You And Me Forever: Marriage In Light Of EternityНамуна

"Modeling"

Your children need to know that God is the most important thing in life. They need to know that His will matters most, that He is worth sacrificing for, that He loves them unconditionally, that His promises can be trusted, and a thousand other essential truths. 

But teaching our kids means more than speaking truth into their lives. 

They need to see that truth demonstrated, played out in our daily activities. 

If you teach your children that God’s promises are trustworthy, but live as though they are not, what do you think they will end up believing? If you tell your kids that God is worth sacrificing for, yet you never make any sacrifices for His sake, how do you think they will respond? 

The frightening truth is that we could say all of the right things to our children and yet renounce all of it with our lifestyles. A preacher can speak truth in a sermon that he doesn’t apply to his own life. Some people will notice the inconsistency; many will not. But when it comes to our own children, they are with us all the time. They know what we value, how we spend our time, what motivates us. 

When we tell our children that God matters more than anything else, they will know the extent to which we actually believe that statement. 

Unless we think through these concepts deeply, our children will grow up believing that the gospel is something we talk about, rather than something we live. 

Discuss with your spouse: Regardless of what you verbally teach your kids, what do you think they are learning from the way you conduct your lives?