Walking in Integrity
The righteous man walks in his integrity; His children are blessed after him. Proverbs 20:7
As a teacher and pastor, I am well aware of parents' impact on their children. If you are around a child for more than 10 minutes, you will get a glimpse of life at home. Children absorb and reflect the actions and words of their parents.
Parents often live out the saying, "do as I say, not as I do." But the fact is, children and teens will follow what you do more than what you say – especially if your actions are different from what you tell them. It's hard to teach your child not to lie if they observe you lying (in the form of excuses) to get out of doing something. If you are a parent, you have a great responsibility to live your life with integrity, not just for yourself, but to model what integrity looks like. Many times parents will send their children to church or youth group with the belief that the church will teach them moral integrity. However, children will follow in the footsteps of their parents.
When our kids were young, people would often joke that our kids would become rebellious since we were pastors. I was not joking when I informed them that they were wrong. You see, the Bible says in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they are old, they will not depart from it." The instruction to "train up" means modeling what a Christian life looks like all the time – not just on Sundays. That meant showing them what it looks like to forgive and have compassion. It meant disciplining them for not obeying the first time we gave them an instruction. It meant having serious consequences for lying. It also meant showing them that going to church and serving God was fun.
The results were that we enjoyed our teenagers. They were so much fun and didn't even think about being rebellious. Now they are all serving the Lord as adults. They have integrity in what they do because they were shown what it means. They read their Bibles because they saw how to apply the verses to their own lives and situations. They were shown how to pray, worship, and serve God.
Living with integrity doesn't mean that you do everything perfectly. Our kids would vouch for the fact that we were far from perfect. They would also tell you that we tried our best to live what we preached and were quick to ask forgiveness when we messed up. That's all you have to do. Live honestly with a heart to love and serve God, and your children will be blessed as they follow in your footsteps.
Dear Lord, show me how to train up my children with integrity so that they will be blessed. Amen.
