Leading Your Children By Example

I came across this quote today “The faith of the children almost always mirror that of parents.” This is so true. Your children are watching you. They know you. They know the good the bad and the ugly. What they need to see from you is that through the good the bad and the ugly that you are are dependent on God. It is through the ups and downs of life that our children learn the most from us. If you were perfect your children would have trouble learning how to respond when they make a mistake. So as an imperfect parent we need to embrace the role God has given us and display habits that model following Christ. Below are a few habits that we should model for our children.

Prayer. Your children should see you pray. I am talking real genuine conversation with God. This could take place at the dinner table or before bed, but I want to challenge you to find other times to model prayer for you kids. It could be when you pass an accident on the highway, or see you have lost your cell phone and are loosing your mind.
Christian Community. Your children should see you engaged in christian community. They should see that you have friends that support and love you and that you support and love. They should see Christ as a vital part of how you relate within that christian community.
Loving others. Your children should see how you love. Especially how you love those that you don’t agree with or those who the world might view as less value. You children will learn the value of other people from you. From you they will also learn about handling conflict with others.
Serving. Serve with your family. It might be something organized by the church or another group, or it might just be something you do as a family. Maybe you serve by caring for a neighbor or friend, bring you child along. Allow them to get a glimpse into how you care for others.

The ministry impact that many children and youth ministries have in the lives of students is built on the fact that parents, are the primary disciples of children not youth and children's ministries. The reasoning behind this is that you, the parent, have far more influence on your children’s lives that than anyone else. Don’t sell yourself short on the impact that you can have. Lean into it and lead by example.