Proverbs 1:1-5, KJV

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels…”

I hear continually from a wonderful ministry called No Greater Joy that, “more is caught then taught” in regards to our parenting. This could not be truer! What this means is that we can teach until we are blue in face, but in the end our children mimic our example more than our instruction. If we desire to raise up great, healthy children who contribute to the good of our society, we must ourselves rise to a most excellent standard. That standard is none other than Christ Himself. What a magnificent teacher and example we ourselves have!

In our family some of our greatest values are transparency, accountability, reverence and respect towards the Lord and His Word as well as hard work. We also strive to be quick to forgive and show grace. We fail often at all of these things, but everyone knows it our aim and because of that we hold ourselves accountable to the truth. How refreshing it is for our children to know that they can hold even their own parents to these standards when they fall short! What an example to them of how the body of Christ is exhorted in the Bible to always submit to one another in the fear of the Lord (Ephesians 5:21).

What kind of culture are you building in your home? We can only expect from our children what we ourselves are willing to give.

If the greatest commandment in the Bible is to love the Lord our God with all our heart and our neighbor as ourselves, (Mark 12:30) what are we doing personally in our lives to achieve that? Would you like to see your children read the Word? Do you yourself read and draw from its wisdom and guidance daily? Do you desire to see your children act generously and graciously towards others? Then you yourself must practice it regularly!

Dear parent, if you have a desire to raise great children, then you yourself must strive for greatness! Put all that you have into the things that you value and it will flow back into your children. Are my husband and I perfect? Not even close! But our hearts are sincere and I thank God that He uses our sincerity to teach our children His truth. May God grant you the grace you need to establish a good culture in your family!