Frequently parents ask me why "Shepherding a Child's Heart" remains so
popular 14 years after it was first published. I can suggest a few
answers.
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" provides parents with biblical advice. I believe the Bible is a true, timeless and trustworthy revelation of God that is never upstaged by more modern ideas. I have drawn my understanding of human needs and potential from the Bible. I have accepted the Bible's prescriptions for the human malady as accurate and true.
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" is a paradigm shift for most parents because it focuses on parental nurture (shepherding) rather than constraining and controlling external behavior. It recognizes that children, like adults, make choices that are driven by their hearts. When we behave badly or do things that are unkind it is because our hearts, at that moment, love something else more than we love God and others. Shepherding the heart involves helping children discern the internal motivations that shape their external behavior. It helps children discern not just the actions and/or the circumstances of behavior, but also the internal motivations of that behavior.
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" helps parents bring the power and grace of the Gospel to their children. If the problem of behavior for children and adults is a heart that has strayed from God's ways, the answer is the power and grace of God that can transform us internally. Grace cleanses, grace transforms, grace empowers; that's a realistic message of hope for children and their parents.
A good test of a book is the other books that are produced to extend the same paradigm. My wife Margy and I have recently co-written Instructing a Child's Heart. Several excellent titles by other authors come to mind as well: Get Outta My Face!, by Rick Horne, Everyday Talk: Talking Freely and Naturally about God with Your Children, by John A. Younts, Don't Make Me Count to Three: a Mom's Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline, by Ginger Plowman and Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens, Second Edition (Resources for Changing Lives), by Paul David Tripp.
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" provides parents with biblical advice. I believe the Bible is a true, timeless and trustworthy revelation of God that is never upstaged by more modern ideas. I have drawn my understanding of human needs and potential from the Bible. I have accepted the Bible's prescriptions for the human malady as accurate and true.
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" is a paradigm shift for most parents because it focuses on parental nurture (shepherding) rather than constraining and controlling external behavior. It recognizes that children, like adults, make choices that are driven by their hearts. When we behave badly or do things that are unkind it is because our hearts, at that moment, love something else more than we love God and others. Shepherding the heart involves helping children discern the internal motivations that shape their external behavior. It helps children discern not just the actions and/or the circumstances of behavior, but also the internal motivations of that behavior.
"Shepherding a Child's Heart" helps parents bring the power and grace of the Gospel to their children. If the problem of behavior for children and adults is a heart that has strayed from God's ways, the answer is the power and grace of God that can transform us internally. Grace cleanses, grace transforms, grace empowers; that's a realistic message of hope for children and their parents.
A good test of a book is the other books that are produced to extend the same paradigm. My wife Margy and I have recently co-written Instructing a Child's Heart. Several excellent titles by other authors come to mind as well: Get Outta My Face!, by Rick Horne, Everyday Talk: Talking Freely and Naturally about God with Your Children, by John A. Younts, Don't Make Me Count to Three: a Mom's Look at Heart-Oriented Discipline, by Ginger Plowman and Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens, Second Edition (Resources for Changing Lives), by Paul David Tripp.
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Dear Mr. Tripp,
Thank you so much for your book and the DVD series, Shepherding a Child's Heart. I'm currently running a small group with parents of young children in my church and we are using the DVDs. They have been an incredible resource.
Because we all have young kids (7 and under) we still spend the majority of our family worship times in the narrative portions of the Bible. We were talking the other day in our small group about using Bible stories as a time to talk about ruling motivations of the heart, using various Bible characters as examples of "overflow of the heart" issues. We wished we had a list of Bible stories that were particularly good examples of various heart-level sins. Are there any good written resources you know about that would serve as a helpful guide to us as we lead our family worship times?
Luke,
I can speak for Tedd on this one. The Herein Is Love series by Nancy Ganz is designed to do exactly what you are asking. It is available on our website. Thanks for asking about this!
Thanks, Jay!