Thank you all for your patience as I have taken a respite from blogging to welcome not one, but TWO new grand-babies into the world! My sweet Nora was born in July, and my sweet Haven was born in October. They are both beautiful, healthy, and precious!
While I was visiting for Haven’s birth, I spent a lot of time with my four-year-old grandson Bryce. We were coloring, which I enjoy, but then I decided to draw a picture of Spiderman. Confession time…just as I have no talent in growing plants (I am officially known as the Freddy Krueger plant murderer), I also have no talent in drawing. NONE! My Spiderman ended up looking like an alien who had surgery. Bryce solemnly assessed my sad attempt and announced, “Nana, you are not a very good draw-er. But it’s okay. You can hold my marker while I draw Spiderman, and I will teach you.” I laughed almost to tears until the truth of it hit me.
The truth was…Bryce had already discovered that most people don’t learn by being TOLD how to do something. Instead, he offered to model it for me and let me copy him. When I was homeschooling, I read about learning styles and discovered that a whopping 65% of people learn best by WATCHING OTHERS. I began to think about how much I try to tell my grandson about Jesus and how to live in a way that brings glory to God. No matter how much I verbally teach him, it is by watching how I respond to everyday life that actually teaches him the most about how a Christian should live.
What a sobering truth! Paul knew this when he instructed the church in Corinth to “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). I have always thought that sounded quite bold of Paul to have that much assurance in telling others to follow his example. Doesn’t that sound a little overly self-confident? But that’s exactly what we are supposed to do with our kids and grandkids! And they are learning following our example.
We don’t just teach them Bible stories and simple prayers. We love God in ways they can see. We explain that we make certain choices because we want to please God. We model the behaviors. We love and serve others, even those who aren’t like us or aren’t easy to love. We show them the spiritual disciplines and habits that a believer should have. We show humility and ask forgiveness when we don’t do it right. We admit we don’t know all the answers but explain the Bible does. We trust God even when life hurts. And somehow through our imperfect lives that are slowly being changed to be more like Christ, we pray that our children and grandchildren get it. I pray Bryce and Nora and Haven will get it. And I remember they are following my example.
Yes, church is an important place of learning for a believer. But the family is the primary place of spiritual teaching. It’s where we live life. It reminds me of a song by Phillips, Craig, and Dean called “I Want to Be Just Like You.” I encourage you to listen to it online because it will encourage you to point your kids to Jesus! The chorus says:
“Lord, I want to be just like You
‘Cause he wants to be just like me
I want to be a holy example
For his innocent eyes to see
Help me be a living Bible, Lord
That my little boy can read
I want to be just like You
‘Cause he wants to be like me.”
(Phillips, Craig, and Dean, released 1994)
Oh, Lord, I want to be just like You. I pray I do a better job at that than I do at drawing Spiderman!