The Faithful Parent
“In all of eternity, there has been only one perfectly faithful parent, and he had the only perfectly faithful son.”
With that arresting statement about God the Father and God the Son, Martha Peace and Stuart Scott begin their book, The Faithful Parent: A Biblical Guide to Raising a Family. The book which was released this year is a biblically-grounded, hands-on, how-to book for Christian parents. While there are other good books out there, the specific and comprehensive attention to each age (infant, toddler, pre-school, elementary, teenager), is particularly useful.
As authors, Martha Peace and Stuart Scott are themselves faithful guides on the family. As family friends, both are now grand-parents, and each have written a book on marriage, respectively The Excellent Wife and The Exemplary Husband. Moreover, both are actively involved in family ministry, biblical counseling, and training biblical counselors.
In the opening pages, Peace and Scott, lay out the goal of parenting, “to be faithful to God’s Word by his grace and for his glory” (4). They define what biblical faithfulness is and articulate from Scripture that faithfulness has two primary responsibilities: “to bring [children] up: (1) in the discipline of the Lord, and (2) in the instruction of the Lord” (9). Their two-fold purpose statement makes the parental task simple, without being simplistic. As every parent knows, disciplining and instructing children in the fear and admonition of the Lord takes Spiritual wisdom, power, patience, and perseverance, but to have a memorable purpose is helpful for the cluttered lives of parents.
The rest of the book explains principles from the Bible on how to instruct your children in the gospel and to discipline in meaningful and practical ways. For those struggling with instruction and/or discipline–as all parents do–this book will prove to be most helpful.
So, for all the families in our church with children, this book is a must read.
It is more than a quick how-to, to read and put down. It is a book that you will want to keep handy throughout your time as a parent. Or, if your children are grown and have children of their own, make this book an immediate birthday or father’s day gift. If applied, the biblical wisdom distilled in The Faithful Parent will bear eternal fruit.
For a more detailed commendation of The Faithful Parent, see my book review at TGC Reviews.
For Christ’s Glory and Your Joy, Pastor David
