Some time ago, I read about a little girl who lay desperately ill in a hospital. She had swallowed gasoline. As the family tried to put together the facts, the father remembered he had siphoned gas out of the car for his lawn mower and the little girl watched him do it. Later she tried to imitate daddy’s action and now she lay deathly ill.

When I read that, I thought about how great an influence we parents have on our children. They watch and listen to us in everything we do and say. We would not intentionally hurt them in any way, yet, we do harm them by carelessly setting the wrong examples.

The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” The word “train” means to teach and set the right example.

If your child copied everything you do, would you change your behavior?