Over the past few weeks I have been reading through Ed Moll and Tim Chester’s book, Gospel Centered Family. So far it is proved to be an excellent resource. The authors are clear and concise in their definition of the gospel and its impact upon our families. I would highly commend this book as a “must read” for Christian parents.

Being approximately half way through (page 45 of 92) I thought I would share a few observations as well as a powerful quote from the book.

The book is structured into four parts with its eleven chapters being divided up under these main headings; A Gospel-Centered Family, A Grace-Centered Family, A Word-Centered Family, and finally, A Mission-Centered Family.

As I came to the second part, A Grace-Centered Family, I appreciate that the authors place the discussion of discipline under this main heading. Theologically understood, discipline is the product of grace. As we consider our Heavenly Father who has adopted us by sheer grace; we come understand Godly discipline as an act flowing from grace and love. We then apply the same principle to discipline within our families.

In addition to the placement of their discussion of discipline, the authors also introduce the topic by first addressing discipline for the parents. I greatly appreciate the principle presented here in this chapter. That is “the greatest obstacle to good discipline is our own selfish hearts.” Here Moll and Chester apply a Biblically informed view of our parenting sins and selfishness; pointing us back to the gospel and our need for grace.

Moll and Chester further address our need for grace in the chapter following, entitled, Grace for a Parent’s Heart. In this chapter they present the following principle: “Trying to be a good parent will crush you if you don’t embrace grace.” It is from this chapter that I would like to offer the following quote.

“What we do with…guilt tells us what we really believe about the gospel. How ironic that trying to give a true picture of God’s amazing forgiveness can make us feel guilty. It’s more than ironic; it can become a dangerous cycle. If we feel condemned, we won’t communicate grace, making us feel still more condemned. If we want our families to be gospel centered, then we must bring the gospel to bear on our own failures. If we can’t bring our parenting sins to the cross, then we don’t have any good news to celebrate. We can’t communicate grace to our children if we’re not communicating it to our own hearts.”

Ed Moll and Tim Chester, Gospel-Centered Family, pg. 32-33

Again, I commend Gospel-Centered Family to Christian parents as we all seek to preach and apply the gospel to ourselves and our families.