Set a Good Example!

Day after day, I observed a mama and daddy bird bringing bugs to feed their four hungry baby birds in the nest on our porch. Every time I looked out the window, I’d see one of the parents sitting on a post watching expectantly for an unsuspecting bug to fly by, or I’d see a parent swoop in—bug in mouth—to feed the young ones.

As human parents, we understand the struggle to provide for our offspring, don’t we? We know about the extra—often difficult—things we do in order to meet the needs of those in our care. Although we’re often worn out from working so hard to provide what our children need, we continue to do all we can for them. That’s what loving parents do!

Soon the day comes, as it did for the bird family, when the young ones leave the security of the nest and enter the adult world. Hopefully, they will thrive there. And when it’s their turn to parent, they’re likely to follow the examples we set for them, examples of faithfulness, kindness, dependability, loyalty, love....

And children do model what they’ve heard us say and seen us do. Although some children will behave dramatically different from their parents, most usually follow the example Mom and Dad provided for them. Scriptures such as 1 Kings 22:51-53 (below) confirm that.

Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly imprinting our attitudes and actions on others, especially the younger generation whose minds and hearts are as easily molded as Play-Doh.

May God help us to provide good and godly examples.

Ahaziah the son of [King] Ahab began to reign…
He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD 
and walked in the way of his father 
and in the way of his mother [Jezebel]…
[Ahaziah] provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, 
to anger in every way that his father had done.

1 Kings 22:51-53, ESV