I follow our church's Children's Ministry blog and they posted an excellent article this morning and I wanted to post a link here to share. If you have ever read Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp or Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman this concept will not be foreign to you. I struggle myself with finding the balance between simply trying to control behavior and delving into my children's heart issues to find the root cause of their behavior. But I totally agree with these authors and the author of this article in the link I am posting that it is essential to get to the "heart" of the matter else we are raising little Pharisees.... those that knew how to behave on the outside but whose hearts were wicked. I have found that great discussions occur with my children when we start discussing the heart issue(s) at hand under the sea of "That's mine!" and rolling of the eyes and then I have a great opportunity to share the gospel with my children. There are numerous occasions daily to show them their need for a savior, Jesus! I have to add also that in the process of peeling back the layers of their heart issues... I have revealed many of my own.. or, more accurately, the Lord has! At the ripe age of 30almost1, I must say that parenting has been the most sin revealing and sanctifying life experience I have encountered thus far. Well, sanctification is the hope!
Enjoy! This is from Grace Church in Greenville, SC:
Heart vs Behavior Article
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3 comments:
Thanks for the reminder. I think I need to pull out Ginger's book and refresh myself on some of her techniques...I've been slacking! Time to really dig into the heart issues and not just be satisfied with only changing the behavior.
Several people have told me about those books--I need to get them soon! Maybe in a month when I'm less sleep deprived : ) Thanks for sharing!
Yes, sanctification is the hope- for me too! Thanks for sharing!
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