Parenting by Paul David Tripp
Week 10: Principle 9 — Expect a Mess
Read Chapter 9 of Parenting by Paul David Tripp.
Previewing Week 10 of Parenting
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 17-week guide when you’re ready.
Tripp's ninth principle is both realistic and strangely comforting: your family is going to be messy, and that is not evidence that something has gone terribly wrong — it is simply what it looks like when sinners live together. Bring your honest experience to these questions.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Tripp argues that expecting perfection — or near-perfection — in your family sets you up for disappointment, shame, and anger. Where do you carry unrealistic expectations for your children, your spouse, or your family as a whole?
2.He makes the point that sin does not take a vacation in Christian homes — that grace does not eliminate the struggle, it equips us for it. How does this reframe the feeling of failure that many parents carry when their kids keep sinning?
3.Tripp describes parents who are surprised and angry every time their child sins, as if each failure is a fresh catastrophe. What expectation is hiding beneath that anger? How might realistic expectations produce more measured, gospel-shaped responses?
a.Think of a recurring behavior issue with one of your children. What would it look like to engage it with patient expectation rather than fresh outrage each time?