Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp
Week 3: Chapter 2 — Your Child's Development: Shaping Influences
Read Chapter 2 of Shepherding a Child's Heart. Primary Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:4-9; Psalm 127:3.
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This chapter asks parents to think carefully about the powerful forces shaping a child's heart — from inside and outside the home. As you discuss, be honest about which shaping influences you have been most intentional about, and which you have overlooked.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Tripp describes children as being shaped by a variety of influences — the home, culture, peers, and the child's own sinful nature. Which of these influences do you tend to focus on most, and which do you tend to underestimate?
2.Deuteronomy 6 pictures parenting as a constant, woven-into-life activity — talking about God 'when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.' What does this vision of parenting look like practically in your family rhythms?
3.Tripp argues that parents are not neutral — they are either intentionally shaping their children's hearts toward God or they are, by default, allowing other influences to do the shaping. How does this challenge the idea that parents should stay 'hands off' and let children decide things for themselves?
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