Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp is a book on parenting. Not having read a lot of books on parenting, I am not quite sure what my expectations should be or how to evaluate it. By looking at the Amazon reviews, it seems that you either love this book or hate it. This comes recommended by a fellow pastor with young children and a godly couple within the church. So, I am inclined to appreciate Tripp's insights, even though I cannot evaluate what is said from experience.
With that being said, the main idea of this book I agree with whole-heartedly and without reservation: parenting needs to aim at the heart - not to modify behavior or to fulfill our own deficiencies. Tripp gives some excellent biblical advice on how to think about raising kids in a godly home. He does a great job of bringing that simply point home, both through positive and negative examples, scripture, and the evaluation of other methods of parenting.
This emphasis is the fundamental tenet of this book: the heart is the wellspring of life. Therefore, parenting is concerned with shepherding the heart. You must learn to work from the behavior you see, back to the heart, exposing heart issues for your children. In short, you must learn to engage them, not just reprove them. Help them see the ways that they are trying to slake their souls' thirst with that which cannot satisfy. You must help your kids gain a clear focus on the cross of Christ. (p 6)
I enjoyed the book; I am sure that it will inform my parenting. I also hope I have several more months before I need to be working my way back to heart issues in Cora :)
No comments:
Post a Comment