The Power of Positive Examples

We know this, but we don’t always believe it: What we show our students will often stick far longer than the words we say when teaching. Which one do we sweat more?

In our favorite Awana verse, Paul tells Timothy not to get God’s Word wrong. That’s the heart of our mission: To impart the Word to our students and to help them to learn to rightly divide it for themselves.

But in 1 Timothy (4:12), Paul tells Timothy to those he is teaching what a life built on the Word of God looks like. We want our students to be good examples of Christlikeness in their speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. But we often underestimate how big of an impact our own example can make.

Right now, think about one of the biggest lessons a youth leader or parent taught you without ever saying a word. Maybe it was the compassion they showed to someone who was hurting. Maybe it was just the way they showed you that they liked you. Maybe it was their response to an obvious and hurtful wrong.

This anti-bullying video offers a powerful example. The kids are actors, but the adults are real people stepping us to defend a student. Maybe show it to your students and talk together about how the Christlike example of people in your lives has showed you how to live like God’s Word is true.