““Family. Moralism can make a person a slave to parental expectations, while relativism/pragmatism sees no need for family loyalty or keeping promises and covenants if they do not meet one’s needs. The gospel frees us from making parental approval a form of psychological salvation by pointing to how God is the ultimate Father. Grasping this, we will be neither too dependent nor too hostile toward our parents.””
![“God has already shown us the way [to parent]. He parents, not according to an external list of rules, but according to his nature. Because he is a God of abounding love, he showers love and tenderness upon his children. Because he is a God of clarity and fairness, he provides definitive…” quote by Leslie Leyland Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/08e/leslie-leyland-fields-65345_children_god-has-already-shown-us-the-way-to-pare_2892824.jpg)
![“24 A few pages later, Delbanco writes the following: [Alexis de] Tocqueville’s detection of a “strange melancholy in the midst of abundance” has a special salience today — because while we have gotten very good at deconstructing old stories (the religion that was the subject of my first chapter…” quote by Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/85a/timothy-keller-240_sad_24-a-few-pages-later-delbanco-writes-the_25320.jpg)
