Have you ever watched a baby as it's learning. They don't sit in a classroom, hearing instruction from a teacher. Nor do their parents really explain to them things like how to use their hands, how to talk, or even how to walk. God has given babies a natural ability to copy what they see others doing. That's how they learn.

This ability to see, analyze and copy is probably one of the greatest educational tools that exist. By the time a child is 5 years old, it has learned more than it will learn throughout the rest of its life. The things a baby has to learn are much more complicated than algebra, physics, or calculus.

If you take a look at a 5 year old child, they already know grammar, even though they never studied it in school. That has to be one of the most amazing educational feats that exists. A child actually learns how a language sounds, and will make the proper grammatical adjustments, without even knowing what, or why they are doing it.

Much of what a child learns in this time has nothing to de with academics, or even with life skills (eating, bathing, getting dressed). The most critical part of what a child learns has to do with the formation of their personality and character.

Our children may not always hear what we say, but you can be assured they always see what we do. We can say the same thing time and time again to them, and it seems like it goes in one ear, and comes out the other. On the other hand, if we do something that we would rather our children not learn, you can be guaranteed they will follow our example, and do the same thing.

There was a commercial a number of years ago on television. A father was walking with his small son, and stopped to rest in the shade of a tree. He took out a cigarette and lighted it, placing the pack on the ground beside him. His small son looked up at his father smoking, and grabbed the package of cigarettes, to follow his father's example. While I am sure that the father wouldn't have wanted him to do that, I'm equally sure that the father hadn't taken into account the impact his actions had on his son.

Children learn good character by being around adults who have good character. If they never have those good examples, they will not learn good character, they will learn bad character. So, where do we find good character for our children to copy? We have to model it for them. The apostle Paul wrote:

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:1

Although Paul was speaking to adults, the same thing applies to us, with our children. As part of Paul's life as a believer, he was working to become more Christ-like. Since he was basically working with people who were not spiritually mature, and had not seen Jesus walking here on the earth, he was the best example they had of Jesus. Knowing this, Paul took the responsibility to model Christ for them seriously, and directed them to follow that example.

The only way any of us can model good character for our children is to follow the example of Christ. He is the ultimate example of good character. Since none of us grew up with Jesus as our own personal father, we need to make a special effort to follow his example. Not just for ourselves, but for our children who follow after us.

If we develop the character of Christ, and model it to our children, they will be able to take that example, and build upon it. They won't have to start from the same point we did, but in fact will have the advantage of a head start.

Any parent naturally wants their children to turn out to be better people than they are. They want to see their children have a better life, have a better home, have a better job, and have the things that they didn't have the chance to have.

The true better life comes from having the fullness of Christ in our lives. If we want our children to have more of Christ than we do, we must give them a relationship in which they are totally committed to Him. How can we do that? Only by living the same type of life before them. If we live the life of a mediocre Christian, then our children will turn out even more mediocre than we are. In fact, there's a very good chance they won't follow the Lord at all. On the other hand, if we life a life of faith and service to the Lord, our children will learn how to do that. Their lives will probably be more fruitful for the Lord than ours are.

Each generation in the Lord should reach higher and farther than the one before it. If we don't provide this type of example for our children, how can we expect them to do better than we do?