A Biblical Guide to Parenting
Greg Grindinger, our pastor in Illinois, highly recommended Age of Opportunity by Paul David Trip. This gospel-drenched guide is aimed at parents of teenagers, but I'm convinced that it's not limited to just that age group. This book continues the theme of Mr. Tripp's brother's book that the goal of parenting is to shepherd the hearts of our children.
The author rejects the notion that parents must settle for merely surviving the teen years. Yet he also rejects the idea that our focus should be on getting the right behavior. This produces a short-term victory, at best, and as soon as our children are out from our system of control they will begin to act in ways that are more consistent with the true motives of their heart. Instead we are to focus on the spiritual struggle, viewing the difficult, problem situations as God-given opportunities to develop a biblical mind in your child.
1 comment:
You misunderstood that statement. The author of the book talks about the "idol of control" and says,
"The goal of parenting is to raise children who were once totally dependent on us to be independent, mature people who, with reliance on God and proper connectedness to the Christian community are able to stand on their own two feet."
and a little later,
"The goal is to be used of him [God] to instill in our children an ever-maturing self-control through the principles of the Word and to allow them to exercise ever-widening circles of choice, control, and independence."
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