Monkey See...

I am not a parent. My wife and I have no plans to change that in the immediate future. However, I am a son. My parents are amazing: they have always set an excellent example for me. The lessons that I learned from them are innumerable, and I can never thank God enough for them both.

That is the perspective which I bring into today's discussion. Parents, your children learn from you. They learn not only the wisdom that you teach, but they learn behavior from watching you. This is not inherently a bad thing; in fact, God ordained it that way. Take a look at the following passage:

He decreed statues for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so that the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget His deeds but would keep His commands. They would not be like their forefathers- a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.

Psalm 78:5-8 (emphasis mine)

If you continue reading through the chapter, you find that the parents

• "did not keep God's covenant, and refused to live by His law" (10)
• "continued to sin against Him" (17)
• "kept on sinning in spit of His wonders" (32)
• "put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep His statutes"(56).

Here's where the point hits home. Immediately following the last reference above, we find these words: "Like their fathers they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow" (57, emphasis mine). The story that is recounted in this chapter spans generations; each successive generation follows the example taught to it by its predecessors.

If we want future generations to follow God, we have no choice but to model that lifestyle for them. This is a responsibility not just for parents, but for any of us who have influence on those younger than ourselves. The fact of the matter is simple: we cannot teach them to live as disciples of Jesus Christ if we are not doing it ourselves.

Bibliography

NIV Archaeological Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2005. Print.