Do As I Say, Not As I Do
By heidi potter
I knew it
would happen, I just wasn’t sure when or where or how it would
impact me when it did. Standing in the kitchen one day, I
dropped something very large and very heavy on my foot. I
confess, the word that popped out of my mouth was not a nice
one. It became even less nice when my one year old ran around
repeating it. Loudly. It was then that the reality actually
hit me.
When Rob and I
decided to have a baby, we knew that everything we did and
said affected this baby. We knew that we were now responsible
for someone else. Logically, we knew what we were doing. But
at that moment, with my daughter running around the house
sounding not-so-sugar-and-spice, I finally got it. She is
watching every little thing I do. She listens for every word
(obviously) that comes out of my mouth. She learned to eat
with a fork by watching mommy and daddy do it. She learned to
talk by listening (too carefully) to mommy and daddy talk.
An example?!
Is that what I am to be for the rest of my life? Yes, it is.
The day I became a parent, I willingly submitted myself to be
an example of all sorts. When I sweep the floor, my daughter
is watching me and learning. When I brush my teeth, my
daughter is learning good hygiene. When I say a bad word, my
daughter is listening.
Later in life
it will be subtler, won’t it? She isn’t going to want me to
see how I affect her life or how she looks to me to know the
right thing to do. So if I blow off church, she’s going to
think it’s ok and that church is not a big deal. If I watch
something on TV that I tell her isn’t appropriate, what am I
saying to her? Do as I say, not as I do.
Let me spell
that out to make sure this hits home – H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-T-E.
That shall be my name.
Look, I’m not
saying I have to be perfect – what kind of lesson would be
learned from that? Luckily, I have an example I can look up
to. Thankfully, someone else lived their life according to
how God would want them to so that I may have a guide. This
guide is Jesus Christ. Think about how He taught while He was
here, on Earth.
Did Jesus say
thou salt not lie and then turn around and tell a bold faced
lie to someone? No. Jesus did not say bow down to no other
gods or idols and then pay homage to Zeus. No, Jesus said,
‘Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy” and did just that,
did He not?
So while I
struggle here on Earth to be the example I need to be to my
children, I know that I can always look to the Bible for the
example that He is to His. I find great comfort in that, don’t
you?
“Train a
child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not
turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6
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article is copyrighted by the author. All Rights Reserved. No part
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