Tedd Tripp’s book is truly the standard bearer on Christian parenting.  In it the author calls us away from a shallow view of parenting and leads us to see God’s perspective on the ultimate goal of parenting—reaching your child’s heart.

Too often Christian parents have been fed a steady diet of methods aimed at controlling behavior without addressing the heart.  While guidance in administering biblical discipline and maintaining biblical standards of behavior are essential, they miss the mark if they are not founded on a model of parenting that truly examines the root goals and objectives of biblical parenting.

Tripp calls us to see it all from God’s perspective and to aim it all at God’s glory starting with our own hearts as parents.  Are we using techniques to manage behavior so that we can meet our own selfish goals of “peace and quiet”, clean house, well behaved children that reflect well on us, etc.  Or are we aimed at leading our children to see in every situation that God is most interested in their hearts.  The Lord’s primary objective for us for every day and every situation is to shepherd our children’s hearts to see themselves as people who need a Savior and who find their hope only in the light of the gospel.