The Lifegiving Parent Review

To be a lifegiving parent you need the life of Christ within you. Many parenting books focus on technique or methods of discipline. By contrast, Clay and Sally Clarkson’s new book focuses on the kind of parent you need to be to pass on the life of God to our children — hence the title — The Lifegiving Parent.

From the Publisher:

In today’s world, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and even paralyzed by the constant flow of parenting advice. We’re flooded with so much practical information that we wonder if we’re choosing the right way. And we may be missing the one thing God really wants us to give to our children: His life. God doesn’t include a divine methodology for parenting in the Bible, but He does provide principles that can enable any faithful parent to bring His life into the life of their home.

In The Lifegiving Parent, respected authors and parents Clay and Sally Clarkson explore eight key principles―heartbeats of lifegiving parenting―to shed light on what it means to create a home where your children will experience the living God in your family.

Becoming a Lifegiving Parent

There is nothing I want more for my children than to pass on a vibrant faith to them. The Lifegiving Parent gives practical steps to help us as parents do that.

At the top of the list is having life within us to give. We cannot give life unless we have life.

I left this book with more of a desire to have the life of Christ flowing through me. But I also appreciated Clay and Sally Clarkson’s encouragement to cling to the faithfulness of God in our parenting even when we make mistakes.

As parents, we often fail. We are unfaithful to the ideals we have set for ourselves. We fail in patience, or kindness, or consistency. But as the Clarksons remind us throughout the book, God never fails.