Be The Example

My youth group has been going through a book together talking about sins we allow in our lives. It has been a wonderful read so far and we are only 6 chapters in. During the discussion we have, I go through the questions that are in the workbooks that come along with the novel. After asking a question, one of my kids said “Be like Wayne.” I asked what she meant by that, and she continued on saying “When you find a sin in your life, you make a commitment not to do that act ever again.” I was stunned and after thinking about it, this great point came to mind. We need to be the example.

Many times we see adults going around with the mentality of “do as I say, not as I do.” They constantly tell kids that what the adults are doing is wrong so you should be better than them, but do not realize that they never show the kids how to be better. We call these generational curses, but in all reality these curses are just bad teaching moments. We need to set the example. Sadly, this has translated to the church as well. The adults are leading the way they are just telling the younger generations to not do something then getting mad at them for following in their predecessors’ footsteps. We need to do better.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (ESV) : Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Paul spoke to the church in Corinth about following Christ by saying follow me as I go. Paul took up the position of the leader for this church by saying that he would lead from the front. Our kids today do the same thing. They follow the one who was deemed the leader and follow them until the ends of the earth. This then gives responsibility much like what Paul had. If you are a leader to someone, then you lead them to Christ. If you are a leader to someone, you do your best to be like Christ. If you do not know if you are a leader to someone, trust me you are. There is always one person who looks up to you and looking to you to be the example. So lead.

Remember what you are called to do: Be The Example.