An Example to Follow
My daughter married a God-fearing, cowboy boot-wearing Texan who is a wonderful husband and father. He’s a hard- working man on the job as well as at home. He pitches in with washing bottles, folding laundry, and taking out the trash. A few days ago my daughter sent me this picture of their little guy. He saw a bag of trash that was just his size, picked it up, and headed to the garage. He had seen his father do this countless times, so he was simply following his daddy’s example.
Children learn by our example and often imitate our words and actions. As parents and grandparents, it’s a daunting responsibility to make sure we set a good example for our kids and grandkids. Since we are flawed and human, we cannot be a perfect example for our children. It is important to let our kids know we are not perfect and that we often do things we should not do. But we can point them to Jesus—the perfect Son of God who sets the example for us to follow.
Ephesians 5:1 (NIRV) says, “You are the children that God dearly loves. So follow his example.” Other versions say, “Be imitators of God.”
If we do our best to be imitators of God, we will set an example for our kids and grandkids to follow. Of course, we can only do this by asking God to fill us with the Holy Spirit and to be guided by the Spirit in every area of our lives. Even when it comes to taking out the trash!
Crystal