My son bites his fingernails. I am sure he has spied me biting mine. I tell him that that doesn't mean it is ok.
In the book Hopeful Parenting, David Jeremiah talks about our grown children remembering not what we told them, but how we acted.
Am I modeling Christ-like behavior to my children? Do they see me reading the Bible or praying. Do they see me acting appropriately when someone cuts me off on the street or waiting in a long line?
I am human and I do fail. But the important thing is to talk about it and ask for forgiveness.
Jeremiah suggests that if we do not like a behavior in our children (which has been passed on) that we need to change ourselves, not our children. Easier said than done.
That struck me! I am so quick to say to my child.. "Don't do that. You need to stop." I don't realize I need to look at my behaviors and get them in check with God's word.
We are definitely a work in progress. Thank goodness for God's grace and abounding love.
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