Values To Pass On To Your Children
We all want our children to possess certain values and good qualities and do our best to teach them these values right from an early age. We must remember though that children learn from what they see and not from what they hear. If we all want our children to be good human beings we should begin to act and behave like good upright citizens so that our children will follow our good examples.
Here are some of the values we need to teach our children by abiding by them ourselves.
Determination - God helps those who help themselves. We should teach our children that nothing comes easy in life and one has to strive and work hard to achieve success.
Forgiveness - Not holding a grudge against a wrong doing is an important attribute to instill in the minds of our children
Honesty - How often have we rebuked out children for telling lies and how often have we taught them to always tell the truth. But are we without blame ourselves? Do we not also resort to telling white lies to get ourselves out of difficult situations?
Punctuality - Being always on time and valuing the other person's time is one way of respecting people and showing that you care. Selfishness and carelessness of keeping appointments on time is one way of showing that you could not care less who you cause distress to.
Responsibility- We should all teach our next generation to be dependable and trustworthy. We are all responsible for our own lives and whatever success or failure we may encounter is because of our own doing or misdoing. Tanking responsibility for our mistakes and ensuring that they do not occur again in future is a valuable lesson to learn in life.
Self Control - Staying calm under stressful situations and exercising self control whatever the circumstance is an important value that is best learnt early in life.
Thoughtfulness - not being selfish in your behavior and taking other people's feelings into consideration will show that you are a person of character who can be depended on. Putting other people's feeling before your own is an important lesson to learn.
Commitment - Being committed means being loyal. Loyalty to family and friends is what is expected from each one of us. Commitment is a promise made and it is expected that we keep that commitment whatever the circumstances.
Confidentiality - Not gossiping and talking behind people's backs is a value that will take you way ahead on the road to success. Not disclosing secrets or confidentialities shows that you are a strong person of character.
Piety - Children should be raised from the very beginning to set apart some time for prayer and to remember God. Prayers before meals, attending synagogue or church or temple regularly, offering thanksgiving and praise should be inculcated in children. Parents can take it upon themselves to read our stories from the Bible or tell children bedtime stories with a motto.
These are not the only values we would like to see in our future generation. Values like grace, hope, love, joy, peace, justice, service and faith are some of the other values we would expect and hope that the coming generations carry along with them to make this world a better place.