Smith And Wesson Jr. Was A Son Of A Gun

It's no secret.  If you have parents, whether alive or passed, you have many of their traits.  You probably grew up being told "You look just like your mom (or dad)."  You probably catch yourself saying things that one or both of your parents said while you were growing up.  You may even have many of the same interests.

This is normal.  It's how things work.  You will never find an orange that grew on an apple tree.

So, as parents, we have a GREAT and sometimes scary responsibility for our children. We must teach them in the ways of God.  One of the best ways to teach them is by living what we teach.

Here's what Psalm 78:1-8 says (The Message):


Listen, dear friends, to God’s truth, bend your ears to what I tell you.
I’m chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I’ll let you in on the sweet old truths,
Stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother’s knee.
We’re not keeping this to ourselves, we’re passing it along to the next generation—
God’s fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done.
He planted a witness in Jacob, set his Word firmly in Israel,
Then commanded our parents to teach it to their children
So the next generation would know, and all the generations to come—
Know the truth and tell the stories so their children can trust in God,
Never forget the works of God but keep his commands to the letter.
Heaven forbid they should be like their parents, bullheaded and bad,
A fickle and faithless bunch who never stayed true to God.

In Proverbs 22:6, we find this gem: "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

While it is true that there are parents who have taught their children the ways of God both by instruction and example and have still lost them to the world. It is tragic when this happens, but it is the exception and not the rule.  Your children look up to you and try to emulate you.

This is even true of adopted children.  Even though we adopted our children when they were 9, they have become little "us"es in many ways.  They tell my jokes.  They have taken on many of our likes and dislikes.  I can you that they 100% different children than when we first adopted them.  They really are "mini me" like.

Many parents approach parenting with a "do as I say, and not as I do" attitude and then expect faithfulness. It will not happen. At some point, children will stop following instruction and start following example. The parent who smokes will continually tell their children it is a bad habit, they'll tell them "don't you do this" and then light one up. The parent who drinks will say, "this is not for children" and wonder why their children take up the bottle when they get the chance. Instruction is part of child rearing but example is the clincher! 

So, be the best example you can be.  Live out what you teach.  Your children will appreciate you and they will realize that mom and dad weren't so wrong after all.

One day.

After they turn 21, most likely. :)

That's all.
Gregg