About the Host
Ron Deal
Ron L. Deal is one of the most widely read and viewed experts on blended families in the country. He is Director of FamilyLife Blended® for FamilyLife®, founder of Smart Stepfamilies™, and the author and Consulting Editor of the Smart Stepfamily Series of books including the bestselling Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages® and Becoming Stepfamily Smart (with Dr. Gary Chapman), The Smart Stepfamily: 7 Steps to a Healthy Family, and Preparing to Blend. Ron is a licensed marriage and family therapist, popular conference speaker, and host of the FamilyLife Blended podcast. He and his wife, Nan, have three sons and live in Little Rock, Arkansas. Learn more at FamilyLife.com/blended.
Episode Transcript
Ron: You know that advice I gave you yesterday—about dealing with difficult people. Well, sometimes, you should just ignore it.
Announcer: For FamilyLife Blended®, here’s Ron Deal.
Ron: Yes, sometimes going the extra mile is the best way to deal with unreasonable, difficult people. But other times, the most loving thing to do is to politely say, “No” to their demands and destructive patterns. Say “No” to a teen’s repeated request to hang out with the wrong crowd, an ex-spouse’s refusal to pay child support or spend time with their kid or a co-worker’s harsh words. There’s a time to speak up for what is right.
Will it change the difficult person? I don’t know. When smothered in grace and love, perhaps. But more importantly, it just might change us. For FamilyLife Blended, I’m Ron Deal.
Announcer: To find out more visit familylifeblended.com.
FamilyLife Blended with Ron Deal is a production of FamilyLife®.
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