Should I Try to Be My Child's Friend?

The Nature of True Parental Love

You want to engender a loving relationship with your children. They should know without a doubt that you deeply love them, even on their worst day.

But your job is not to be the best, coolest friend of your child. If you need that kind of peer acceptance from your children, what will happen is you will compromise your authority all over the place. You won't offer them the guidance, the wisdom, and the boundaries that every child needs. In fact, you have to love your children so much that you are willing to be rejected by them in order to do what God has called you to do. That's love.

Jesus knew when he came that he would be despised and rejected for who he was, for what he said, and for what he did. But he was willing to do it, because he loved us. That's the kind of love you want to give to your children.

Paul David Tripp (DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) is a pastor, an award-winning author, and an international conference speaker. He has written numerous books, including Lead; Parenting; and the bestselling devotional New Morning Mercies. His not-for-profit ministry exists to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life. Tripp lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Luella, and they have four grown children.