Shepherding a Child's Heart

by Tedd Tripp

Let’s imagine you are dealing with the problem of a child’s failure to do his homework. Here are several common, but unbiblical, approaches used to change a child’s behavior. Bribery approach: “Do your work all week and I’ll take you to the ball game.” Emotional approach: “Please do your work. I get so upset when you don’t. It makes me feel like crying. I wonder where I went wrong.” Or, “I have invested an awful lot in your education and you are making me feel that I have wasted my money.” Punitive approach: “You didn’t do your work, so no TV for a week. If you fail again tomorrow it will be no TV for two weeksweeks…. ” Behavior modification approach: “For every day you do your work, I’ll put a slip of paper in the jar with your name on it … ” I-didn’t-turn-out-so-bad approach: “If I didn’t do my work, Grandpa used to smack me around. It didn’t hurt me; I learned to do my work … (smack).” Or perhaps, “When I didn’t do my work, he left me alone and sooner or later I learned my lesson. It’s your problem, not mine.”