And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.
And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. Deuteronomy 6: 6-9
This commandment was given to the nation of Israel to make sure that the fathers taught their children and their children’s children to love God and to continue to serve Him. As we look at the rest of Israel’s history we find that God blessed those fathers who followed this commandment. One phrase that illustrates this that we find many times in the Old Testament is “…and he walked in the way of his father…” This was true for evil as well as for good. We find this phrase refers to the lineage of the wicked king Ahab, as well as the king who was the man after God’s own heart, David. The easiest way to teach our children to love God and worship Him is to teach by example. Whether we plan to teach by example or not, we do!
As fathers we are teaching our children more by our actions than by our words. This teaching that we do by our actions is much farther reaching than just one generation. Several generations later it was still said that he “…walked in all the way of David his father,”
We teach either by a good or a bad example. We must be sure that the things that we are teaching our children and grand-children by example are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue and praise. Then God can bless our children for many generations with a true Godly heritage.
Young people, if you don’t have a father who teaches by a good example then follow Paul’s advice to Timothy,“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.” 1Ti 4:12
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