Live joyfully like children. When bad things happen, they cry without holding back and when good things happen, they joyfully sing and dance. Although, you might be a stranger trying to kidnap them, they smile at you and listen to whatever it is you are trying to say.
They have no experience about life whatsoever and believe everything you say. I remember telling my little sister when she was about 7 years that people who use shower to bath (rather than a bucket of water) too frequently gradually shrink in size and turn to ants and are then swallowed by the shower head. I said this because I got tired of mopping the floor after she wets it from playing under the shower while bathing. Hardly did I know that she took it to heart, and although she’s twenty years now, she is still afraid of using the shower. She prefers a simple bucket of water.
How many things have we said or done in the presence of little children which affected them as they turned into adulthood? Children aside, how many times have our actions affected the actions of others?
A friend was telling me about how his brother and mother quarrel all the time. They argue and exchange words often, even in the presence of his child who is about 2 years. The child was so used to their arguments that as the mother was trying to begin her usual argument one morning, the little child of barely 2 years blurted out in exasperation “Grandma please!” and shook his head tiringly. The mother and son were so ashamed that they decided to never argue in his presence again.
This goes to show us that people, no matter how young, are always watching. They listen, and learn from you. To them, everything you say counts, every word holds water. And they either begin to act the way you act, or they begin to judge you based on everything you say or do. If you say silly things, you become a silly person to them. If you say wicked things, you become wicked to them, if you make lewd statements, you are immoral in their eyes. And because they judge you based on what you say, or have said in the past, your serious teachings about Christ sounds like a joke in their ears because you who are silly cannot really mean all these things.
People are watching. Live carefully and moderately. They learn from you. Remember what Christ said about leading others to sin. He said; “If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” Matthew 18: 6. So be careful so that people do not fall into sin as a result of something you did or said.
You should also learn to look up to God as a guide and stop looking to man. Every man sins, and no man is perfect. Drop your high expectations of any man, mentor, priest, pastor, even your own father is not perfect. Look only to God and learn from only Him. If you must learn from a man, make sure that it is in line with what Christ wants. The fact that a holy man commits a sinful act doesn’t make that act doable. The fact that Abraham lied (Genesis 20: 2) doesn’t make lying less a sin.
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