4. “The three most frequently used apple-nailing strategies are threat, manipulation and guilt.” Keeping in mind that apple nailing is itself ineffective in changing a child’s heart, explain why each of these methods is ineffective in the long run even for changing behavior. 5. Note that each of these three bad strategies has a good twin: God himself warns sinners, rewards righteousness and convicts us of our guilt. Compare God’s goal in his good strategies to our human goal in our bad strategies. 6. “Lasting change in a human being always travels through the pathway of the direction system— the heart.” Discuss why heart change yields lasting behavioral change. Talk about changes in your own heart that occurred early in life, that have changed your behavior still to this day. What brought the changes about, and how might your own experiences suggest ways for you to induce similar heart change in your children? How Did It Go Last Week? Share your successes and trials with the group. (10 minutes) Did your children enjoy hearing about their awesome God in the stories you read from the Bible? What practical opportunities did you find to actively model humble love of God and authentic love for people to your children—without telling them what you were doing? Did you find opportunities to point out to your children their own sin, and did you lead them to Jesus for confession, forgiveness and transforming grace? Talk about your experiences.
Session 3
GETTING TO THE HEART OF PARENTING
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