What will your son or daughter watch more carefully than anything else?
A bigger screen television?
The latest Hollywood blockbuster DVD?
Actually, they want to watch the message of your life … if it’s clear, positive and inspiring.
In his best-selling book Bringing Up Boys, psychologist Dr. James Dobson says that modeling is one of the two most powerful ways that a parent transmits his or her influence at home. The other is the power of specific
instructions.
1. What the father models is especially important. Dr. Dobson writes: “If character training is a primary goal of parenting, and I believe it is, then the best way to instill it is through the demeanor and behavior of a father. Identification with him is a far more efficient teacher than lecturing, scolding, punishing, bribing, and cajoling.”
2. Dr. Dobson adds: “If you are honest, trustworthy, caring, loving, self-disciplined, and God-fearing, your boys [and girls] will be influenced by those traits as they age.… So much depends on what they observe in you, for better or worse.”
3. He notes: “If you’re not sure who you are … or what you
are trying to say with the ‘message of your life,’ your boys
(and girls) will have no consistent example to follow. Such a plan should
begin, I believe, with a personal
commitment to Jesus Christ, who will
guide your steps in the days ahead. Unless you know Him, your efforts to
model righteousness will be inadequate and hollow.”
4. You can provide a positive role-model for your child when you:
