Train Up a Child
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Not until I had the photograph developed did I realize I’d caught the pattern.
Look at the feet and legs, the arms, and the focus of attention in this father and son—my husband, Mike, and our son, Jake. At two years old, Jake mirrored his father perfectly without even trying, without awareness of what was happening. It just came naturally.
You could say it was in his DNA. Or you could say it was the power of parental influence.
Our children do what we do. The old cliché, “Like father, like son,” is cliché for a reason.
We see the same principle hold true with Jesus and His Father, and Jesus emphasized the point to his followers:
“Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does” (John 5:19,20).
Whether we are fathers or mothers, neighbors or friends, we often “train up a child.” We teach others by the way we live. Do they learn how to pray by watching us? Do they learn how to respect and love and laugh by living in our presence?
In these post Father’s Day hours, may we be mindful of the example we are providing, and pattern our lives after our heavenly Father who is not given to selfishness or hatred or violence or absence. He loves us more than any earthly father can.
Let‘s emulate Him—for someone, somewhere, will surely do what we are doing.
~~~
His father’s bold pen dominated the page, third entry from the bottom, noting the date that he and Madeline Bennett were wed. The familiar writing burned against Cade’s heart like a branding iron, and resentment fired once more toward the man who failed to practice what he preached. The man whose arrogance had cost his children both father and mother. -An Improper Proposal
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