shepherding book quote 4

From Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Tedd Tripp...

"Parenting is not just providing good input. It is not just creating a constructive home atmosphere and positive interaction between a child and his parent. There is another dimension. The child is interacting with the living God. He is either worshiping and serving and growing in understanding of the implications of who God is or he is seeking to make sense of life without a relationship with God.

If he is living as a fool who says in his heart there is no God, he doesn't cease to be a worshipper - he simply worships what is not God. Part of the parent's task is to shepherd him as a creature who worships, pointing him to the One who alone is worthy of his worship. The question is not 'will he worship?' It is always 'whom will he worship?'" (p. 22; emphasis mine)