WHAT THEY SEE AND HEAR

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6 KJV

A little girl saw her mother clapping so she clapped too.  She didn’t know why her mother was clapping.  She was following her example.  Our children are going to do and say what they see us do and hear us say.  My Mother used to say to me “Don’t do what I do, do what I tell you to do”.  It doesn’t work that way.

A teenage boy said to his parents “You go to church, teach Sunday school and sing in the choir but when you come home you criticize the pastor and the sermon.  If this is what being a Christian is, I don’t want any part of it.”  What about us?  Are we just telling our children what to do but not setting the example?

Jesus not only tells us what to do, He also has set the example for us to follow.  He has commanded us to love one another as He loves us.  Are we doing it?  How does He love us?  He loves us unconditionally and He also forgives us no matter how many times we hurt Him and break His heart.

Jesus is very protective of children and it upsets Him when children are mistreated.  “But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).  Jesus really loves our children.

One day we will stand before a Holy God and give an account of the way we treated our children.  May God have mercy on us if we are hurting our children by not setting a good example for them.  We get angry when someone mistreats our children.  God also gets angry when we mistreat His children.    

Joanne Lowe

October 17, 2016