For the next 15 weeks we will look at how we can change or develop the worldview of our children. How our children think is directly related to the issues of their heart and through the instruction of Tedd and Margy Tripp, we will see how we can "instruct their hearts."
Chapter 1 - The Call To Formative Instruction
We are in a battle for the minds and hearts of our children with the secular culture. It's voice is compelling and loud. With slickness and skill, the message to our children (and to us) is that life is all about me. The things we deserve, want, what it takes to be happy, and what we can't live without. It has produced young people who are characterized by depression, restlessness, who are critical, argumentative, unmotivated, and unimpressed with the previous generations.
Throughout this study, we will look at formative instruction - that which "forms" or "shapes" our children from the Scriptures. It is actively teaching our children to live the reality that God defines life. He has spoken and calls for parents to commend His words to the next generation.
Formative instruction and corrective discipline are not the same thing. Formative instruction is happening all the time where discipline occurs when behavior needs to be corrected.
Those who have the book, read chapter one and those who do not, get your copy right away and join the reading and discussion. Here are some questions to consider after reading the chapter:
1. The authors state we are in a war with the culture. What and where in your home is the enemy asserting power and influence? (Romans 12:2)
2. Take a look at some of the values that your family are living out - dress, actions, thing that you do? All of these have been shaped by someone or something. Who are you and your children imitating?
3. Assess the attitudes in your home. Do you or your children tend to be critical? Restless? Cynical? Argumentative? Unmotivated? --Why?
4. What are the sources of instruction to your children? What are they watching, listening to, reading and who is influenicng them? How many hours each day and week are they being influenced by whom Psalm 1 calls "the counsel of the wicked", "the way of sinners", and "the seat of mockers."
5. How are you presenting the Scriptures to your children? Are they tools to beat up on your children's behavior? Are they words of mercy and grace that reveal the incarnational love of Christ, redemption, and hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
6. Are you loving God's Word so your children will?
0 comments:
Post a Comment