In the book “Disciple Like Jesus” Alan and Paul mention this: “Jesus also showed them [his disciples] scriptural principles in action. It is one thing to teach theoretical principles. The Pharisees knew the law. But it is something entirely different when the teacher shows by example how Scripture is actually lived out.” (p. 158).
In looking back at my father’s life I see how he taught me the ways of Christ by modeling much of the Savior’s life in how he lived. In one particular area I learned that not all truth is of the same importance. Some truths take higher priority over other truths.
How did I learn this from my dad? Here is a good example that I recall over the years. My dad founded and operates a business and over the years he has seen various Presidents come and go. Some decisions made by the federal government were good for his business and some decisions were not good for his business. Yet no matter what he thought of the President of the Unisted States he would never speak in a derogatory way about the president. As he used to say: “He is still the president and the Commander in Chief of our Country and he deserves our respect whether we agree with him or not.”
In other ways I saw my dad learn to build relationships with people that he differed with in many areas. Dad always put forth the best effort to find something he could agree upon with another person before focusing on the areas where he did not agree with the person.
Additionally, I watched my dad maintain a family even when there were different views and beliefs among the family. He understood the power of harmony, organized power from those where agreement could be found, and realized that to accomplish large goals he must put away pride and work with those that he differed with in lower level truth areas.
Take the time to interact with your children. Look for ways to show them how to cooperate with others. There are great benefits of making disciples within your family.
Serving You,
Keith Sherlin; DD; Th.D
