Why Ask "Why?"

In John Maxwell's book Developing the Leader Within You, we learn the importance of asking the question "Why?" within our organizations.

The British have always been good with the patronage system. John F. Barker in Roll Call tells the story that for more than twenty years, for no apparent reason, an attendant stood the foot of the stairway leading to the House of Commons. At last someone checked adn discovered that the job had been held in the attendant's family for three generations. It seems it originated when the stairs were painted and the current attendant's grandfather was assigned the tastk of warning people not to step on the wet paint. One British newsman, told of the situation, commented, "The paint dried up but not the job."

Like Father Like Son

Whether we like it or not our kids will repeat some of the behavior they see modeled in our lives. Take Abraham for example: In Genesis 12 and in Genesis 20 Abraham moved to a new land and told the people living there that Sarah (his wife) was actually his sister. He did so because his wife was very beautful and he was afraid the people of the land would kill him to get her for themselves. So he lied. Well fast forward a few years to Genesis 26 and you find Abraham's son Isaac doing the same thing (after his father has already died). He moves to a new land and tells the people living there that Rebekah (his wife) was actually his sister. He did so because his wife was very beautiful and he was afraid the people of the land would kill him to get her for themselves. So he lied. Like father, like son.

Here's my point. Our kids will model our behavior. They will follow what they SEE, not what they HEAR. We can tell them over an over about how to live, but they will do as we DO, not as we SAY. Since we know ahead of time that our kids will repeat behavior they see from our lives - let's choose to model behavior worth repeating. Let's choose to live godly lives in front of our kids. With God's help this is possible.