YES YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL

Parents, not pastors, shape young lives

WRITER: DAVE BRABHAM JR

Every child is looking for someone to follow, and as much as they deny it, Mom and Dad are the people they are learning from the most.

Kids look to TV personalities, sports stars and superheroes and want to be just like them. But at the end of the day, the life being modeled for them — the one happening right in front of them— is the one they are most likely to follow. “Monkey see, monkey do” is 100 percent true.

Like it or not, you are your child’s God-given example of how to live. Your children will follow your example if you live a life of spiritual integrity and you make prayer, Bible study, worship and serving the Lord a priority in your life.

The Bible says, “The godly walk with integrity; blessed are their children who follow them.” (Prov. 20:7)

Great amounts of research prove the Bible true. Your children not only will follow you in your love for God, they will be blessed by God as a result of your faithfulness.

Pretty exciting, right? Well, it’s a bit scary, too, because we know ourselves and know we are not always the best examples. We are still human beings and we need God’s merciful hand on our lives every day. We need the grace of God to make it to downtown Orlando without losing our Christian cool sometimes.

But God knows this about us and yet puts parents — not pastors — as the primary spiritual leader of our kids.

Let me just share my heart with you. I love being a children’s pastor. It’s the coolest job in the world. In fact, I don’t see ministering to kids as a job at all. It’s an honor and a blessing. But I know it’s the parents who must lead their children.

I am really here as your biggest fan. I am in your corner, praying God will give you wisdom as you raise your kids. That’s really what children’s ministry is. It should not be the total spiritual package for your children’s lives. What we learn in church should be reinforced at home and what you are teaching your kids, I will always support, as long it lines up with the Bible.

Pray God will make you the mom or dad you need to be for your kids. Live for Christ and let them see you do it.

Dave Brabham Jr. is the children’s pastor at LakeHaven Church in Eustis. He has been in children’s ministry with his wife Beth for over a decade. They have three children and cherish every opportunity they have to share God’s love with kids and parents.