[ampaterry]

I read this little story with a moral, and thought you would enjoy it, as well as learn from it.

A mother and father decided to use psychology in raising their children. For example, at bedtime they would say to the children, "Would you like to take your doll to bed or your teddy bear to bed?" You see, the beauty of this is that in either case the child is choosing to go to bed. But the whole system collapsed when the three- year-old, who was never allowed to go out after supper, said to her parents one evening, "Do you want me to go out the back door or should I go out the front?"

1 Peter 5:1-4 (KJV);
“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.”

The moral of the story is that our children are far more likely to learn what we do than they are to learn what we say. The scripture expands this into the adults that we may influence by our example as well.

Of course, we are to guard our language, and take control of our tongues to see that the things we say are pleasing to the Lord. Beyond that, however, we must be even more careful of what we do! People will be much more impressed, for good or for ill, by our actions than by our words. Don’t believe it? Ask the next ten people you meet to tell you something about Jimmy Swaggart, or Jim Bakker, or Jessie Jackson. I’ll bet that more people will tell you what they did than will ever remember what these men said! Actions do, indeed, speak louder than words.

May God bless each one of you -