Examples For Children

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Proverbs 24:33-34; Proverbs 4
  
• O: We must diligently live the example that we want our children to emulate.
  
• A: Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk from your lips. Let our eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. It can be too easy at times to stray off course. While getting back on course can be done -- and sometimes easily -- when you're engaged in the process of raising children, permanent damage can be done when you allow yourself to stray. We must remember that our children are watching -- all the time. They see everything we do, all the time. They hear everything we say. And they repeat our actions. Like a little monkey-see-monkey-do, my 22-month-old daughter mimics everything she sees. Her older brother is her biggest example, and everything he does, she does. By the same token, my son has picked up all that he knows from those around him -- mostly his mother and myself. So we must at all times remember to watch our tongues, be careful what we do and say. Not that my wife and I have a problem with fowl language, but sometimes simple things like talking about a person's weight, or our opinion of something someone else may have done, can become public knowledge when our little echoes run around repeating our very words to the very people we were referring to. In addition, we must set an example in all that we do. My wife is very much frustrated with the obvious lack of modesty most people have today -- especially women. You cannot turn on the television set without exposing yourself -- and your children -- to more flesh than anyone should be subjected to outside the bedroom. But it isn't just on television. Any casual stroll through the mall, or Wal-Mart, or any other public place, puts us in a position to see more than we care to see, and much more than we want our children to see at their age. As a father and devoted husband, I must constantly be averting my attention from whatever the next indecent exposure will be. And I must virtually predict what's coming up and where, so I can avert my attention in advance. I want to model the right behavior for my children, and to openly display for all to see that my wife is the only woman that I have any desire for. Not only must my son see that it's not right to exploit women, my daughter must also see that there is nothing attractive in that type of behavior so that she won't feel compelled to model it herself some day. And teaching those things to them must begin at a very early age. All it takes to throw these young impressionable minds off course is for me to falter in my step for just a moment.
  
• P: Lord, help me to lead by example in all that I do and say. Help me to keep my feet on the right path and to show my children -- through words and actions -- what is right and what is wrong. Guide me down the path, Lord, that I may guide my children well.
  

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The Great Commission

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• Somedays, there just doesn't seem to be much to say. I've read through several online devotionals today, looking for the one that just struck the right cord with me; one that would make me feel like I had something to add to the conversation, so I could share it here. I guess it just doesn't always happen that way. It seems that almost everything I read this morning was about sharing your beliefs and your faith with others. Well, we should all be doing that all of the time anyway, shouldn't we? I shouldn't need a daily devotional to tell me that. The Bible tells me that. That is, after all, what The Great Commission is all about. To spread the teachings of Christ throughout the world. And we must each do our part in that, no matter how large or small that part might be. I long for a devotional of sorts that hits home in a different sort of way. Something that speaks to me on a daily basis about life, and work, and going about things each day. Parenting. Leadership. You know, day to day stuff. I have a couple of resources I'm going to look at and may be using here a little more than the online devotionals that, though they are good, all seem to share the same thoughts. The Good Lord willing, this won't become just another rehash of all the online devotional sites already on the web.
  

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Lead By Example

Today's Daily Soap {Scripture | Observation | Application | Prayer}

• S: Matthew 23:1-12
• O: Jesus told his followers that the religious leaders of their day were more show than go, and that although they must follow their direction, they were not to follow their poor example.
  
• A: Basic leadership principles dictate that one should never ask those who follow him to do something that he will not, cannot, or has not done himself. It is imperative to lead by example. As I stated yesterday, our actions are critical, because what we do speaks louder than what we say. Do we rebuke our employees for being late to work, but never show up on time ourselves? Do we drive them as a taskmaster while never doing any tasks ourselves? Have you, as a leader, ever cleaned the restroom? Small things, sure, but they speak big words. In your walk with God, do you go to church on Sunday, sit in the sanctuary, sing and Amen along with the service, then go to work on Monday and use foul language, tell suggestive jokes, and drink to excess during lunch? Do you try to tell people that Jesus saves while all the while living your life like you could use a little salvation yourself? Words are just that, words. We can all use whatever words we like. But they can be very shallow things if your actions don't have a little meat to them. You must live the example that you would want others to follow. Your words only take on importance after your actions have set the tone for what you say. Your words should reinforce your actions rather than contradict them. Are you all bark? Or do your actions have a little bite?
  
• P: Lord, help me to lead by example, at home, at work, and in public. Help me to examine my actions before others can to make sure that my actions and words are in agreement and present the best possible example for others.
  

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