Pass the Blessings!

Wouldn't it be nice if each kid came with their own instruction book? They did not but God did leave us with many instructions that are to be applied to our lives and theirs. Often, they follow us as we follow Christ or not! Just like ripples in the water or echoes in a tunnel, our actions have the potential to be duplicated. As our children watch us, they may duplicate our behaviors whether we want them to or not. Just as the next succession of ripples become bigger than the original ripple or echoes take on distortions with every successive echo, so can our children's behaviors. Their interpretations of our behaviors take on a life of their own with every generation. We pass on our likes and dislikes. We can't say to them, 'Do as I say, not as I do.' They don't turn us off when we are doing less than desirable actions but listen and watch attentively when we are doing something that we want them to imitate. We have an awesome responsibility to model lives for our children to follow. Our next generation and every generation afterwards needs for us to pass the blessings of examples to follow that are pleasing to God. We don't have to guess, we just have to read and live the Bible. Loving and accepting them unconditionally as Christ loved us is the key to their success!