Parenting: The 14 Gospel PrinciplesShembull

Mercy

One of the biggest errors Christian parents can make is allowing themselves to forget. If you allow yourself to forget the daily mercies you receive from your Father’s hands, mercies you could never earn, it will become easier for you not to parent your children with mercy.

Mercy is tenderheartedness and compassion toward someone in need. Our children are just that—needy. They need guidance and protection; they need help and rescue; they need wisdom and instruction; they need confrontation and discipline; they need patience and grace; they need love and compassion; they need support and provision; and they need to see God and themselves with accuracy. There is not a day when your children do not need your mercy.

Because of this, your primary calling as a parent is not first to represent God’s judgment, but rather to constantly deliver his mercy.

—Paul David Tripp