READ: Titus 2:7
Robert Fulghem said, “Don’t worry that your children never listen to you. Worry that they are always watching you.” Most of what our children learn is not from our words or our lectures but from our behavior. Good parenting, great marriages, and great families are a by-product that grows out of good living, the modeling of Christ-like behavior. God reminds us in Titus 2:7 that “We should be an example to others by doing good works of every kind. Let everything you do reflect the integrity and seriousness of your teaching.” Philippians 1:27 says, “Live in such a way that you are a credit to the message of Christ.” Great families are a by-product of excellent, Christ-like living. I think about the words of an old country song. It’s a prayer about a father and his son. It goes like this, “I want to be like you, Lord. I want to be like you because he wants to be like me. I want to be a holy example that his innocent life can see. I want to be a living Bible that his little eyes can read. I want to be like you, God, because he wants to be like me.” It’s never too late to begin to set a holy example of a Christ-like life. Are you living in such a way that your husband or wife or children or grandchildren see Jesus in you? The greatest gift you can give to those around you is a life of Christ-like character and integrity.
– Dr. Tim Thompson