25
Jun
2012
10 Ways to Teach Your Children Integrity
As many of you know, we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of Family Matters this year (Can you believe it?! We certainly can’t!)! One of the ways we are celebrating what God has done in us and through us is to highlight one resource a month as a way to familiarize you with what Family Matters has to offer in order to minister to you better. This month’s resource is Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right. In Raising Kids Who Turn Out Right, Dr. Kimmel outlines Six Character Traits that all parents should strive to instill in their children to help prepare them for the challenges that inevitably lie ahead in their futures. One of the character traits is INTEGRITY.
“Integrity is an uphill marathon, not a sprint. It’s not something “once taught, forever caught.” – Dr. Tim Kimmel
You can’t raise a child who “turns out right” if you ignore the issue of integrity. Below are some hands-on ways to teach your children faith.
10 WAYS TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN INTEGRITY
- Drive the speed limit.
- Never ask your children to lie for you.
- Apologize when you wrong your children.
- Send them into a store with more money than they need to buy a particular item. When they come out, see if they offer the change. Deal with them accordingly.
- Never tolerate even the smallest lie.
- Pick someone out of the newspaper who committed a crime, and ask the kids’ opinion about it.
- Fathers, never allow your sons to be disrespectful or rude to their mother.
- Set up tasks that require their follow-through without supervision, and see if they carry out instructions on their own.
- Take your children to visit their ancestors’ graves. If you know any anecdotes about their ancestors (whether positive or negative), take time to share a few stories.
- Have them memorize twenty verses on integrity. (You might want to start with the Ten Commandments.)