People know that we love books and that we love the topic of parenting, so we often get asked the question: “What is your favorite parenting book?”
Now technically, the best parenting book is the Bible. That’s the Sunday school answer. But if we’re honest, at first glance, the Bible is confusing when it comes to parenting. For one thing, there is not a book of the Bible that is devoted to parenting. This seems strange at first, because parenting is really important. I have often wondered why Paul didn’t write a book that was specifically about parenting. I mean, he didn’t even write a full chapter about parenting in any of his books. Have you ever thought about that? Why didn’t Paul in the letter to the church in Philippi or Jerusalem or Ephesus or Rome or wherever, why didn’t he include a chapter to say, “Ok, parents, here’s the deal. This is how you parent. This is how you raise up a generation that will love the Lord their God. This is how you do it. The entire future depends on it!” Have you ever wondered why he didn’t do that? I’ve often wondered that, and I still don’t know the answer. My best guess is based on what we do know about God and what we do know about His Word. We know that from beginning to end, God has been interested in relationship. He’s been interested in our hearts. So maybe He wants us to pursue Him and read His entire Bible as we learn how to be the parents that our kids need us to be. Maybe it’s a good thing that Paul didn’t share 10 tips and tricks to get our kids to behave.
With that in mind, we want to share our favorite parenting book with you. The reason that we love it so much is that it isn’t simply 10 tips and tricks to get your kids to behave. Instead, the authors remind us that our Number 1 Goal is to raise kids who love God. Period. That is the goal. And the first step towards that goal is for us to be followers of Jesus. They start from that foundation, and then they add on a ton of practical ways to put the Bible into practice as we raise our kids in this modern era. The title of the book is Raising Passionate Jesus Followers, and it is written by Phil and Diane Comer. They raised a handful of kids who have grown up to be adults who love Jesus passionately, including the author John Mark Comer. Phil and Diane host a podcast with one of their daughters and her husband, called Intentional Parenting. They are raising young kids and are in the thick of all of the issues that come up, and they bring so much wisdom and transparency and joy and hope to every conversation. We highly recommend this book, and we highly recommend this podcast!!
Raising Passionate Jesus Followers is the best book we’ve ever found that helps us apply the truth of Scripture to our parenting journey. If you haven’t read it, we hope that you’ll pick up a copy today!
