Shepherding a Child's Heart & Chapter 1

i have begun to read a book by Tedd Tripp titled Shepherding a Child's Heart. Adley is to the age now where discipline is a factor in every day. Therefore, i have began to read this book as a disciplinary guide. We want to discipline the right way and it all beings with God; as do all things. So, please join me as i study this amazing read on biblical childrearing. This is a blog for you to read, as well as notes for me as i read through the book. I strongly suggest purchasing it and reading along with me!

Part I: Foundation of Biblical Childrearing

Chapter I: Getting to the Heart of Behavior

The heart is the control center of life

Prov. 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

The behavior a person (even children) exhibit is an expression of the overflow of the heart.

Your childs needs are far beyond what they express in their outward behaviors.

You must look at the heart that drives the actions.

Matthew 15: Jesus denounces the pharisees who had honored him with their lips while their hearts were far from God. He prescribes that they are people who wash the outside of the cup yet the inside is still unclean.

In disciplining our children we must not only address the outward issue but get to the root of the problem within.

Your concern is to locate your childs sin, helping them to understand how their actions reflect a heart that has strayed from Jesus.

You must go to the scripture for answers.

You must understand your children in relationship to the two broad sets of issues that affect them:
1) The child and his relationship to the shaping influences of life.
2) The child and his relationship to God.

Questions from Tripp at the end of Chapter I:
(my personal answers)
1) Explain the importance of dealing with the heart in discipline and correction of children.
If you read through Matthew chapter 15 you better understand that it is not the outward actions that make a person clean or unclean it is what is on the inside-or in your heart. A childs problem goes deeper than a single action, it is a matter of the heart.
2) Describe the centrality of the heart in directing behavior.
The root of every issue is embedded in the heart. To use a key you must find a door. The door to your childs behavior is the heart, the action is merely a key. Just like a lock changes so does the action.

Scripture readings;
Prov 4: 23
Mark 7:21
Luke 6:45
Matt 15