Parents Set the Example

Christian parenting is not an easy task in today’s world. Our children are exposed to ungodly influences everyday. Moral values must be taught in the home, or our children will learn them from their peers. Many of our children’s peers have secular values that have little to nothing in common with the moral values taught in the Bible. What we do, or don’t do in our homes reflects in the morals of our children. Therefore, we need to first take care of the wrong attitudes within us, so we may be good examples for our children. We need to make sure that we are living according to the morals we wish to teach them.

Having a faithful prayer life is one way we can set a good example for our children. We should communicate with the Lord daily through prayer and we should let our children see us doing it. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (The Holy Bible: King James Version, Jas. 5:16). We need to teach our children to confess their sins, to pray for others, and to keep an open communication with the Lord. When our children see us praying, it shows them, by example, how to have a healthy prayer life.

Our children must also see us taking the time to read the Bible. No Christian can fully know God’s laws on how to live without reading and studying Scripture. “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (II Tim. 2:15). We must read the Bible and teach our children to do the same. But it goes beyond that, we need to not just teach our children to read the Bible, but to also dissect it, to study it, to find the correct interpretation. If we do not teach our children how to study the Bible, then they will often be led astray by false doctrine and worldly teachings.

 As Christian parents, we should teach our children to love the Lord and put him first in their lives. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.” (Luke 10:27). But, we should also teach our children to love those around us. How we treat those around us is an important factor in modeling Christian morals to our children. If we are hateful, then our children will learn to be hateful. Bullying has become a serious problem among children and too often that cruelty in contagious. As Christians, we need to end the cycle of hateful attitudes by being a living example of how to treat those around us. “Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct.” (Ryle 27).

 As a parent, we need to be responsible and set a good example for our children. Many times, we have areas in our own lives where we tell our kids to, “Do as I say, not as I do.” If we have habitual sin in our lives, our children are sure to repeat them, no matter what we tell them to do otherwise. If we model a godly life, then our children will more likely to do the same. We can’t ignore this aspect of parenting. We must be the principal example for our children on how to live. We need to, “Speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.” (Tit. 2:1). If we speak and live according to sound Biblical doctrine, then our children will more than likely follow suit.

 Our children learn more from our example than anything else, so we need to be very careful to live a lifestyle that aligns itself to Scripture. We need to teach our children to live a godly life with diligence, through both instruction and example. Our actions speak louder than words. It is vitally important that we begin instructing and disciplining them at an early age, so they are less likely to be influenced by ungodly morals. If we are living an obedient life, the morals we live by will be reflected in our children. “Children will be good decision makers as they observe faithful parents modeling and instructing wise direction and decision making on their behalf.” (Tripp 53).

 Blessings!
Susan Lee Rose

 Works Cited:

Ryle, J.C. The Duties of Parents. 1888. Mount Morris: Lamplighter, 1993. Print.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994. Print.

Tripp, Tedd. Shepherding a Child’s Heart. Wapwallopen: Shepherd Press, 1998. Print.