As we saw in the last post, manipulation of behavior obscures the beauty of the gospel. Manipulation also builds walls that relationships cannot penetrate. So, instead of identifying with our children in their battle with sin, we stand apart from them and critique their failures. We may even discipline faithfully. But if we discipline without coming along side our kids and showing them that their struggles are the same as ours, we hide the gospel. In the previous post Tedd Tripp used the issue of selfishness to show how you can connect with your children and make the gospel practically real to them. Using his thoughts as a guide consider how many ways you can identify with your children […]
Daily Archives: March 8, 2013
2 posts
Shaming our children is hypocrisy. That, of course, is where I will always end up when I am trying to manipulate behavior. If, however, I deal with the heart, I will no longer be hypocritically distanced from my son. I can stand in solidarity with him and his struggles with selfishness. I can put my arm around him and say, “I understand what you are experiencing. I understand selfishness. Dad has his own struggles with being selfish.” I am not excusing selfishness as okay since I am selfish too. Rather, I am simply identifying with this common struggle with sin. Not only do I understand the struggle, I know where I must go with my struggles with selfishness. I […]