Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Parenting Assumptions

In chapter 1 of Gospel-Powered Parenting, William Farley lays out 5 fundamental parenting assumptions. Powerful stuff!

1. You cannot be a perfect parent. Parenting reminds us of our need for the gospel.
2. God is sovereign but He uses means. You cannot save your kids but God often uses godly parents to lead children to Himself.
3. A good offense is better than defense. Protecting our children from worldly influence is not our fundamental goal. We are to do everything possible to make the gospel attractive. He says, "We change their hearts by teaching the gospel, modeling the gospel, and centering our homes on the gospel."
4. Don't assume the new birth. The new birth is a miracle that creates new affections not slight changes in behavior.
5. Effective parents are not child-centered. In this section, Farley gives a powerful example of a child-centered family as opposed to a God-centered family. We don't worship our kids; we worship God.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great Summary of Farley's poignant tips.

BoldLion said...

Wow! What a book to read! I do agree with this. I wish that I can afford to buy them to give to my nieces and nephew who does have children or is excepting. They will need this.

Hungry to eat His Word,
'Guerite ~ BoldLion