Set the Example

johntparishA father said to his son, “I have told you twenty million times to stop exaggerating!” any parent will find his lecture to his son on the evils of drug abuse ineffective if he gives the lecture between sips from the beer he holds in his hand. The boy just might be bright enough to know that alcohol is the worst abused drug. “Don’t do as I do, do as I say,” is bad parenting. Children don’t need lectures, they need examples.

The book of Proverbs is chock full of wisdom for child rearing. “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) “Train” involves more than teaching. It means “set the example.”

“Was your father a minister?” was the question I was asked by a man when he found out all of the eight children in our family were active in the service of the Lord. My answer, “No, he was a farmer.” His father died when he was a small child and he didn’t have the opportunity to get an education. He didn’t teach the Bible, he lived the Bible!

When he died my brothers and sisters and I were in agreement that if we didn’t live a Christian life we would stand before God on the Judgement Day without excuse. We saw the Christian life walked out day by day by our parents. Living a Christian life is far more powerful than preaching a sermon.

Set The Example!


J.T. Parish is the Founding Pastor of Christian Fellowship Church. He further serves on the Church Leadership Council, as Chairman of the Board of World Missions and Evangelism, and as President of the School of Ministry.