Your child will believe to be true, the first thing they learn about a subject. This is why it is important to grasp this concept from the beginning, and intentionally get to your children early… Not only to be an example to the baby and then the toddler, but also to lay out the ground-work for more complex concepts as they grow. If you teach your children about a subject before they hear about it in school, you have the opportunity to teach them the truth about it! Then when they get the outside opinions on it, they will already have the foundational truth because they heard it from dad first!
So be an example for your child(ren)! Your personality type, your strengths, your emotional mind-set, your temperament is important to the development of your child(ren). My wife and I chose to always have one of us home with the children, so that the specifics of their personalities, and learning styles, were naturally spoken by those who gave them life. Genes are a funny thing, and though I know very little about them, comparatively speaking, I do know that you are wired like your family. Your personality, your strengths, your emotional mind-set, and your temperament all have to do with the way you are put together, and those building blocks came from two people, your parents.
If you are the best you, that you can be, then you will be an example for your child(ren) to become what they need to be. You don’t have to go far to be an example to your children, it’s mostly in you already, like I said before! Of course, if there is something in you that is not God-honoring (or that you are not proud of), and need/want to change, by all means, seek that change. I do want to caution you however, to present yourself to your children the way you are now, and let them know how you feel about those difficult areas of your life, along with what you are doing to fix them. I cannot tell you how many times I have taught my kids something, and told them “…the reason I’m telling you this, is at forty years old I’m still working on it. If you can learn it at your age, you will be ahead of the game!” There is humility in revealing the truth about your deficiencies, and your kids aren’t going to be ashamed of you for it, they will subconsciously admire your honesty and integrity for being transparent with them.
