Rooted Parent Top Ten February 2025

Welcome to the Rooted Parent Top Ten, a curated list of resources from across the web that we believe will be helpful to parents raising teenagers. Here you’ll find articles, podcasts, and videos to support you in gospel- centered discipleship and interpreting youth culture. While most are gospel focused, others are included because they include a message of common grace. (The opinions presented in these articles do not necessarily reflect the position of Rooted Ministry.) At the end, you’ll find Rooted resources compiled from the last month’s new offerings. We hope this resource is helpful!

Gospel-Centered Parenting

A Christian Philosophy of Parenting? By Paul O’Brian, inx.com. “There will come a day when [our kids] will not have the innocence that they did when they were young, that is inevitable. What we should desire as parents is not innocence forever, but that they will choose to pursue what is true, good, and beautiful.”

Are You Building Up or Tearing Down? by Julie Lowe, New Growth Press. “ The mark of a Christ-centered interaction is selflessness. It is speaking in order to pour forth his kindness and to imitate a glorious Savior. When we choose to treat one another in this way, we are giving what we have received from the Lord.”

Shepherding Kids Through the Loss of a Loved One by Kathryn Butler, Desiring God. “Validate your children’s feelings as they grieve. Especially when they’re young, children may not feel sorrow at the loss of a loved one and worry their response is somehow wrong when everyone else is sad.”

Answering Kids’ Hardest Questions: Won’t God Accept Me Because of the Good Things I’ve Done? by Sarah Walton, Crossway. “. We can help our kids when they’re younger to understand they can’t be good enough, because no matter what, we have all fallen short of God’s standards. And strangely, there’s freedom in that because we don’t have to prove that we deserve it because we will all come up against something at some point in our life where we are faced with our fallenness.”

The Baptized Imagination: How Fiction Builds Faith by Derek Holser, New Growth Press. “A baptized imagination, saturated in the eternal virtues, propels a person to the place where what they’ve imagined through art becomes thinkable in life. Through the story of Reepicheep’s bravery, we grow inspired to stand courageously in the face of danger. Because of the self-giving cruciform love of Aslan, we gain another framework for understanding the cross.”

Teen Culture

Boredom is good for kids. Here’s why — and how parents can help them embrace it by Kate Murphy, YahooLife. “Most kids who experience boredom can foster patience, problem-solving and distress tolerance.”

Increasingly, teens want injectable fillers, peels, and other cosmetic procedures—and a surprising number of parents approve by Beth Green, Yahoo Life! ““If a teen asks for a non-surgical cosmetic procedure, parents should consider the emotional and mental health implications…”

To Share With Your Teenager

Student Athlete, Receive the Affirmation of a Better Father by Ben Weber, TGC. “Behind their grind and relentless drive, many young athletes seek the unconditional love and affirmation only God the Father can provide.”

The Sports Betting House Always Wins. Who Loses? We Do. by Rashan Frost, TGC. “Sports betting perpetuates the sins of idolatry, greed, and dissatisfaction with God’s provision. It feeds on vices rather than virtues and godliness. It’s highly addictive. With the ease and convenience of a smartphone app and a credit card, sports betting has become yet another dopamine-inducing “scrolling” activity alongside social media platforms, online pornography, and other addictions just a few clicks away.”

Gen Z, Fight ‘Brain Rot’ by Reading Books by Luke Simon, TGC. “Western civilization itself was built by readers.”