MAIN TEXT: Phil.3:17-20
MEMORY:
Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. (Phil.3:17)

The modeling mindset make you to see yourself as the model through which your children will perceive the right or wrong way of doing things in life. This mindset is so important in parenting because most of the things your children will learn from you are going to be taught through informal means, most of which will be non verbal. In other words, most of the virtues that they will learn from you will be through their observation of your ways of life. That means the way you do things as a parent matters. Whether you like it or not, you are like a model to your children. If you have this mindset, you will pay attention to the following as the areas where you can model the right attitudes in your children:

Your Relationship With God.
It is possible for you to deceive outsiders about your relationship with God but you may not really be able to hide the real you from members of your family. Your children will definitely discover how sincere you are in your relationship with God. You must be able to model the true life of a believer at home. If not, you are just a hypocrite and you can be sure that your children will rebel against your God in the future.

Your Marriage.
You can successfully model a lot of appropriate godly virtues to your children through the way you relate with your spouse. There is no better way of demonstrating love and acceptance than the way you relate with your spouse.

Your Attitude To Money.
If you are ready to tell lies, cheat and commit fraud in the course of looking for money, one of them may graduate to actual robbery or be ready to even use human being for money rituals in the future.

Your Relationships.
Do you just make use of people, only to discard them later? If you are such a person, you are modeling lack of appreciation of the helpers of their lives. You may discover that one or more of them may actually go beyond your own level by discarding even their spouses in the future.

Your Handling Of Disappointments And Success.
They should learn through you that it is only God that will never disappoint them; they should not be surprised if someone they trusted so much ended up disappointing them. Make them to realize that it is in the nature of human beings to disappoint. (Jer.17:5)

Your Attitude To Work.
Model your aversion to laziness through the conduct of your life. This is one of the virtues that is difficult to teach your children theoretically. How do you handle your business and that of others? (Pro.6:6-11).


Attitude To Time.
The scriptures make us to realize that there is time and purpose for everything under the sun. (Eccl.3:1) Let them know time wasted is gone forever, never to be regained. Let them know that if they while away their youthful days, there will be a time that they will look back with regrets.

Your attitude To Integrity.
One of the best ways to teach integrity is to use your life to teach it. For instance, most people only tell their children where they got it right in life, you hardly tell others where you failed.

DISCUSSION POINTS WITH YOUR SPOUSE
• Have you noticed that your children are often like the mirrors of who we are at home?

PRAYER
LORD, help me to model the right attitudes in the children you have given me both biologically and spiritually in Jesus’ name.


QUOTABLE QUOTE
YOU AND YOUR SPOUSE ARE LIKE MIRROR FOR YOUR CHILDREN; WHAT WILL BE SEEN IN THEIR LIVES IN THE FUTURE ARE LARGELY REFLECTION OF WHO YOU ARE. – Dr. Mike Oluniyi

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