sermonette: Teaching By Example
Children Learn By What Their Parents Do
Ted E. Bowling
Given 12-Oct-02; Sermon #579s; 14 minutes
Its 501. Have you ever heard the statement? That we are creatures of habit. So this is a true statement. From the time we were born, we begin developing habits. The developing habits is a process of learning skills. And this is done clearly by repetition. We do them over and over and over again. Until they are developed into a skill, which is just another word for a habit. And then we apply them into our daily lives. A habit is merely a a routine that um Usually it's most obvious as we begin developing our young children. They are, they are very, very small. Uh, We start working with them on setting up. And we will show them, we will work with them until they develop the skill. Which is is just a habit that's been developed. And then we will work with them till they are able to call. And then we work with them until they are able to stand up. And then the next step then is we work with them and show them how to walk. And these are just skills that are developed and which become our daily habit, which we do not even think about as we get older. And in this teaching of the skills and habits of our children, we as the parent are the key element in that development. Those skills that they will produce later on in life are those that begin as a small child. And as they grow, they become uh grow into have productive lives. We are preparing them that they might be a part of God's family because they are potential sons of
God. And in this process, we are the most important and the greatest, greatest teaching tool that they will have. Uh, would you please turn to Proverbs 22 and verse 6. Proverbs 22 and verse 6. Train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. Now the word train up means to initiate or to begin or to start. And they turn the way hishigas according to the tenor of his way. Or in other words, the path especially belonging to them. So from the very beginning, we are to begin to nurture and to instruct. Begain good habits in our children. And when they are old, they will not depart from them and seeing the guidance. And, and overseeing the guidance of each of our children is our responsibility. Now the the feast in Topeka, I had the privilege of meeting a very nice young lady, and she was the daughter of Bill Cherry. Her name is Kayla. Kayla is just about one year, one year of age. And every morning we have the opportunity to have breakfast with the cherries and with Caleb. And After we would say the prayer for the, for the, for the mill and everyone would say amen. Kayla would bow her head and in her own way would say amen. And at that point she realized that it was time to eat. Now she did not understood what she was doing. But that habit was instilled in her. And it will stay with her all the days if they continue to teach her that. And so we see by the routine of teaching. We will see that then by the routine of also praying. The routine of showing them the way, it will be instilled in them for the rest of their lives. Now, as we see our children grow, we see their physical characteristics begin to develop. The color of their eyes, the shape of their ears. The color of their hair The shape of her nose We start seeing that they are becoming just like us. Even in the gestures, even in their mannerisms, the way they talk, the way they walk, and even in the way they stand, which I see in my son. Where his grandfather stands. But more importantly, it's the way they developed in our character. That that that we see in them, the banners. The
kindness, the
love of family, the love of God. It is all developed by the characteristics that we have. And we, we are developing these all through their lives through the nurturing. And the instruction process. Please turn to Deuteronomy 6 verses 5 through 8. I think this is maybe one of the key forces that we see in Child rearing and raising children. So And this is the key to teaching our children. Verse 5 You shall love the Lord with all your heart. With all your soul, with all your all your strength. In these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. And shall talk to them when they sit in your house, when they walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up, you shall bind them as a song on your hand, and they shall be as frontless between your eyes. You shall ride them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. God shows us here that the foundation of teaching our children is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul. And strength And this is our part. This is our part of the instruction of our children. is that we are to be training and drawing nearer to God. In developing God in our lives that we may train them. The previous chapter, chapter 5 of Deutewami, shows us the instructions of the 10 Commandments. And all the chapters around that, we see the chapters of the statutes and the training that we were to have. And throughout the Bible we have inspiring stories to learn from. But if we do not believe them and do not live by them, Then our children will not believe in by them as well. Now, in our house, we do have the tantrumbans posted in our house in several places. We have several bottles to study from. We have commentaries and other research materials. We have the forerunner and other reading materials. But the greatest teaching tool that that they have are we the parents. When we read to them, keep the keep the the
Sabbath. We have to put that principle into action, and we are to conduct ourselves on the Sabbath in a holy and proper way. We show our fear of God by diligently every day trying to live by the word of God. We are leading by example and by that we are teaching by example. And we more teaching by For example, or even if we are not teaching by our example. We are teaching If we teach them to walk the path in which we do not walk ourselves. They will not walk in it. He that preaches to his children what he does not practice is working a work that will never go forward. Apparently tries to train without setting a good examples building with one hand and then tearing down with the other. James 1:22 says that the doers of the word and not heroes only deceiving yourselves, and we are deceiving ourselves if we can think that we can teach in any other way. I would like to Just go through a few examples and we can go through the gospels of the example that
Jesus Christ has set for us because all through the gospels, he taught us by his example. For 3.5 years we
see Christ teaching and talking to the disciples and the multitudes that followed. And he worked to establish God's skills and practices in his disciples through his word that he was teaching and through the word of God that we are learning from today. Are they setting the right example for them to follow. He showed them how to become in a crisis when they are out on the raging sea. He showed them how to be angry without sinning when he cast the merchants out of the temple. He showed them gentleness when he blessed the little children. He showed them humility when he washed the feet of the disciples. He showed them how to go through a trial when he was arrested illegally and then beaten and finally killed. He died teaching us his
patience, his long suffering. And had to forgive. Every day he was living by example and teaching by example. And through his example, we were able then to see the character in the mind of the Father, Chris, because Christ did say when you see me, you see the Father. So every day we have the opportunity to to nurture and to instruct. From the time that we get up until the time we go to bed, we are able to show them our love. Our dedication to God and that we do think the way that God thinks. So when we pray and when we study and when we work and when we play, We are teaching And we must have true love for our mates and for our children and for our family. And to have a true love for the brethren. Because in First John 33 and verse 18, it reads, Let us not love in word or in tongue but in deed and in truth. So our actions are the most important that we have for our families. When we go to work, we do the best job possible for our employees, employers and our clients. We keep our homes clean. And presentable Teaching them proper habits at home in this regard. And how we, how we react and we are cut off in traffic. Do we get angry. And when we are praised and when we are scorned. And in play our attitude when we win and our attitude when we lose. Even at softball practice when Richard throws a a fastball and I Catch it in the palm of my glove instead of the rub of my glove. Whatever my reaction is, I am teaching. So through our tests, and through our trials, and through our sicknesses, through our pain and sufferings and even through death. When they lose a job, Well we have nothing, no work to do. That
faith, if that faith remains in us, and that trust in God. We are teaching the right principles. In all that we do, we are giving a lifetime of teaching. We're giving a lifetime of training, so when, so that when they grow old, they will not depart from it. And so our goal should be that they see Christ in us, and that they will have the same goal for their life. It is easy to understand them. Why we must be praying for God's direction, God's intervention in all that we do. And it is easy to see why we must be examining ourselves every day that we are walking his way. I'd like to close with a poem by Edgar Guest. I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day. I'd rather walk. I would rather them walk with me than merely tag away. The eyes a better people and more willing than the ear. Find counsel is confusing, but examples always clear. The best of all the preachers are men who live their creed. For to see good put into action is what everyone needs. I can soon learn how to do it. If you let me see it done. I can catch your hand in action. But your tongue too fast to run. And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and true, but, but I would rather get the lesson by observing what you do. For I may misunderstand you in high advice that you give, but there is no misunderstanding how you act and how you live. And all travelers can witness. That the best of the gods today is not the one that tells them, but the one that shows the way.