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- He knows that the rod gets the attention, but the conscience must be plowed up and planted with the truths of God’s ways.
- To see them deal with issues of their Godward orientation, you must take correction beyond behavior to addressing the issues of the heart. You address the heart by exposing sin and appealing to the conscience as the God-given adjudicator of right and wrong.
I like these two quotes from chapter 12 because they show us that the “rod” has a purpose. All of communication and discipline has a purpose. It’s to bring our children to a self-assessment based in God’s law. It’s comparing ourselves to God’s law – a law that we cannot possibly keep – that brings us to understand our need for Him. We need the forgiveness that Jesus provided through His death on the cross.
It is our job as parents to create an environment where our kids can reflect and dig into their heart issues. We create teaching moments where they can properly assess themselves and come to an understanding of their need for God. Correcting outward behavior is only half the issue. Without reaching their hearts and directing them God-ward, they will continue to revert their course and be forever stuck in a cycle of trying to correct wrong actions.
These chapters wrap up the first part of the book. We’ve read off of the theory and principles. Next week we turn our focus to learning how to apply what we’ve read in the first section.
It’s your turn! What struck you in these chapters?What have you learned in the first section of Shepherding a Child’s Heart? Share in the comments and/or link up a blog post.
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