In this episode, we are talking about getting to the heart of the behaviours that our kids develop over time and how the Gospel shapes our everyday encounters with our kids.
We want to correct our kids, but we often focus solely on behaviour and not on the hearts of our kids.
Likewise, in our parenting, we should be concerned not just with the what of behavior, but the why. If we do not focus on the why, on where the behavior came from, we will miss the idols of the heart and, ultimately, miss the Gospel. Which, of course, will not lead us to glorify God and it will not lead our children to faith. Rather, our children will simply learn to be obedient to our whims and desires, and maybe even pretend upon a faith that they don’t have, only to rebel against this in their adulthood - it’s so easy to force behaviour onto people, isn’t it? That’s one thing that we’ve seen in this pandemic. But changing someone’s heart? That’s a miracle that only God can bring about.
I. The importance of the heart
Our children’s behavior is telling us something about their hearts, because all behavior flows from the heart.
A. The heart is the control center of behavior; so behavior reveals the heart.
B. Yet, is our parenting is often designed to control behavior?
Tripp observes: “A change in behavior that does not stem from a change in heart is not commendable; it is condemnable.”
When we focus solely on outward behavior, we encourage our children to become Pharisees.
Let’s try to fight against that by reminding ourselves to go after the heart of our kids. A great book to help us start thinking through these things is Parenting by Paul David Tripp - maybe grab a copy of that and read it to better think about how you might help your kids, and the kids of our church, grow in godliness in this way.
