Chapters 9 and 10 in the Shepherding a Child’s Heart Book Study cover the Biblical Communication Method of Communication.

Rules, correction, and discipline, Tripp says, need to be undergirded by communication. Communication includes the following:

• Encouragement – “communication designed to inspire and fill with hope and courage”
• Correction – showing children when they are outside of God’s standards
• Rebuke – a “sense of alarm, shock, and dismay at what [a child] has done or said”
• Entreaty – communication that “involves pleading, soliciting, urging, and even begging… the earnest pleading of a father or mother who, understand his child, the ways of God, and the extremity of the moment is willing to bare his soul in earnest pleading for his child to act in wisdom and faith”
• Instruction – “the process of providing a lesson, a precept, or information that will help your children to understand their world”
• Warning – putting your children “on guard regarding a probably danger”
• Teaching – “the process of imparting knowledge… causing someone to know something”
• Prayer – both understanding what your children pray as it is “often a window into their souls” as well as modeling prayer for your child as “hearing your prayer will communicate your faith in God to your child”

This type of communication takes effort, time and prayer, but it can make a huge difference in your relationship with your children. I know this is something I am not always good at, but I am striving to improve my communication with my kids, especially when disciplining them.