“If rules and regulations had the power to change the heart and life of your child, rescuing your child from himself and giving him a heart of submission and faith, Jesus would have never needed to come.” (49)Īs a result, parenting is transformed from a paradigm of ownership to one of representation. You have to be able to confess your sins and recognize your own idolatry in order to lead your children to the Savior. Then you’re not parenting out of autonomy, but out of submitting to God’s authority, not out of self-sufficiency, but out of inadequacy. The best person to lead your child to the Rescuer is one who has himself been rescued.

They want to be God, to be their own authority.īut the problem is we’re just like our children! That condition leads to two lies: autonomy and self-sufficiency. It’s a problem of the heart, rooted in worship, which spills out into their character. Oh and here’s the thing-they can be happy, obedient, and successful with good grades and bright futures, and still be lost. What’s inside them is far more dangerous. Their greatest danger isn’t surrounding culture or outward temptation.

The heart of our children’s disobedience is sin-not just an act, but a condition. In parenting God invites us to participate in his rescue mission of the children that he has given us. Those ‘Aha!’ moments were not uncommon as I read it.įor Tripp the essence of parenting is Jesus’ command in the Great Commission: Make Disciples. If you’ve been a Christian for a while, this book may feel intuitive, articulating previously murky ideas. In his 2016 book Parenting: 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family, he rubs the gospel into the essence of parenting. Paul David Tripp helps to bridge the gap. Those days are more about me than about the gospel. I just want knickknacks picked up, general obedience, a little peace and quiet, and some manners. Some days, in my sorority house of 6 girls ages 11-18, I can get a little cranky and controlling.

I believe the gospel sometimes it just doesn’t show in my parenting.

Paul david tripp parenting book