Gloria Filiorum Patres

As a father of 2 sons, I can attest to this type of influence even with sons under the age of two. It was noted the other day that JMEjr was resting not only similar to a posture which I do, but exactly like me. . . Hands behind head and legs stretched out. We also notice with him that he either repeats or mimicks (sp?) our words, actions and reactions. Yes even our not-so-God-glory-fying reactions and words. When I read this article, I affirmed it all the way. Enjoy.
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The Family Room

The Power of a Parent’s Influence

In the FR, Grant drew our attention to these insightful words by Pastor John MacArthur, “Success in parenting is measured by what the parents do, not by what the child does. To the degree that we have followed God’s design for parenting, we have succeeded as parents before the Lord…Having said that, I want to stress that sometimes – I should say often – parents are partly to blame for their wayward children’s rebellion. And it is my observation over the years that parents are generally more to blame for wayward kids than society, or peers, or any of the other influences parents tend to blame.”

I appreciated Grant’s pastoral reminder that followed, “God has designed it so that parents have a tremendous amount of influence over the lives of their children. What do they see us emphasizing? What we correct, and the topics we spend the majority of time talking to them about, the things that excite us the most, communicates a lot about what is important to us.”

Here’s just a few ways this can show up in our parenting:

• If I weigh in strongly, and spend significant time when it comes to addressing laziness with their school work, but I am lax when it comes to seeing that they establish a consistent devotional life, I should not be surprised when I have a kid who gets good grades but is less than passionate about his relationship with God.
• • If I make it a priority to be at my son’s basketball games, but have difficulty finding the time to attend the youth meeting with him, then I should not be surprised if he grows up with a zeal for sports but a nominal love for the local church.

In other words, there is often a connection between what we love and what our children learn to love. Ask your child what he or she thinks you are passionate about.