she literally has the power to set the tone for me. Whether I like it or not,

there's a powerful thing because it's called the anointing of being a parent. It's just the way God made it. So I want to remind you today and myself, are we going to celebrate in the good times? and are we going to keep that winning spirit in the difficult times? See, it's all about our tone. It's all about the temperature. It's all about the winning spirit.

And I believe if we will do that and we get that from God, we're going to set the tone and have a great life, not only for ourselves, but for our families. Listen, if you want to pray right now, put your hand up in the air because I'm going to pray for our families here at Lakewood Church. I believe that we're going to have strong families, that we're going to continue to have strong families. Father, I thank you for every hand that's raised. All those who are listening online, Father, on Sirius XM, I thank you, Father. You know your people and you know their desire

to have strong families, Lord. Father, I thank you that those who are struggling in our family right now, those who are fumbling the ball and are losing their way, God, that you would help them right now in Jesus' name, that your strength would come in, Father, that you'd send labors across their path. that we could live an example as a light to them, Father. Lord, I thank you, God, that you will help them. And, Father, grow our family strong to love one another, to be there for one another, to stick together. Father, I think you will never give up on them.

We'll never run out of love for them, God. But we will keep that winning tone and that winning atmosphere, even if the chant sounds a little different. God, I think you will continue to point those we love towards you towards the high road and towards better days. Thank you, Father, that you will allow us to live balanced lives, whole lives. That, Father, we would be able to draw from you what we need so that we can give to those around us.

Thank you, Father, that you are working in the lives of the families here at Lakewood Church. You are breathing in their direction, Father. They are receiving it even now, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Thank you, Lord. What if every plan you set, every habit you formed, and every decision you made became a pathway to see God move in your life? We all have hopes and dreams and things we're believing for. When you start the year in faith, expecting God's goodness, you are setting the tone for a blessed new year.

We'd love to send you our 2026 Faith for Today planner. You can write down your dreams and goals, plus use it for your everyday activity. and reminders. It's important to feed your faith on a daily basis. This planner, it's not just a calendar. It's filled with scriptures and inspiration to help you stay encouraged and keep believing for what God has put in your heart. 2026 is your year to see the goodness of God in greater ways. Let go of what didn't work out and get ready for the new things God has in store. As our way of saying thank you for your gift of any amount this month, we would like to send you a copy of the 2026 Faith for Today planner. Each month features a fresh theme of encouragement, a guiding

scripture to stand on, room to write your goals, prayers, and vision, space for faith steps, because faith isn't passive, it's active, a monthly QR code linking to a message or video to keep your spirit lifted. With a 26 Faith for Today planner, you'll be reminded that living by faith makes room for God to do what only he can do. Break through in your business, God's healing touch, loved ones returning to faith, request your copy of the planner, and step into the new year with bold faith, fresh hope, and daily encouragement to strengthen your spirit and face every challenge with confidence. No matter what's happening around you, faith can rise up in you. Keep believing and expecting a blessed 2026.

Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day. Thank you so much for your prayer and support. Your generosity is helping people around the world. As we finish this year, I hope you'll consider making a special year-in gift to help keep the ministry strong. We so appreciate all the Champion of Hope Partners for your monthly support. We wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. Till we see you next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

Be sure to request your copy of this. 2026, Faith for Today Planner. Visit Joelosteen.com or call 888-567 Joel. For a special year-end gift this month, we are also offering the Faith to Share bundle. Keep one, give one, give the gift of faith, focus, and fresh hope for someone special in your life. You can also request the God's Word Work study collection. This empowering collection includes the NIV, The Message, Paralympalysis, Bible, a beautifully crafted leather bookmark and pen, and how to read your Bible and enjoy it, along with two planners. You can request these inspiring resources by calling 888-567, Joel, or logging on to joelosteen.com today. Call or click anytime 24 hours a day. Stay organized,

encouraged, and full of faith all year long. Request these resources today.