Have you ever noticed that children want to be just like their parents? If you have a child, you know exactly what I mean.
They want to dress like you, eat like you, play like you, and yes… talk like you. Children are like a dry sponge applied to a spill. They will soak everything up. Then at some later point in time, they will expel what they soaked up. Whether you know it or not, you are teaching your children how to become adults by your actions. As parents, one of our greatest responsibilities is to model a life of worship for our children. Modeling a life of worship is not about developing an artistic expression to celebrate God. It is about living every moment of your life for God’s glory and purpose. Deuteronomy 6:5-7 focuses on the importance of modeling a godly life.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
There are two important principles these verses reveal.
1. You can’t model what you don’t know.
My son decided that he wanted a drum set for Christmas a few years ago, so I figured that it would be easy for me to teach him. I understand rhythm and music, but I didn’t understand the drums. I tried teaching him, but to no avail. In fact, after playing around with the drums for ten minutes, my son was a better drummer than I could ever be! That episode showed me that it is important to know about what you are going to teach or model. Because I don’t know anything about how to play drums, I was ill equipped to teach my son. Similarly, parents cannot effectively model worship if they themselves are not worshippers of God. Parents must “love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their might.” Modeling worship requires that parents know the God they are passing on to their children. There are many ways that parents can grow in their love of God. These ways include reading your Bible daily, praying, doing life with other parents, and meditating on Scripture to name a few.
2. Effective modeling requires consistency and dedication.
My second cousin is a professional baseball player. In order for him to have become the great player that he is today, his uncle would take him to the baseball diamond day after day, week after week, year after year, and work on the skills needed to make it to the MLB. Whether it was working on fielding ground balls, differentiating between a curve ball and a slider at the plate, or knowing when to steal a base by analyzing the pitcher’s delivery to the plate, my uncle would diligently teach my cousin the nuances of the game. The Bible encourages parents to consistently and diligently teach their children to worship God in the home, in the everyday activities of life, at bedtime, and at morning. In other words, there is no wrong time to model worship to children. Any moment of any day can be an opportunity to model worship for your child.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”
There are two important principles these verses reveal.
1. You can’t model what you don’t know.
My son decided that he wanted a drum set for Christmas a few years ago, so I figured that it would be easy for me to teach him. I understand rhythm and music, but I didn’t understand the drums. I tried teaching him, but to no avail. In fact, after playing around with the drums for ten minutes, my son was a better drummer than I could ever be! That episode showed me that it is important to know about what you are going to teach or model. Because I don’t know anything about how to play drums, I was ill equipped to teach my son. Similarly, parents cannot effectively model worship if they themselves are not worshippers of God. Parents must “love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their might.” Modeling worship requires that parents know the God they are passing on to their children. There are many ways that parents can grow in their love of God. These ways include reading your Bible daily, praying, doing life with other parents, and meditating on Scripture to name a few.
2. Effective modeling requires consistency and dedication.
My second cousin is a professional baseball player. In order for him to have become the great player that he is today, his uncle would take him to the baseball diamond day after day, week after week, year after year, and work on the skills needed to make it to the MLB. Whether it was working on fielding ground balls, differentiating between a curve ball and a slider at the plate, or knowing when to steal a base by analyzing the pitcher’s delivery to the plate, my uncle would diligently teach my cousin the nuances of the game. The Bible encourages parents to consistently and diligently teach their children to worship God in the home, in the everyday activities of life, at bedtime, and at morning. In other words, there is no wrong time to model worship to children. Any moment of any day can be an opportunity to model worship for your child.
