Reading Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids With the Love of Jesus was like a breath of fresh air. It challenged and excited me to make every moment of my parenting, of my life, all about grace and the gospel.
Here is the book description from amazon:
All of us want to raise good kids. And we want to be good parents. But what exactly do we mean by “good?” And is “being good” really the point?
Mother-daughter team Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson contend that every way we try to make our kids “good” is simply an extension of Old Testament Law—a set of standards that is not only unable to save our children, but also powerless to change them.
No, rules are not the answer. What they need is GRACE.
We must tell our kids of the grace-giving God who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters. If this is not the message your children hear, if you are just telling them to “be good,” then the gospel needs to transform your parenting too.
Give Them Grace is a revolutionary perspective on parenting that shows us how to receive the gospel afresh and give grace in abundance, helping our children know the dazzling love of Jesus and respond with heartfelt obedience.
Please don't misunderstand what this book is saying. It's not saying that rules are never needed or that grace is defined as no rules. Rather, we should not be putting our confidence in rules. Just because kids keep rules does not make them right with God. No, they need the gospel. Just because I can check things off my list of successful parenting tips will not guarantee godly kids. No, I need the gospel in my parenting. But God can be trusted to take my weak and often grace-less parenting and infuse His power into it, changing my kids' hearts and my own.