Paul Tripp 1

This week I want to look at some great words of advice from Dr. Paul Tripp and one of my favorite parenting books, Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide To Parenting Teens. Dr. Tripp says the anger, frustration, discouragement, irritation, impatience, and fear that parents feel during the teen years not only reveal that the teen is struggling, but that the parents are as well. If we allow our hearts to be controlled by something other than God, we will fail to view the teen years as a time full of opportunities, but as a time full of a constant stream of hassles brought on by a selfish, immature person who upsets our otherwise comfortable life. Tripp says this is idolatry. Failure to deal with our idolatry will mean that we turn God-given moments of ministry into moments of anger. We will personalize what is not personal, become adversarial with our teen, and settle for quick solutions that do not focus on our teenager’s heart. This is an age of opportunity!