Saturday, November 10, 2007

Your Child's Heart

 
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If you don't have Shepherding A Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp order it today! I first read this book when one of our pastors recommended it many years ago. I did not have kids then, but I bought a copy and read it while I was pregnant. Now that I have 4 kids (well, one is still in utero), I am rereading it and getting even more out of it. Granted, I can only comment on the part about kids 5 and under.

The book is great at balancing outward obedience with what is going on in your child's heart. We must lovingly, diligently, and patiently train their little hearts to be oriented toward God. Tedd Trip uses the diagram above as a very helpful illustration. Our kids caught right on when we showed it to them. "Inside the circle you are promised blessing. If you leave the circle, I have to save you and help restore you to the place that God has promised you blessing and life." We discipline our children as servants of the Lord. The goal is not to humiliate them or make them pay for embarassing us but to teach them about repentance and forgiveness.

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